Exposing discrimination in Baltimore in the early '60s
Reporting about the SGA, not a record of it: The Johns Hopkins News-Letter published this and the SGA did not write it, file it, or approve it. The archive holds it because the article itself uses the phrase “student council”.
Summary
- This Johns Hopkins News-Letter article covers student journalists’ efforts to expose discrimination at Baltimore restaurants in the early 1960s.
- The paper reported that the News-Letter staff ran a Baltimore Zoo llama named Roger as a candidate for Student Council to protest its inaction.
- The article says staff members tested nearby restaurants and found that many refused to serve Black and Brown students.
- The reporter writes that the Blue Jay restaurant was among those that would not serve minority students.
- The paper reported that publishing the restaurant names drew local news coverage; a later Blue Jay fire caused no injuries, and nearby restaurants soon ended discriminatory policies.
- The article adds that a fellow student later alerted the staff to a burning wooden cross near The Barn.