Fargo-Moorhead’s African American community began to rise from a low of a few families in the early 1960s back to the size of the original 19th century African American community by 1990. Our colleges were the driving force of this change, offering good education for students and good jobs for faculty who made Fargo-Moorhead their home. As North Dakota became the front line of the Cold War, Black military families were stationed at the Air Force bases in Grand Forks and Minot and the nuclear missile facilities in rural communities.
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Dr. William Waddell - Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Housing Rights Advocate
In 1963, the US Department of Agriculture asked Dr. William Waddell to help stop an outbreak of Bovine Tuberculosis that was devastating cattle herds across North Dakota. Dr. Waddell, born in Virginia in 1908, was a groundbreaking veterinarian who worked with George Washington Carver at Tuskegee Institute, where he helped establish a veterinary school, and where his wife Lottie also taught. He served as Regimental Veterinarian for the 9th Cavalry in North Africa and Italy in WWII, where he was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. The author of several books, Dr. Waddell wrote that he and Lottie made many good friends in Fargo. Lottie taught Modern Languages at NDSU and Concordia. William became the first African American member of Kiwanis in Fargo, and to his knowledge, the whole USA. As an advocate of social justice, he did not allow his family’s experience of housing discrimination to be swept under the rug. |
Dr. Waddell faced housing discrimination in Fargo in the 1960s. Courtesy of Zalk Veterinary Medical Library, University of Missouri.
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“He was more than a veterinarian. He was a person of conscience.”
- Dr. Yvonne Condell on Dr. William Waddell
- Dr. Yvonne Condell on Dr. William Waddell
During World War II, Dr. Waddell served as Regimental Veterinarian in the 9th US Cavalry, the famous “Buffalo Soldiers.” He saw combat in Italy and North Africa where he was wounded and awarded the Bronze Star. From Some Bastardy People, William Waddell, 1995.
The Waddells Fight Housing Discrimination
Looking for a nice apartment for his family in 1964, Dr. Waddell contacted 29 Fargo landlords advertising apartments for rent. In each case, he was told the property was no longer available. Suspicious, Dr. Waddell asked white friends to inquire about some of these same apartments - they were, in fact, for rent.
Dr. Waddell carefully documented his efforts and went public with the injustice. He contacted local, state and federal officials for assistance and received letters back from Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey. He spoke to church and civic groups and local media. Many in Fargo believed, as Fargo Mayor Herschel Lashkowitz said in a letter to Dr. Waddell, that Fargo was “a City which is free of discrimination and bigotry.” Dr. Waddell’s experience refuted that idea and forced the community to face an ugly fact of Fargo life.
The federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 made the type of bias Dr. Waddell faced illegal, though discrimination still occurs. Dr. and Mrs. Waddell did eventually find adequate housing in Fargo. They retired to Hawaii in 1972.
Looking for a nice apartment for his family in 1964, Dr. Waddell contacted 29 Fargo landlords advertising apartments for rent. In each case, he was told the property was no longer available. Suspicious, Dr. Waddell asked white friends to inquire about some of these same apartments - they were, in fact, for rent.
Dr. Waddell carefully documented his efforts and went public with the injustice. He contacted local, state and federal officials for assistance and received letters back from Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey. He spoke to church and civic groups and local media. Many in Fargo believed, as Fargo Mayor Herschel Lashkowitz said in a letter to Dr. Waddell, that Fargo was “a City which is free of discrimination and bigotry.” Dr. Waddell’s experience refuted that idea and forced the community to face an ugly fact of Fargo life.
The federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 made the type of bias Dr. Waddell faced illegal, though discrimination still occurs. Dr. and Mrs. Waddell did eventually find adequate housing in Fargo. They retired to Hawaii in 1972.
The Importance of Colleges
Fargo-Moorhead’s colleges have long attracted talented students, educators, and administrators from around the country and across the world. Starting in the 1950s, international students from Africa and the Caribbean were drawn to Minnesota State University Moorhead, Concordia College, and North Dakota State University. In the 1960s, our local colleges began recruiting African American students and faculty at the same time as these students were seeking educational opportunities outside of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
A growing number of African American and international faculty put down roots in Fargo-Moorhead. The trend of our colleges attracting faculty and students from around the world, as well as giving talented locals a reason to stay, continues to be an important driver of our community’s diversity.
Here are some students and their stories:
Fargo-Moorhead’s colleges have long attracted talented students, educators, and administrators from around the country and across the world. Starting in the 1950s, international students from Africa and the Caribbean were drawn to Minnesota State University Moorhead, Concordia College, and North Dakota State University. In the 1960s, our local colleges began recruiting African American students and faculty at the same time as these students were seeking educational opportunities outside of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
A growing number of African American and international faculty put down roots in Fargo-Moorhead. The trend of our colleges attracting faculty and students from around the world, as well as giving talented locals a reason to stay, continues to be an important driver of our community’s diversity.
