They Made History
“The Academy is a way out and up for a young man. 在这里他可以获得第一笔资金，进入第一轮. No capital is more valuable, more safe and more easily won. 每个人都帮助认真的学生，因为有一天他可能会帮助世界. The battle is to have the faith to make the start.”
——摘自一本19世纪90年代的小册子《真人国际菠菜》
Credit: Beloit College ArchivesLaurence Ousley certainly had “the faith to make the start.” One of Beloit’s earliest African-American students, he entered the college’s preparatory department, the Beloit Academy, in 1890 and studied for three years in the Scientific Division, leaving just before graduating. But the “way out and up” proved to be a struggle, 为了养家，他不得不打消上大学和追求事业的野心.
His parents were born in the South, before the Civil War. 他的母亲玛丽·安·康纳(Mary Ann Connor)在19世纪70年代初来到伯洛伊特，嫁给了威廉·奥斯利(William Ousley). They moved to Chicago, lived briefly in North Dakota, and after William died, Mary Ann brought her children—William Jr., Laurence, and Grace—back to Beloit, where she worked as a laundress. They lived near the college at 731 Church St., the only African-American family in the neighborhood, 30多年后，工业才把大批非裔美国人带到伯洛伊特和其他中西部城市. Determined to educate her children, Mary Ann gave them whatever opportunities she could afford, despite limited options.
Credit: Beloit College Archives劳伦斯离开伯洛伊特学院后，在费尔班克斯-莫尔斯工厂当工人. 1900年，他的妹妹格蕾丝成为第一位从伯洛伊特高中毕业的非裔美国人. Laurence helped her through four years at Beloit College, where in 1904 she became its first African-American woman graduate, just nine years after the college embraced coeducation. She taught at an orphan school in Harvey, Ill., but returned home after she became ill. She died in 1908 at only 26. 伯洛伊特学院校长和教堂街邻居阿尔蒙·伯尔在学院教堂主持了葬礼. An obituary in the Round Table said, 自毕业以来，她唯一的愿望就是与她种族中不幸的成员分享她的知识.”
In 1905, Laurence replaced his brother, William, as janitor at the Beloit Public Library, a post he held until his death 38 years later. 劳伦斯显然很好地利用了他的藏书, according to an unpublished memoir by diplomat Robert C. Strong, class of 1931, and future ambassador to Iraq.
“The janitor of the Public Library was Lawrence Owsley [sic],” he wrote, “a graduate [sic] of Beloit College in the early 1900s. He lived a block down the street from us, 这是城里唯一一个不在铁路旁的黑人家庭. 有好多年的冬天，他在清晨和傍晚时分照看我们的焦炉, 为我们做了很多维护工作……我和劳伦斯谈过很多次, 他能就我感兴趣的任何话题进行聪明的交谈. 他告诉我，尽管他受过大学教育，但他从未找到一份更好的工作, and that he had read every book in the library. That gave me my first understanding of racism, of how unfair people could be, which has troubled me ever since …”
The Beloit Daily News 将劳伦斯描述为“一群受人尊敬的有色人种公民的代表……他们早些时候在社区中为自己争取了一席之地。.” He was involved in the Bethel A.M.E. church and was a member of the “Chicago Elks lodge for colored men.1920年的一份剪报显示，他曾担任哈丁-柯立芝(Harding-Coolidge)集会的主席, 一位演讲者“敦促他的听众支持共和党的直接候选人……理由是……这个党已经表现出对黑人事业的友好态度?.”
Laurence Ousley died on June 24, 1943. 几天后，伯洛伊特学院收到消息，他离开了学院，离开了他们在教堂街的家和他的全部10美元财产,000, “这笔钱将用于帮助贫困的有色人种学生……”6月30日的《真人国际菠菜》 Beloit Daily News featured an editorial devoted to Laurence Ousley, 这既是对那个时代的一种令人不安的评论，也是一种感人的致敬:
“We can learn something from Lawrence (sic) Ousley. This gentle colored man, 他生活低调，一生都在工作，很多人会认为他很卑微，不重要, 他的远见和慷慨远远超过了我们大多数人的远见……劳伦斯·奥斯利做了什么需要做的事情, quietly and inconspicuously. And all the while as he grew old in the community’s service, he thought large thoughts that no one knew about.”
Fred Burwell’86 is the college archivist. All images are taken from the Beloit College Archives.
The Ousley Legacy Lives On
格蕾丝·奥斯利和劳伦斯·奥斯利夫妇可能在这所学院早期就读过, but their story of perseverance lives on in Beloit’s academic programs, physical spaces, and giving programs.
在南学院大楼里还有一间以奥斯利夫妇命名的会议室, 2017年，伯洛伊特设立了两个新的荣誉日奖项，以这对兄弟姐妹的名字命名. 格蕾丝和劳伦斯·奥斯利奖，由学院的 Office of Academic Diversity and Inclusiveness, 每年颁发给两名伯洛伊特大学的学生，他们来自历史上在高等教育中代表性不足的群体, 他们致力于用自己的教育来促进社会正义——无论是在校园还是在伯洛伊特市. 教师和工作人员提名学生参加该奖项，每位学生都有250美元的奖金.
“尽管面临种族主义和偏见，奥斯利兄弟姐妹还是将自己的一生奉献给了改善伯洛伊特社区,” said Nicole Truesdell’03, director of Beloit’s Office of Academic Diversity and Inclusiveness, when she announced the prizes earlier this year.
今年秋天，伯洛伊特学院还将首次举办奥斯利驻校学者奖. 该项目加入了伯洛伊特大学其他著名的学术驻地项目，吸引学者, artists, and performers to campus to work closely with students. The residency honors Grace Ousley by bringing early-career scholars, activists, organizers, 和/或知识分子到校园，他们的工作表现出对社会正义的理论和实践的承诺. 首任学者莫亚·贝利(Moya Bailey)预计将于9月底到校. An assistant professor of cultures, societies, and global studies and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Northeastern University, 贝利专注于边缘化群体使用数字媒体作为自我肯定和促进健康的行为来促进社会正义.
In 2012, the college also established a giving society to honor Laurence Ousley, 一个家境一般的人成为了学院最重要的捐助者之一. When Laurence Ousley died, 他把毕生积蓄和家里的房子都捐给了伯洛伊特学院，以支持少数民族学生的发展. The Laurence Ousley Circle recognizes people who give to Beloit College in the range of $10,000 to $24,999 annually. —Susan Kasten
