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Article: Our Neighbors: Documentary shows true 'Debaters"
- Article from:
- Oakland Tribune
- Article date:
- March 25, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 Oakland Tribune. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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The story of the accomplishments of the 1930s debate team at
Wiley College, a historically black institution in Marshall, Texas,
needs no embellishment.
Many of the students on the team were financially poor, but "rich
with pride, intelligence and motivation to change their life
circumstances through oratorical expressions."
Guided by Melvin Tolson, the team known as "The Great Debaters"
had a 10-year run of competition success starting in 1929 that
included defeating larger, more established black schools, including
Tuskegee, Fisk and Howard. It topped that in 1935 by beating the
team from USC before an audience of 1,100 at the National
Championship.
One of the members on the Wiley College ...