{"625414":{"#nid":"625414","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Trailblazers: The Struggle and the Promise","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn summer 2018, \u003Cstrong\u003ERafael L. Bras\u003C\/strong\u003E, Georgia Tech provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs and the K. Harrison Brown Family Chair, turned to Atlanta sculptor \u003Cstrong\u003EMartin Dawe\u003C\/strong\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMonths earlier on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King\u0026nbsp;Jr., the Institute dedicated Dawe\u0026rsquo;s \u003Cem\u003EContinuing the Conversation \u003C\/em\u003Einteractive art piece in Harrison Square, depicting Rosa Parks at age 42 in 1955 \u0026mdash; the year her courageous act\u0026nbsp;of refusing to give up her seat for a white passenger on a Montgomery bus helped launch the yearlong Montgomery bus boycott \u0026mdash; and at the age she died, 92. The pieces sit across from each other, an empty seat in between, inviting passersby to sit in reflection.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBras shared an idea for a second\u0026nbsp;campus sculpture collaboration.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe provost had received a call from \u003Cstrong\u003EFrancis S. \u0026ldquo;Bo\u0026rdquo; Godbold\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;(IE 1965) with an idea to have a statue dedicated to \u003Cstrong\u003EFord C. Greene\u003C\/strong\u003E, one of three African American students who integrated Georgia Tech in 1961. Godbold, who led a successful career in the financial services industry after graduating from Tech in 1965 and Harvard Business School in 1969, had shared a class with Greene.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHis idea eventually developed into a having a sculpture of all three of Tech\u0026rsquo;s first African American matriculants \u0026ndash; Greene, \u003Cstrong\u003ERalph A. Long Jr.\u003C\/strong\u003E, and \u003Cstrong\u003ELawrence M. Williams\u003C\/strong\u003E \u0026ndash; dedicated and installed on campus grounds. The men made their arrival on campus in September 1961, less than five years after the bus boycott in Montgomery ended.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When the three of us were shepherded in, the [Georgia] State Patrol had to escort us everywhere we went,\u0026rdquo; reflected Long on the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=V7-68rwbSBc\u0022\u003E50\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C\/sup\u003E anniversary of the integration\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 1961, Georgia Tech became the first major university in the Deep South to open its doors to African American students without a court order.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Three Pioneers\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This project was different than \u003Cem\u003EContinuing the Conversation\u003C\/em\u003E,\u0026rdquo; said Dawe, founder and owner of Cherrylion Studios in midtown Atlanta. A graduate of Georgia State University, Dawe apprenticed for eight years with Georgia Tech alumnus, architecture professor, and sculptor Julian Harris before his death in 1987.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;With Rosa, I was the conductor,\u0026rdquo; Dawe continued. He came up with the idea for \u003Cem\u003EContinuing the Conversation\u003C\/em\u003E years ago and shared it with Bras and then-director of Tech\u0026rsquo;s Office of the Arts Madison Cario who both felt the piece would be a perfect fit for the campus. \u0026ldquo;With this project of these three pioneers, however, the score was written for me by Bras and Godbold.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe first step was to talk with the men.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;After talking with them and getting their approval on the\u0026nbsp;project, we decided that the iconic photo of the three on their first day on campus would be my starting point,\u0026rdquo; Dawe said. \u0026ldquo;I then studied various photos of each of them from that time.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe continued, \u0026ldquo;I really liked the idea of a walking sculpture which would add sense of comradery to its feel. With this sculpture, they\u0026rsquo;re all looking off [to their left] and you get this sense that they\u0026rsquo;re looking at something, but you don\u0026rsquo;t know if it\u0026rsquo;s [something] good or bad. For me, that tells a little bit of what they went through on campus \u0026ndash; that they had this awareness, a very strong awareness about what was going on around them.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to \u003Cstrong\u003EArchie Ervin\u003C\/strong\u003E, vice president for Institute Diversity, \u0026ldquo;These were three individuals who, though not members who were readily accepted into the community, were very proud to be at Georgia Tech. Even then [their first day on campus] they were wearing their Georgia Tech insignia.