Laurel Guild Yancey '75

Transcript

Interviewer: Anna Boyles (AB)

Narrator: Laurel Guild Yancey (LGY)

LGY: I mean it was just, really I'm telling you, it was just a – you could see the change coming into society and into women's education. And it wasn't just the same courses, the same environment. You know, even the professor's were, African American professors, were, you know, interesting to me. Oh, let me backup. So, talking about the professors. I’m trying to think of her name. Gail Chandler ended up becoming a student at this international Catholic school after me. And Gail's brother – oh, my gosh, Chandler, I can't think of it all of a sudden, it’s blank – became, was an art professor at Simmons College slash University. So, this is interesting that I got to know Gail when she came to this school, Catholic school in Newton Center, Mass. And then her younger sister came too. My grandmother used to drive all three of us to the school. And then come to find out I ended up at Simmons. And I don't know why I’m blanking on his name, but his last name is Chandler. And he was-he was an arts professor at Simmons. So, that was coincidental, too. So, this is how we were all coming together as African American at Simmons at a time of change in our society and within Simmons, as well. It was opening up, it was becoming more diverse, it was becoming more equitable, and it was becoming more inclusive, even though we didn't use those terms back in the 70s.

AB: Yea, I was wondering, also speaking of the kind of terms that you might have used at that time, what terminology, maybe you might have used to describe your own race back then? We use Black, you know, today. Was that a term used by anybody in your – 

LGY: Um, it's funny now because I literally–I literally, even if you look at me. And I don't look it. I literally am African American, okay? I’ve just found this out, but anyway. So um, you know, it was a time of a lot of racial identity. And you had to take a side. You had to take a side. And I sided with my sisters, right? And so, everything was Black, Black American, Black power. And even though my hair's, you know, this is my hair how it is now, you know, a woman of a certain age, and my hair is just not–doesn't have body. But back in the day, I mean it used to be wavy, it was thick. I used to put my hair on these pink foam rollers. So I would get my little curly Afro. I started that when I was at this, you know, international private school, so I could relate to all this Black power. I mean-but you-everything was Black. Everything was Black. And, you know, looking back on it, it's unfortunate because it was like we kind of hung out together in the, where we had lunch. And you know, we had our clicks within the cohort. And I think sometimes – and I'm not saying this is true of all students, you know because I did have a couple of the Jewish classmates who were in my dorm I got to know, but I wasn't close with them. Because I want you – because I have fair skin. I wanted to, you know, be “right on.” And I wanted to identify with my people. So definitely Black Americans, everything was Black, Black, Black, and Black power.