James Frakes, “Is There a Jim Crow Problem at Penn State?” (April 1947)

Link to full text: James Frakes, “Is There a Jim Crow Problem at Penn State?”

About This Artifact

Penn State University has an extensive history of African American student activism. While many public and outward forms of activism occurred following an event or action that threatened the safety of African American students, other forms of activism were mediated through the written word and were intended to highlight the ways in which racism exists at Penn State. This essay by Penn State undergraduate James Frakes in 1947 explores the extent to which racism existed in State College, Pennsylvania at the mid-20th century. Written for Critique, a student literary magazine, it explores numerous areas in which black students struggled to receive equal treatment from area businesses and dining halls. Though less blatant than the legal segregation at southern universities in the pre-Brown v. Board era, this effects of this prejudicial treatment were still felt–and recorded by Frakes here in his essay.¹

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