Tales of Desegregation: East Carolina University - Higher Education: Part of East Carolina University’s mission is “to serve as a national model for public service and regional transformation by: Providing cultural enrichment and powerful inspiration as we work to sustain and improve quality of life …”
Founded in 1907 as a teacher training school, East Carolina University was segregated until 1962. Laura Marie Leary Elliott, ECU’s first African-American student and graduate (class of ’66), said “it was publically smooth but, privately, we were hurting.”
Elliott, originally from Vanceboro, N.C., set out in 1962 to do nothing more than simply further her education. “I was a 17-year-old kid. I wanted to make my parents proud,” she said.
Unbeknownst to her, that first step has opened a door through which thousands of African-Americans have walked.
