NSU invites public to campus for conversation with Dr. Harold Aldridge Jr.

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Northeastern State University will welcome author, scholar and emeritus professor of psychology Dr. Harold Aldridge Jr. to the Tahlequah campus for “A Conversation with Dr. Harold Aldridge Jr.” on April 23.

The event will begin at 2 p.m. in NSU’s Wilson Hall Banquet Room and is free and open to NSU students, staff, faculty and members of the public. This event is inspired by a similar event held at NSU last spring, “A Conversation with Lelia Foley-Davis.”

“The event is actually an oral history interview, where two students from the HIST 3753: African American History in Oklahoma course will interview Dr. Aldridge,” said Dr. Lindsay Silver, assistant professor of History at NSU. “The event will be recorded, and the interview will be placed in the NSU Special Collections.”

Silver explained that students from her history course will develop questions for Aldridge focused on his experience growing up in the historically Black town of Taft, his work as a historian conducting interviews with Black educators in Oklahoma about segregation and integration in public education, and his personal recollections of that time period.

Aldridge earned his doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Oklahoma in 1979 and taught at NSU for 27 years, from 1970 to 1997. In 2020, he was named an NSU Centurion, an annual award presented to members of the NSU family—alumni, faculty, staff and students—who have had a significant impact on the life of the nominator, the NSU community or the public at large.

In October 2022, Aldridge published “What If the Past Was Lost Forever? Then Who Would Pass on What?: Segregation and Desegregation in Oklahoma Public Schools.” The book sheds light on the Black experience in Oklahoma during segregation and integration, using first-hand testimonies from Black administrators, teachers and coaches.

“I knew that Dr. Aldridge would be an excellent fit for such an event, especially since he is so passionate about preserving the stories of Black educators in Oklahoma, while also having a very important story of his own that needs to be preserved,” Silver said. “The audience will gain a better understanding of his experience growing up in Jim Crow-era Oklahoma and his experience during and after integration. They will also learn about Dr. Aldridge’s work as a historian and his process of conducting oral history interviews, as he has produced a book based on these interviews.”

The event is sponsored by the NSU Department of History, NSU Department of Communication and Media Studies, Center for Women’s Studies and the College of Liberal Arts.

For more information about the event, email Dr. Lindsay Silver at silverl@nsuok.edu.

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