Description
- Abstract:
- The oral history interview with Richard 'Dick' Nurse on April 29, 2021 conducted by Bernicestine McLeod Bailey and Harold Bailey, Jr. In this interview, Nurse discusses his upbringing, his education at Stockbridge School in Interlaken, Massachusetts, his military service during the Korean War in the Intelligence Corps, his career as an admissions officer at Brown University and other scholastic institutions, as well as his conversion to Quakerism. He speaks about the few other Black students in his class at Brown and Pembroke and the pressure they felt to do well, the camaraderie he found in historically Black fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, the Cammarian Club, and the editorial team at the Brown Daily Herald student newspaper, and the creative outlet he found in theater. He reflects on the lengths he went to recruit Black students to Brown during his time as an admissions officer, including covering application costs to encourage students to submit their paperwork and coordinating with school counselors to increase the applicant pool. Nurse also goes into detail regarding the environment at Brown during the 1968 Student Walkout and protests carried out by cheerleaders who knelt during the national anthem, as well as the letters he wrote in support of their efforts. Later he worked as the Headmaster of Stockbridge School for 3 years before serving as the University Administrator for the Educational Opportunity Fund at Rutgers University where he continued recruiting students of color and providing scholarships. Lastly, he served on the board of the Crossroads Theatre Company where he handled finances and later connected with Quaker filmmakers leading to his conversion in the early 2000s. Throughout this interview, he highlights the histories of other Black students and administrators at Brown University and Pembroke College in the 1960s-1970s while reflecting on the social conditions surrounding them.
- Notes:
- Immediate form of acquisition: UA.2025.002
- Richard 'Dick' Nurse oral history interview , Brown University Library
- Digital object made available by: Brown University Library, John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts, Box A, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02912, U.S.A., (http://library.brown.edu/)
Access Conditions
- Rights
- In Copyright
- Restrictions on Use
- Collection is open for research.
Citation
"Richard 'Dick' Nurse oral history interview"
(2021).
Brown University Archives Audio Collection.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:r48yfgnv/
Relations
Has Parts:
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Richard 'Dick' Nurse oral history interview
- Type: Pdf
- Order: 1
Collection:
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Brown University Archives Audio Collection
Audio recordings from a wide variety of events on the Brown University campus....