Raylawni Branch facts for kids

Raylawni Branch (born 1941) is an important figure in the Civil Rights Movement from Mississippi. She is also a nursing teacher and an officer in the US Air Force Reserve. She is most famous for helping to integrate the University of Southern Mississippi in 1965. This event was peaceful, unlike the violent events that happened when James Meredith enrolled at the University of Mississippi in 1962.

Early Life and Learning

Raylawni Branch grew up in different places in Mississippi and in Chicago, Illinois. Her family moved many times. When they lived in Chicago, they sometimes did not have a home. She went to schools where most students were white, and her teachers often did not talk to her.

Her family returned to Mississippi when she was a teenager. By the time she finished eighth grade, she had moved eleven times and attended eight different schools. She graduated from Royal Street High School in Hattiesburg in 1959. There, her history teacher, Marjorie Chambers, taught her about political action and how to make a difference. She also found inspiration listening to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches on the radio.

Working for Civil Rights

As a teenager, Raylawni worked at a restaurant in Hattiesburg. There, she met Clyde Kennard, a man who tried to attend the University of Southern Mississippi. His efforts to integrate the school began in 1956. Raylawni saw him on the day he was supposed to meet with Dr. William David McCain, the college president. Kennard believed in people's goodness, even Dr. McCain, who was known for supporting segregation.

Kennard's meeting led to unfair treatment and legal problems. Raylawni attended his trial. She and others tried to get a witness to tell the truth, but he was afraid for his family.

After high school, Raylawni worked on farms in Michigan. She lived in small shacks without basic services. She soon returned to Mississippi.

Joining the Movement

From 1959 to 1965, Raylawni was a homemaker and raised three children. When civil rights groups from the North came to Mississippi in the early 1960s, she became very active. She served as the secretary for the NAACP in Forrest County. She was also a member of other important groups like the Council of Federated Organizations, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

She took part in many activities. On August 28, 1963, she was one of 250,000 people who heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. give his famous "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. She helped integrate bus stations in Hattiesburg. She was also the first African American hired at a local clothing factory and offered a job at the local telephone company.

Raylawni knew many civil rights leaders, including Aaron Henry, Charles Evers, and Medgar Evers. When Medgar Evers was assassinated in 1963, she went to be with his widow, Myrlie Evers-Williams.

Integrating the University

In 1965, when Raylawni was 24, the NAACP asked her to help integrate the University of Southern Mississippi. This was one of the last major universities in Mississippi that was still segregated. The NAACP offered to pay her tuition.

On September 6, 1965, Raylawni (then Raylawni Young) and 18-year-old Elaine Armstrong became the first African American students at the University of Southern Mississippi.

By this time, other universities in Mississippi had already integrated. Leaders at the University of Southern Mississippi knew they could not stop integration. They made secret plans to help Raylawni and Elaine attend. They assigned a faculty member to guide and tutor each student. Campus police were given strict orders to prevent any problems. Student leaders were also asked to help keep things calm.

Because of these plans, Raylawni had only one small negative experience during her year at the university. She studied Pre-Medicine and worked in the biology department. She and Elaine attended classes with six bodyguards. One of them was a local policeman who had previously been involved in a civil rights protest with her. Dr. Geoffrey Fish, a biology professor, was her guardian and tutor. He was very kind and helpful, like a father figure.

Raylawni says she was treated like everyone else. She faced challenges with her grades because of her financial situation and family life. She also felt her earlier segregated high school education had not prepared her well enough.

Attending the university was very difficult for her. In September 1965, she had three young children, aged three, five, and six, to care for. Her first husband made it hard for her to study at night. The NAACP paid her tuition, but she had no money for living expenses. She earned some money from her student job and received a little help from groups like the Delta Ministry and from Vernon Dahmer.

Raylawni worked with civil rights leader Vernon Dahmer in the NAACP and on voter registration. She often attended meetings at his house. In January 1966, the night before Dahmer's home was attacked, he sent her boxes of groceries to help her family.

Later Life and Career

After separating from her husband in 1966, Raylawni moved to New York. She received a scholarship to study nursing. While in New York, she was active in the Anti-Vietnam War movement. In October 1967, she joined 35,000 anti-war protesters at a demonstration called the "March on The Pentagon".

She earned her bachelor's degree in Nursing from the University of Miami in 1969.

In 1975, she joined the Air Force Reserves. She rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and was stationed at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado. In the Air Force, she worked as a chief nurse and director of an operating room.

Raylawni returned to Hattiesburg in 1987. In 1988, she enrolled in a Master's program at the University of Southern Mississippi. She earned her master's degree in Community Health Nursing in 1993.

She worked as a nursing instructor at Pearl River Community College and as a Nurse Coordinator for the American Red Cross. In 2004, she retired from teaching nursing at the University of Southern Mississippi.

In 2003, she ran for the Mississippi State Senate as a Republican.