JoAnne Smart Drane’s Typewriter
On September 20, 1956, Fall Semester classes began at Woman’s College (now UNCG). And for the first time in its history, the WC body included two African American women. JoAnne Smart and Bettye Ann Davis Tillman enrolled in the Fall of 1956 as freshman at WC, becoming trailblazers in the desegregation of the WC campus. Both graduated with the Class of 1960.
JoAnne Smart of Raleigh entered WC as a 17-year-old. She had been president of her class at the segregated J.W. Ligon School, where she was also a cheerleader and member of the glee club. Smart used this Smith Corona typewriter while she was enrolled at WC.
Supplemental Materials
If I had it to do over again, I’d do it without hesitation
JoAnne Smart and Bettye Ann Davis Tillman
