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Conversations with some of the first women to live in LSU’s dorms

LSU President James Monroe Smith shakes hands with Elena Carter Percy, accepting nine head of cattle in exchange for her room and board. The bartered cattle graze nearby. To the far right, Pleasant Hall, formerly Smith Hall, the first dorm to accept women, is visible in the background, 1932.
Louisiana State University Photograph Collection, A5000

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Louisiana State University Archives, LSU Libraries, Baton Rouge, La.
LSU President James Monroe Smith shakes hands with Elena Carter Percy, accepting nine head of cattle in exchange for her room and board. The bartered cattle graze nearby. To the far right, Pleasant Hall, formerly Smith Hall, the first dorm to accept women, is visible in the background, 1932.

Earlier this week schools across the state opened their doors for the first day of the new year. And at Louisiana State University, students will head to campus in just 2 weeks.

But it wasn’t always that LSU was open to everyone. Back in 1929, the first class of women began living on the university’s new campus. Roughly 30 years later, Black students began living in the dorms as well.

Today we are headed back to the archives to hear first-person accounts from those who integrated LSU. We’ll hear from a home economics major, a law student, an Opera star, and the first Black woman to live on campus.

These first-person testimonies were recorded and preserved by LSU’s T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History. This story originally aired in 2010 as an episode of LSU’s What Endures podcast, hosted by the center’s director, Jennifer Abraham Kramer.

Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Kezia Setyawan. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber and our digital editor is Katelyn Umholtz. Our engineers are Garrett Pittman and Aubry Procell.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:30 pm. It’s available on Spotify, Google Play, and wherever you get your podcasts. 

Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you’re at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you’d like to listen to.

Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

Alana Schreiber is the managing producer for the live daily news program, Louisiana Considered. She comes to WWNO from KUNC in Northern Colorado, where she worked as a radio producer for the daily news magazine, Colorado Edition. She has previously interned for Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul and The Documentary Group in New York City.