Yesterday Jamie and I had the honor of meeting Professor Donald Rasmussen, who along with his late wife, Prof. Lore Rasmussen, is featured prominently in Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow: Jewish Refugee Scholars at Black Colleges. Bonnie, the curator, gave Prof. Rasmussen and his son a tour of the exhibit and was kind enough to let us come along.
The exhibit is a must-see because it is a mostly unknown chapter in history and because of its positive themes. However, I admit that, for the staff, one of the best parts has been the chance to meet and get to know these incredible professors and their former students, all of whom have shared fascinating stories with us.
Prof. Rasmussen was no exception. He told us a very interesting story about when the KKK burned a cross in front of his house in Talladega, Alabama that was meant to scare him and his wife out of voting. He saw it out a window while he was tucking his son and his son’s best friend, who is African American, into bed. He tried to make them feel safe by playing a Tchaikovsky piece to soothe them. The next day they went to vote as planned.
Shortly thereafter he put the remnants of the cross on a wall in his house, “it was quite a conversation piece,” he said as he laughed, but I think what he was trying to show was that he (and his wife who had escaped Germany) would not be intimidated.
To learn more about their experiences at Talladega and about the other professors and students, please stop by and visit us soon.
The exhibit is a must-see because it is a mostly unknown chapter in history and because of its positive themes. However, I admit that, for the staff, one of the best parts has been the chance to meet and get to know these incredible professors and their former students, all of whom have shared fascinating stories with us.
Prof. Rasmussen was no exception. He told us a very interesting story about when the KKK burned a cross in front of his house in Talladega, Alabama that was meant to scare him and his wife out of voting. He saw it out a window while he was tucking his son and his son’s best friend, who is African American, into bed. He tried to make them feel safe by playing a Tchaikovsky piece to soothe them. The next day they went to vote as planned.
Shortly thereafter he put the remnants of the cross on a wall in his house, “it was quite a conversation piece,” he said as he laughed, but I think what he was trying to show was that he (and his wife who had escaped Germany) would not be intimidated.
To learn more about their experiences at Talladega and about the other professors and students, please stop by and visit us soon.
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