University Park, Pa. -- As a Penn State undergraduate in the 1980s, Darryl Daisey was active in student government and black student groups.
"I love Penn State and I was a student activist because I knew that apathy and disinterest weren't the answer to change," said Daisey, a 1983 graduate in business logistics and currently a supply chain manager in the Philadelphia area. "I'm a history buff, but I was pretty much unaware of the significant contributions made by African-Americans throughout Penn State's history."
That all changed in 2007 when several months before Penn State's Black Alumni Reunion, he discovered there was no well-documented history of African-Americans at Penn State. Working mostly through online sources, Daisey, who considers himself an amateur historian, assembled an array of facts in a brief timeline.
In his research, Daisey found that, while Wally Triplett, Class of 1948, was generally considered the first black football player at Penn State, he actually was the first varsity player. Two African-American brothers, Dave and Harry Alston, played on the freshman team in 1941 (freshmen were not allowed to play varsity football at that time). Unfortunately Dave Alston, star halfback on the team, died before the 1942 season from complications following a tonsillectomy.
Daisey also was fascinated with the story of "Lincoln Hall," a boarding home for male students of color in State College from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. It was operated by Harry and Rosa Gifford, cooks at local white fraternity houses, who assisted many black students by employing them to work for their meals.
With the assistance of a number of groups at Penn State, including the Penn State Alumni Association, African American Resource Center, the Black Alumni Reunion Steering Committee and the Office of Educational Equity, his timeline of stories evolved into the "Penn State University African American Chronicles, 1899-2008."
The 50-page document, which Daisey calls a "work-in-progress," premiered at the April 2008 Black Alumni Reunion on the University Park campus. It is considered the first comprehensive account of the African-American experience at Penn State, according to Daisey.
"I hope that creating a collective memory will help everyone understand that Penn State was made great by contributions from a lot of people, and African-Americans were part of that," he said. "There was a high level of achievement by African-Americans at Penn State. I believe that black history can inspire our current students to build on the accomplishments of those who came before them."
Terrell Jones, vice provost for Educational Equity at Penn State, said the Chronicles are an important step in documenting the role of African-Americans in Penn State's history. "Darryl is to be commended for his exceptional effort in detailing and preserving the record of American-Africans at the University."
While the Chronicles were well received at the reunion, the document was not disseminated to all alumni and current students. To accomplish that goal, Daisey said, the "Penn State Black History Website" (www.pennstateblackhistory.com) was established and launched in December 2008.
The Web site, with the Chronicles as its centerpiece, also features previous efforts in documenting the history of Penn State Black students, faculty, staff and alumni. Included are:
— "The Black and White behind the Blue and White: A History of Black Protests at Penn State, a 2002 thesis and photo gallery by alumna Robin Hoecker.
— Articles from The Penn Stater magazine on "The Black Experience at Penn State" and "The 1948 Barbershop Boycotts."
— "Penn State Award Winning Black Alumni." Published by the Alumni Association, it profiles African-American alumni who have won the Penn State Distinguished Alumni Award, Alumni Fellows Award and/or the Alumni Achievement Award.
— "Struggle for Penn State," a 1969 WPSU documentary that features African-American activism at Penn State in early 1969.
All of this information is part of a larger project to better document and communicate the rich history of African-Americans at Penn State.
"The long-term goal," Daisey added, "is to help inspire students, faculty and staff, as well as to reconnect African-American alumni to each other and the University. The feedback and input from alumni has been outstanding."
Daisey, whose twin brother, Darnell, also graduated from Penn State in 1983, plans to continue some involvement in the project.
"The Chronicles and the ensuing Web site are a labor of love and joy, and l am committed to them," he said. "But it's my hope that research papers, perhaps funded through grants provided by the Africana Research Center or the Department of African and African American Studies, will add more depth to these stories. Professional researchers could take it further than I could. I can even envision a traveling exhibit or a book some day.
"I am surprised that something like this had not been done previously. Someone just needed to get it started in a way that it could continue to build."