Norm Monroe, 1961
Last Spring OSU Alum Norm Monroe was one of five panelists who shared his story regarding the desegration of the OSU Men’s College Basketball team during the 1960s.
Norm Monroe is OSU’s first African-American basketball player for the Men’s Team. He played during 1960-1961, but left the team half-way through the season. In a brief Barometer article in January of 1961 it states that Monroe left the basketball team in order to focus on Track. That year and the next, he was one of OSU’s star Track and Field Athletes.
We were lucky enough to interview him in-depth. During the Oral History Monroe discusses growing up in Washington D.C. and his early experiences with sports; moving to California to attend Compton Junior College and join the track team and later being recruited by the Oregon State University track team; his experiences at OSU as an athlete, for both track and basketball, as a student, as well as a newcomer to Corvallis during the early 1960s; his return to Washington D.C. and working at a hospital morgue and later at the National History Museum; his journey back to Oregon and residence in Lake Oswego with a job with the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration; and his personal and professional experiences with Mental Health.
Interview Information:
Date: May 18, 2011
Place: Corvallis, OR
Length: 1:20:02
Interviewee: Charlie White
Interviewer: Dwaine Plaza
Transcriber: Natalia Fernández
Related Material: Baseketball Desegregation Event and Charlie White Oral History Interview
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