Here are some students and their stories:
Early International Students
Starting in the early 1950s, a handful of Black international students attended local colleges. Nigerian brothers Sebastian and Rufus Isola Kola-Bankole took classes at Minnesota State University Moorhead (then called Moorhead State College). In 1963, Jamaican Allan Brown enrolled at MSUM, graduating in 1965 with a degree in biology.
Starting in the early 1950s, a handful of Black international students attended local colleges. Nigerian brothers Sebastian and Rufus Isola Kola-Bankole took classes at Minnesota State University Moorhead (then called Moorhead State College). In 1963, Jamaican Allan Brown enrolled at MSUM, graduating in 1965 with a degree in biology.
The Condells
Dr. James and Dr. Yvonne Condell moved to Moorhead in 1965. Both Dr. Condells gained the respect of their peers and the admiration of good friends. They became mentors to students and leaders in the community. Both lifelong social justice advocates, the Condells led Minnesota State University Moorhead’s efforts to attract diverse students and faculty, and encouraged organizations in their town to promote African American culture.
Dr. James and Dr. Yvonne Condell moved to Moorhead in 1965. Both Dr. Condells gained the respect of their peers and the admiration of good friends. They became mentors to students and leaders in the community. Both lifelong social justice advocates, the Condells led Minnesota State University Moorhead’s efforts to attract diverse students and faculty, and encouraged organizations in their town to promote African American culture.
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Dr. Yvonne Condell - Educator and Advocate
Yvonne Corker was born in Georgia to a family that believed in education. Her mother had gone to college, and it was expected that she would as well. After graduating high school at age 16, she earned two degrees at Florida A&M University and a PhD in Biology at the University of Connecticut. Very few women in the 1950s were doing graduate work, and even fewer African American women. In 1965, Dr. Yvonne Condell and her husband, Dr. James Condell, began teaching at MSUM. The Moorhead college was her scholarly home for the next 30 years, but her achievements often reached the national and international level. She traveled around the world as a national boardmember of the American Association of University Women, taught biology in Spain as well as in Libya during the late 1970s, and served on the Department of Energy’s advisory group on the disposal of nuclear waste from 1980-89. Since retiring in 1995, she has worked with American Association of Retired People, Minnesota Public Radio, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and the Minnesota State Arts Board. She has aided the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County as an advisor to this exhibit and the Felix Battles Statue Project. Dr. Yvonne Condell in the 1960s. Minnesota State University Moorhead Archives.
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Dr. James Condell in 1971.
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Dr. James Condell - Psychologist and Musician
James F. Condell played his first piano gig at the age of 14 in Louisville, KY. His musical skill got him a scholarship at Kentucky State College, but since the college band already had a piano player, he took up a new instrument: the guitar. He also began studying Psychology and Sociology. After graduation, he served with the US Army Air Corps during World War II. He played in a nightclub’s house band for a year in Nashville before deciding to make a career in Academia. He received his master’s degree at Columbia and PhD at the University of Nebraska. While teaching at Florida A&M, he met his wife, biologist Yvonne Condell. In 1956, the two moved north, first to Grand Forks and then to Fergus Falls where James worked as a psychologist for children at Lakeland Mental Health Association in Fergus Falls. In 1958 he became the first African American member of Rotary International in Fergus Falls, and to his knowledge, the whole USA. Missing the school setting, both James and Yvonne Condell took jobs at Minnesota State University Moorhead in 1965. He served as Professor of Psychology for the next 27 years, was department head for 10 years, and was a Diplomate of the American Psychological Association. But he never gave up music. He performed in bands across the region, taught guitar, and hosted popular public radio jazz programs. He learned Spanish so he could study classical guitar at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid in the 1970s. Dr. James Condell passed away in 1998, two weeks after his last gig. |
“For me, one of the best things going on at [Moorhead State College] is in the area of minority education. One of the worst things happening at MSC or any other place is that one has to have minority education. Racism can be ended.”
- Dr. James Condell, 1970
- Dr. James Condell, 1970
Jazz Music of Dr. James Condell
The music you hear is performances by Dr. James Condell and his bands from the 1970-1990s. To allow you to hear it, licensing fees were paid by people whose lives were touched by Dr. James Condell as a friend or mentor.
In memory of his teacher and bandmate, Bill Law paid half and challenged the community to come up with the rest. The challenge was met by Davis Scott, Rick and Roberta Henderson, Siri and Thomas Fiebiger, John Rowell and Claudia English, Marv and Clare Degerness, and Ineke Justitz.
