Skip to main content

Oral History Interview with Dr. Morris Baker, July 31, 2016

View
@ TCU Mary Couts Burnett Library

Baker, Morris Wisely, Karen

Description

Dr. Morris Baker was born in 1939 in Ranger, Texas, the son of a mechanic and a domestic worker. As a child in Ranger, Baker lived in a mixed neighborhood of Mexican Americans, poor whites, and African Americans. Although, Ranger had segregated black and brown neighborhoods as well. Baker attended a one-room, all-black school called Slaughter Ward Elementary up to 6th grade. From 6th to 10th grade, Baker had to be bused to Eastland, where education ended for African Americans before they could obtain a high school Diploma. Thus, when the Brown v. Board dissension came in, his parents simply signed him up for classes in the white Ranger High School. Baker was allowed to attend as long as he did not socialize with the white high school female students or attend many of the school’s social events. He graduated as the school’s first African American graduate in 1957. Other African Americans followed. Baker then graduated from Cisco College (A.A. 1959), McMurry University (B.A. in Biology 1963), Harvard University (M.Ed. 1970), The Ohio State University (Ph.D. in clinical psychology 1976). Baker has worked for the Peace Corps, public schools in Los Angeles, California and other cities, and has taught at McMurry University.5 video recordings (1 hr., 15 min., 14 sec.) : sd., col. ; digital
Type:
Video
Format:
Video
Rights:
The contents of The Portal to Texas History (digital content including images, text, and sound and video recordings) are made publicly available by the collection-holding partners for use in research, teaching, and private study. For the full terms of use, see https://texashistory.unt.edu/terms-of-use/
View Original At:

Record Contributed By

TCU Mary Couts Burnett Library

Record Harvested From

The Portal to Texas History