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt was quickly decided that the statue would be placed in Harrison Square, named after \u003Cstrong\u003EEdwin D. Harrison\u003C\/strong\u003E, Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s sixth president (1957-1969). The campus\u0026rsquo; integration came under Harrison\u0026rsquo;s watch just one day after he called a meeting of students and ordered that the integration be done peacefully.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOn the day of the pioneers\u0026rsquo; arrival, Harrison flew overhead the campus on a plane to observe its climate. He also evacuated his family from their home due to a barrage of threats.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe First Graduate\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMonths later, in February 2019, the idea to also dedicate a bronze sculpture of Tech\u0026rsquo;s first African American graduate \u003Cstrong\u003ERonald L. Yancey\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;(EE 1965) was developed.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Yancey started after the three pioneers, but he was the first to graduate, so it didn\u0026rsquo;t seem fair to not include him as a part of this story,\u0026rdquo; said Dawe.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYancey, who entered Georgia Tech in September 1962, one year after the campus\u0026rsquo; integration, completed the first two years of his undergraduate degree at Morehouse College. During those years, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2015\/02\/18\/50-years-ago-first-african-american-student-graduated-tech\u0022\u003Ehe applied repeatedly to Tech\u003C\/a\u003E, with no answers provided with each denial despite excellent grades and test scores. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOnce accepted, Yancey faced isolation and intimidation on campus.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It was a lonely and difficult time,\u0026rdquo; said Yancey. \u0026ldquo;\u0026lsquo;Glares and stares\u0026rsquo; is the best way I can put it, but I try not to reflect on the negative.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThough Tech exempted seniors from final exams at the time, Yancey was required to take 18 exams in his five classes during his last three weeks of school.\u0026nbsp;He would prove successful and graduated with a degree in electrical engineering in 1965, becoming \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2015\/02\/18\/50-years-ago-first-african-american-student-graduated-tech\u0022\u003Ethe Institute\u0026rsquo;s first black graduate\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith the target of dedicating both statues on campus later that September, Dawe and his team immediately went to work on the Yancey statue.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut where would the Yancey piece go?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThere were almost a dozen locations around campus discussed before the decision was made that it would be installed in the Wayne G. Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons, seated at the bottom of the atrium\u0026rsquo;s wooden staircase providing the building\u0026#39;s one million yearly visitors with an interactive seating experience much like Parks\u0026rsquo; \u003Cem\u003EContinuing the Conversation\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The bronze pieces take at least four months to complete: a month to complete the molds and then they spend about three months at the Baer Bronze Fine Art Foundry in Springville, Utah,\u0026rdquo; said Dawe.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAt the foundry, the sculptures were then bronzed, welded, and sandblasted.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe final stage of the process is patina -- the coloration of the bronze brought about by the oxidation of the metal surface. This is achieved by applying various chemicals and finishes to the surface of the bronze until the desired color effect is reached. For both the \u003Cem\u003EThree Pioneers \u003C\/em\u003Eand the \u003Cem\u003EFirst Graduate\u003C\/em\u003E, Dawe decided on an ombr\u0026eacute; effect from top to bottom.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Trailblazers\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;These pieces are reminders that it wasn\u0026rsquo;t that long ago when intolerance ruled the day,\u0026rdquo; said Bras.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The other part of the lesson that I hope doesn\u0026rsquo;t escape people is the reality is that these young men must have lived through very difficult times,\u0026rdquo; Bras added. \u0026ldquo;Despite the fact that our intention was to integrate peacefully, nobody is na\u0026iuml;ve enough to think that this was an easy time for them.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe added, \u0026ldquo;What I hope is that as the community interacts with these pieces \u0026ndash; either walking or sitting next to them \u0026ndash; that their interaction will become natural. They\u0026rsquo;re reminders of how far we have come. They\u0026rsquo;re also reminders that we still have a way to go.