Thank you.
The music you hear is performances by Dr. James Condell and his bands from the 1970-1990s. To allow you to hear it, licensing fees were paid by people whose lives were touched by Dr. James Condell as a friend or mentor.
In memory of his teacher and bandmate, Bill Law paid half and challenged the community to come up with the rest. The challenge was met by Davis Scott, Rick and Roberta Henderson, Siri and Thomas Fiebiger, John Rowell and Claudia English, Marv and Clare Degerness, and Ineke Justitz.
Thank you.
Project E-Quality
The numbers of Black Fargo-Moorhead residents remained low through the 1960s. That began to change in 1968. After the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, many northern college administrators sought to help the Civil Rights Movement by recruiting underserved African American/Black, Hispanic and Native American students, and providing them with financial and academic assistance. Minnesota State University Moorhead’s program was called Project E-Quality.
Designed by President John Neumeier and implemented by his successor, President Roland Dille, Project E-Quality aimed to provide students of color with educational opportunities and introduce predominantly white Fargo-Moorhead institutions to African American students and vice versa.
Racial tensions existed through the project duration. Project E-Quality forced the community to face them. Though many white students and community members welcomed the students, others treated them with suspicion or worse. Students who felt isolated banded together to create their own organizations and events and express their own culture. About 120 students of Black, Hispanic, and Native American background attended MSUM between 1968 and the project’s end in 1974. Today Concordia College and North Dakota State University’s student populations are about 2.6% African-American. MSUM’s is about 3.8%.
The numbers of Black Fargo-Moorhead residents remained low through the 1960s. That began to change in 1968. After the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, many northern college administrators sought to help the Civil Rights Movement by recruiting underserved African American/Black, Hispanic and Native American students, and providing them with financial and academic assistance. Minnesota State University Moorhead’s program was called Project E-Quality.
Designed by President John Neumeier and implemented by his successor, President Roland Dille, Project E-Quality aimed to provide students of color with educational opportunities and introduce predominantly white Fargo-Moorhead institutions to African American students and vice versa.
Racial tensions existed through the project duration. Project E-Quality forced the community to face them. Though many white students and community members welcomed the students, others treated them with suspicion or worse. Students who felt isolated banded together to create their own organizations and events and express their own culture. About 120 students of Black, Hispanic, and Native American background attended MSUM between 1968 and the project’s end in 1974. Today Concordia College and North Dakota State University’s student populations are about 2.6% African-American. MSUM’s is about 3.8%.
“It was a momentous occasion for us. At the time we had very few African American students and we were able to introduce the community to aspects of our culture. Introduce them to our lives.”
- Dr. Yvonne Condell
- Dr. Yvonne Condell
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Carl Griffin - Student Activist
Carl Griffin, a native of St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood, transferred to Minnesota State University Moorhead in 1967. He was one of only seven Black students at the time. Griffin co-founded the Afro-American Friendship Organization among students of the three local campuses, he was an editor and reporter for the school paper, and he was one of the reasons why Moorhead State was the center of Vietnam War protests in Greater Minnesota. He worked with MSUM President John Neumeier and Dr. James Condell to find ways of recruiting more African American students. When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, Griffin gave an emotional speech at the college’s memorial service calling on the community to do something in support of the Civil Rights Movement. For that purpose, MSUM initiated Project E-Quality. Griffin was named to the steering committee and established a Cultural Exchange Center for the new students. While still a student, Griffin began a professional journalism career. He was the first African American reporter for the Fargo Forum, a news assistant at the Washington Post, and a reporter at the Minneapolis Tribune. He later developed a career as administrator of several non-profits. Now retired, he continues to work for social justice, LGBTQ rights, and racial equality. |
Student activist Carl Griffin gave a stirring speech at a MSUM memorial service for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Red River Scene Collection, HCSCC.
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The Rondo Brothers of Moorhead
Carl Griffin, Russel T. Balenger, Readus W. Fletcher, and Lewis Scott all grew up in St. Paul’s Rondo Neighborhood as the construction of Interstate I-94 demolished much of the historic African American community. All four attended Minnesota State University Moorhead in the late 1960s. All four went on to great things. With the help of Carl’s grand-nephew and fellow-Dragon Juron Griffin, they recently launched a project to tell their stories through oral histories and interviews. (Left) Carl Griffin on a zoom call with his fellow Rondo Brothers.
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In 2024 the Minnesota Historical Society produced The Brothers of Rondo: A Legacy of Black Resilience. The documentary highlights the history of the Rondo neighborhood and the stories of the Rondo Brothers. Markus Krueger, our Programming Director, served as one of the producers of the documentary.