Desegregation of Murray State College

Shortly after the historic U.S. Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education, et. al. decision, Murray State College "with all deliberate speed," welcomed Mary Ford Holland of Kuttawa, Ky., as a student in the summer of 1955. Holland's enrollment earned her the distinction of being Murray's first African American student.

(Reverse) Holland's enrollment at Murray State occurred without incident. In the fall of 1955, four more African American students enrolled. They were Geneva Arnold, Bobby Brandon, Arlene Keyes, & Willie Earl Perry-graduates of Murray's segregated Frederick Douglass High School.