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELife After Integration\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGreene studied chemical engineering at Georgia Tech. He completed his bachelor\u0026rsquo;s degree in mathematics and computer science at Morgan State University and led a successful career in telecommunications and information technology systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter attending Georgia Tech, Long completed his bachelor\u0026rsquo;s degree at Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University) in mathematics and physics and would go on to become the first African American systems engineer for the Large Systems Group in the southeastern U.S. at IBM Atlanta.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWilliams was drafted and served honorably in the Vietnam War, earning several distinctions and honors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne week after graduating from Tech, Yancey moved to the Washington, D.C. area. He went on to have a successful career with the Department of Defense and served on the Georgia Tech Alumni Association Board of Trustees.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe four men will participate on a panel at the Institute\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/diversity.gatech.edu\/diversitysymposium\u0022\u003E11th Annual Diversity Symposium, \u003Cem\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Racial Diversity Journey: Recognizing Our Past, Acknowledging Our Present, and Charting Our Future\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, on September 4.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELater that afternoon, both sculptures will be unveiled and dedicated in their honor at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Hgr_bMjQDFQ\u0026amp;feature=youtu.be\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ETrailblazers: The Struggle and the Promise\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E in Harrison Square.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech Integration History Meets Recognition Through Art"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe story\u0026nbsp;behind\u0026nbsp;the making of bronze sculptures of Georgia Tech\u0026#39;s first African American students and first African American graduate.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Bronze sculptures of Georgia Tech\u0027s first African American students and first African American graduate will be dedicated in Harrison Square on September 4."}],"uid":"34932","created_gmt":"2019-09-01 02:41:42","changed_gmt":"2019-09-02 23:28:33","author":"Courtney Hill","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-08-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-08-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"625422":{"id":"625422","type":"image","title":"Clay molds of the sculptures at Cherrylion Studios.","body":null,"created":"1567306312","gmt_created":"2019-09-01 02:51:52","changed":"1567375531","gmt_changed":"2019-09-01 22:05:31","alt":"","file":{"fid":"238111","name":"clay originalas[1][3][1].JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/clay%20originalas%5B1%5D%5B3%5D%5B1%5D.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/clay%20originalas%5B1%5D%5B3%5D%5B1%5D.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":554400,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/clay%20originalas%5B1%5D%5B3%5D%5B1%5D.JPG?itok=WWioNGOB"}},"625421":{"id":"625421","type":"image","title":"Atlanta sculptor Martin Dawe examines the molds.","body":null,"created":"1567306275","gmt_created":"2019-09-01 02:51:15","changed":"1567350141","gmt_changed":"2019-09-01 15:02:21","alt":"","file":{"fid":"238110","name":"Pioneers for Tionna 04[1][1].jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Pioneers%20for%20Tionna%2004%5B1%5D%5B1%5D.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Pioneers%20for%20Tionna%2004%5B1%5D%5B1%5D.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":601860,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Pioneers%20for%20Tionna%2004%5B1%5D%5B1%5D.jpg?itok=g43NeLa0"}},"625420":{"id":"625420","type":"image","title":"Left to right: Ralph A. Long Jr., Lawrence M. Williams, and Ford C. Greene, September 1961","body":null,"created":"1567306240","gmt_created":"2019-09-01 02:50:40","changed":"1567381045","gmt_changed":"2019-09-01 23:37:25","alt":"","file":{"fid":"238109","name":"1961-First_Black_Students_2[1].jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1961-First_Black_Students_2%5B1%5D_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/1961-First_Black_Students_2%5B1%5D_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":244878,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/1961-First_Black_Students_2%5B1%5D_0.jpg?itok=IFct_CSN"}},"625419":{"id":"625419","type":"image","title":"In 1965, Ronald L. 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