Founded in 1906, it took Georgia Southern almost 50 years to become integrated. The first black student GS enrolled as a grad student in the Fall of 1965 along with 6 undergraduate students.
John Bradley was a high school teacher in Statesboro before he enrolled at GS as a grad student.
- Fall semester of 1965 six black undergraduates also enrolled at GS. Clavelia Love Brinson, Arlene Daughtry, Ulysee Mosley, Shirley Woodall, Jesse Zeigler Carter and Catherine Davis.
- Davis was the first to earn her BA in Sociology followed by Mosley who graduated with a BA in Psychology.
- John Bradley later returned to GS with other black alumni for the unveiling of the Marker honoring the integration of Georgia Southern in Spring of 2018.
2 years later, Roger Moore became one of the first black athletes at GS to sign a scholarship.
- Moore played center for Georgia Southern’s Men’s Basketball for three seasons and then transferred to another University.
- Later came Tracy Ham, the quarterback for GS football who helped lead the team to the national championship in both 1985 and 86.
- Ham’s jersey number 8, was retired along with star running back Adrian Peterson. Ham and Peterson are currently the only players whose jersey number has been retired and they are both on display at Paulson Stadium.
Lastly, In 1985, after many black students had run for SGA president, Mike Wallace was the first black SGA president.
- “His platform was built on familiarity with the operations of Student Government, having previously held office as the vice president of auxiliary affairs.” (Alejandro De La Fuente, previous BHM story)
- Following Wallace was Del Terry and his sister Taffanye Terry who served as his VP. Then came Jerald Carter, the third African American SGA president.
All these students and more played apart in creating Black History at Georgia Southern. Following them are the many black students on campus who have helped to bring black culture to GS by creating safe spaces (organizations, clubs, etc.) for black students on campus. Along with the black and African American staff/faculty that not only teach but hold leadership/higher positions on campus.
Former Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson (Left) was the first African-American student to attend and graduate from then Armstrong State College.
