Willa Beatrice Player
Willa Beatrice Player (August 9, 1909 - August 29, 2003) was an African American educator, college administrator, college president and civil rights activist.[1] Player was the first African American woman to become president of a four-year fully accredited liberal arts college when she took the position at Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, NC. She served as president from 1955–1966.
Background
Willa Player, the youngest of three was born to Clarence C. and Beatrice Day Player in Jackson, Mississippi in 1909. Her family moved to Akron, Ohio in 1917 when Player was 8 years old. Growing up in a religious family, Player was active in the Methodist church her family attended. As a teenager, she spent countless hours as a member of the youth choir which aided her a pathway to college. Player graduated from West High School in Akron and was accepted to Ohio Wesleyan University, a Methodist university in 1925. Willa Player was one of only three African American students admitted to the college. Because of her race, she was no allowed to live on-campus. She graduated in 1929. In 1930, Player received her Masters from Oberlin College. She also did post doctoral at the University of Chicago and the University of Wisconsin.
Teaching
In the fall of 1930 at the age of 21, Player was hired to teach Latin and French at Bennett College, a United Methodist affiliated college. Teaching at Bennett for a few years, Player took a leave of absence and enrolled in the University of Grenoble in France where she received a Certificat d'Edutes in 1935.
Administration
Willa Player returned to Bennett College after her successful educational pursuit in Grenoble, France. Upon her return, she became the Director of Admissions and was also the Acting Dean. In 1937, Bennett belle Frances Jones Bonner was advised by Player and R. Nathaniel Dett during the downtown Greensboro boycott and protest. Player would leave Bennett College again to pursue her Ph.D. which she received from Columbia University in 1948. She returned to the college and was promoted to coordinator of instruction in 1952. In 1955, Player was promoted to vice president of Bennett College. The same year, Willa Player was made president of Bennett College when David Dallas Jones was stricken with cancer. Knowing he could no longer perform his duties because of health reasons, Jones convinced the board of trustees of the college that Willa Player was the right woman for the job. Willa Player took the helm as president. In the fall of 1956, Willa Player was inaugurated as the president Bennett College the first African American woman to accomplish this feat. In 1957, Player was successful in gaining SACS accreditation for the college. (Note: Willa Player was sought after for the presidency at Spelman College in 1952. She turned it down to remain at Bennett).[2]
Civil Rights Movement
With various changes in the south and the civil rights movement gaining momentum Martin Luther King had emerged to the forefront. King came to Greensboro, NC in the February 1958 at the request of the local African American clergy and the NAACP. The leaders of the NAACP asked the local churches and institutions of higher education if they would allow King to speak there but was turned away. The clergy who were with Dr. King approached Willa B. Player who agreed to have him on campus. When asked of King's visit to Bennett College, Player was quoted "Bennett College is a liberal arts college where freedom rings, so King can speak here". Martin Luther King spoke at Annie Merner Pfeiffer Chapel at Bennett on February 11, 1958. Willa Player following in the footsteps of her predecessor David Dallas Jones, encouraged Bennett College women to do what they feel is right in accordance to their civil rights and activism. Willa Player held meetings with faculty and staff during the Greensboro sit-ins. Player was initially unaware Bennett belles were holding secret meetings at the student union, planning to protest downtown Greensboro after President Vespers guest Martin Luther King, Howard Thurman and Benjamin E. Mays spoke at the college.
Service
In 1962, Player was named President of the National Association of Schools and Colleges of the Methodist Church. She was also the first African American to serve on the board of trustees of Ohio Wesleyan. After 36 years of service to Bennett College, Willa Player stepped down in 1966. She went on to become the first female Director of the Division of College Support in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare a position she held until retiring in 1986.
Legacy and honors
In 1953 Doctor of Laws, Ohio Wesleyan University; in 1962 Doctor of Laws, Lycoming College; in 1963 Doctor of Laws, Morehouse College, Doctor of Laws, Albion College; in 1967, Doctor of Humane Letters, Keuka College; in 1969, Doctor of Humane Letter, University of North Carolina at Greensboro; in 1971, Doctor of Public Service, Prairie View A & M University.
Professional and civic membership
Kappa Delta Pi, Pi Lambda Theta, South Atlantic Regional Philosophy Education Society, North Carolina and National Teachers Associations, National Council of Negro Women, Women Planning Committee, St. Matthews Methodist Church, Japan International Christian University Foundation, Incorporated.
Quotes
"the black woman is expected to be a superwoman without acting like one" - Willa B. Player
On Bennett students 1960 protest: "We don't teach our students what to think. We teach how to think. If I have to give exams in jail, that's what I'll do. - Willa B. Player
On her presidency at Bennett College- " All I was thinking was I had a job to do"
Death
Willa Player died August 29, 2003 in Greensboro, NC. A Mott Endowed Chair was established in her honor. Player served as a Mott Foundation Trustee from 1981 to 1995 and trustee emeritus from 1995 to 2003.
References
- ↑ George Alexander Sewell; Margaret L. Dwight (20 January 2012). Mississippi Black History Makers. Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 229–. ISBN 978-1-61703-428-2.
- ↑ Linda Beatrice Brown (1998). The Long Walk: The Story of the Presidency of Willa B. Player at Bennett College. Bennett College.
1. http://crdl.usg.edu/people/p/player_willa_b/
2. http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/willa-player-encouraged-and-taught-many
4. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3430900058.html
5. http://holgatedigitallibrary.bennett.edu:2011/cdm/singleitem/collection/bhp/id/432/rec/7. October 1955
7. http://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Resolutions/HTML/2005-2006/Res2005-17.html. March 2005
11. http://bennettsitinstory.weebly.com/timeline.html. Feb. 1, 2010