"UI alumna makes history," September 27, 1996

Friday. September 27, 1996 - The Daily lowan - SESQUICENTENNlAL - 9 UI HAS HISTORY OFDIVERSITY UI alumna makes history A racially discriminatory policy in the South in the 1940s and '50s forced UI alumna Jewel Limar Prestage to pursue her post-graduate education at the UI. That same discrimination, though, brought distinction to the UI when Prestage became the first African-American woman in the country to earn a doctorate degree in political science. Prestage came to the UI in 1951 after gradu¬ ating with a degree in political science from Southern University in Louisiana, a tradition¬ ally African-American college. Louisiana law didn't allow African-Americans to |)ursue post- giaduate degrees, but they did provide aid for those who studied outside of the state, she said. With a $375-per-semester allowance and the advice of Dr. Rodney Higgins, who was then the chairperson of social sciences at Southern University, Prestage came to Iowa City. Despite some moments of racial tension and discrimination, Prestage said the faculty at the UI allowed her to further her education in a timely and efficient manner -^ she earned her master's in just a year, and her doctorate two years later in 1954. 'There were no reasons for me to draw racial or sexual lines," she said. "Iowa taught me a lot, coming from a traditionally black college to the Midwest. Iowa is where I got my lease on life." Prestage, who is now the dean of the Ben¬ jamin Banneker Honors College at Prairie View A&M University, in Prairie View, Texas, said although the UI was a far cry from the segre¬ gated and discriminatory South, it still had its problems. Her biggest dilemmas in Iowa City revolved around housing. "It was almost impossible to find a house or apartment that would rent to Negroes," she said. "I lived in Eastlawn dormitoiy when I first came (to the UI)." She said the residence hall was only for women and primarily housed graduate stu¬ dents. Generally, students of the same race were housed together, she said. When she first arrived at the UI, Prestage said she was assigned an African-American roommate. When that roommate graduated, she lived alone for a while, until she was assigned another African-American roommate. A FIRST FOR THE COUNTRY: Jc^K'e^ Umar Prestage is pictured here as a member of the UI Student Council in 1953. She was the first African-American woman in the country to earn a doctorate degree in political science. "After my second Negro roommate left, I was assigned a Filipino roommate, but only after she signed a form saying she agreed to live with a Negro student," Prestage said. During the summer of 1953, Prestage married her husband, James, in Louisiana. He came to the UI for graduate zoology education after the wed¬ ding, and they once again faced housing difficulties. ence was wonderful. So wonderful, she spent a year at the UI as a visiting professor in 1987. Prestage said the UI has gone through many renovations and expansions, but some things will never change. "Schaeffer Hall was too hot in the '50s, and it was still too hot in 1987," she said. "But the -— growth was incredible "After my second Negro roommate with the same tranquil Once I was married, we leE, I waS assigned a Filipino room- atmosphere, couldn't find a place to , . i ni i -^ i Prestage said one of stay," she said. "After two m^te, DUt Only alter Slie SlgneQ a the best things about or three weeks, we found form Saying slie agreed to live with Iowa City was the lack of space in a trailer court where the English-Philos¬ ophy Building now stands. The trailers had no toilet facilities or running water, -—-----—----——— and we had to buy ice for the icebox." She said they stayed there for about a month until they finally found space at another trail¬ er park where Hancher Auditorium now stands. "They had 10 tin buildings left over from the war," Prestage said. "The trailer had two bed¬ rooms and a kitchen, along with running water, for $47 per month." At the end of that summer, Prestage received her doctorate, at age 22. She said when she thinks of the UI in terms of the education she received and the people she met, her experi- a Negro student." Jewel Limar Prestage, 1954 UI Alumna crime. During a semester where police incidents and sexual assaults have been pushed to the fore, ¦""¦""——^"¦~~""" Prestage recalls a city that has always felt safe. "People feel a sense of security, of personal safety in Iowa City," she said. "When I lived there in 1987, there were no deadlocks on the doors — that was very different from Houston, where I had been living." She also said the intellectual climate around Iowa City was very enlightening. She said cul¬ tural events such as recitals, concerts and lec¬ tures could be seen almost nightly, both in the '50s and in 1987. — JENNIFER CASS ELL DIVERSITY i MILESTONES I 1860 —The UI becomes the first slate institution of higher learning to admit women and men on an equal 1870'~-^TheUI Med¬ ical Department opens, becoming America's first co¬ educational medical school. 1873 —Mary Wilkin¬ son becomes the first woman at the UI, and perhaps in the nation, to receive a law degree. 1879 —Alexander Clark Jr. becomes the first African Arfleri- can attheUI, and perhaps in the nation, to receive a law degree. 1927—The UI becomes first state university to estab¬ lish a school of reli¬ gion. 1994—Jewel Limar Prestage becomes the first African American woman in the nation to earn a doctorate degree in political science. 1992 —The Iowa Women's Archives opens at the Main Library. — Compiled by Mike Waller University of Iowa Libraries. University Archives