3 PAST TENSE Snapshots of Diversity at PSU SU’s earliest efforts to address diversity in its instructor ranks can be traced to Edwin C. Berry, Vanport Extension Center’s first African American faculty member. Berry taught a sociology course at Vanport in the fall of 1947 while serving as the executive secretary of the Portland Branch of the National Urban League. At the time, Berry was the first black faculty member in the Pacific Northwest. Vanport Extension Center evolved to Portland State Extension Center when it moved in 1952 to the old Lincoln High School Building in the Park Blocks. By the time the Center became Portland State College in 1955, student enrollments and faculty recruitment had greatly George Guy in 1955 increased. That same year (1955), Portland State hired its first full-time African American professor, George V. Guy, in Education. Cultural changes nationwide in the late 1960s and 70s led to curricular changes at Portland State that addressed diversity. In 1968 President Gregory Wolfe promoted the development of a Black Studies Program. A first step in achieving this goal was the formation of the Center for Black Studies in 1969, followed in the early 1970s by the emergence of the Department of Black Studies and the post-baccalaureate certificate in Black Studies. These new developments required highly qualified faculty. PSU hired Darrell Millner as a full-time assistant professor to teach Afro-American literature and History in the Black Studies Department. Since joining PSU, Millner has been a driving force in the department’s growth as an academic interdisciplinary unit within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS). Along with helping develop major and minor undergraduate degrees in Black Studies, Darrell’s efforts have helped build and define a program devoted to the exploration and understanding of the history and culture of African people in the United States, the Caribbean, and Africa. Such efforts have been in conjunction with outreach efforts directed toward metropolitan community needs. Throughout his lengthy career, Dr. Millner has made significant contributions in teaching, publications, curriculum development, and service to his university and community. He is an expert on the history of AfricanAmericans in the western movement, focusing on the Oregon and California trail experiences, these states’ early black history, and the history of the Black Buffalo soldiers in the Indian wars. His expertise also includes Black cinema history and the development and perpetuation of negative racial stereotypes. Darrell Millner in 1975 As the senior full professor in his department, Darrell Millner represents a unit that is the oldest Black Studies program in the Northwest and the only one in Oregon that offers a degree. As one of the program’s pioneers, Darrell recently reflected on his career over the years in teaching, program development, writing, and especially being an advocate for Black Studies at Portland State. Darrell referred to a “legacy of struggle for survival, resources, and the ability to provide for the department’s future.” --Steve A. Brannan PAST TENSE features glimpses into Portland State’s history. To submit a story (or an idea for one), email the RAPS History Preservation Committee at raps@pdx.edu. P
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