An excerpt from Black Enterprise -
PURDUE UNIVERSITY RENAMES 2 RESIDENCE HALLS FOR 2 SISTERS WHO HELPED INTEGRATE CAMPUS HOUSING
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton
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| Winifred and Frieda Parker (Image: Courtesy of Purdue) |
Purdue University has announced the renaming of the Griffin Residence Halls after Winifred and Frieda Parker. Back in June, the Purdue Board of Trustees had approved a request from Provost Jay Akridge to rename the Griffin Residence Halls after the Parker sisters. The family efforts back in the 1940s compelled Purdue to integrate its student housing. The Parker Hall residences are the first buildings on campus to be named for Black alumnae.
After the Parker sisters enrolled at Purdue University in the fall of 1946, the sisters and their parents started up the campaign that forced the institution to integrate its student housing. The Parker sisters were among the first Black women to move into the Bunker Hill residence halls after the University ended its segregated housing policy in January 1947.
“It’s one of those stories of persistence and path-breaking action and really opening up doors for so many others—both women and women of color,” says Akridge. “These two women were Boilermakers in every sense when you think about some of those characteristics that we like to lift up and celebrate.”
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