Emmett W. Bashful papers

Dr. Emmett Bashful, educator and political scientist, was born on March 12, 1917, in Oscar, Louisiana. He was a native of Pointe Coupee Parish, but the family moved to Baton Rouge when he was four years old, where he was educated in the public schools of East Baton Rouge. He was one of the first African Americans to receive a graduate degree in Political Science from the University of Illinois. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1940 and continued on to the University of Illinois Political Science program attaining a Masters of Arts in 1947 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1955. He worked as an educator and author in the field of political science and served as Dean, Vice-President, and then Chancellor at Southern University at New Orleans from 1959-1987. In 1942, he joined the United States Army at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and was commissioned as a Field Artillery Officer. He was part of a group of twenty African American Officers sent to Camp Livingston, Louisiana as part of the 46th Field Artillery Brigade and faced segregation in the camp. Dr. Bashful was a member of many organizations including Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the NAACP, the New Orleans Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Community Relations Council and the United Way of Greater New Orleans.

The papers document his career in education and political science including materials from the Souther University at New Orleans (SUNO) and an extensive collection of awards and certificates. Of note is a transcription of an interview of Dr. Bashful done by Dr. Jewel L. Prestage of the Southern Political Science Association in 1998, which extensively discusses Dr. Bashful’s experience with segregation during his time in the army and as a member of the association.