Raven Copeland | rcpland1@memphis.edu

Memphis State Eight’s legacy lives on at the U of M

Eight African American students defied odds and shattered racial barriers when they set foot on the campus of Memphis State University in fall of 1959. Luther McClellan, Marvis Kneeland Jones, Sammie Johnson, Ralph Prater, Eleanor Gandy, Rose Blakney Love, Bertha Rogers Looney and John Simpson were ...