AEJMC Trailblazers of Diversity Interview with Gene Burd
- Introduction Burd says, "we teach who we are, as well as what we do, or have done." He says he's never separated the three.
- There has been changes in the language to describe issues.
- Ancestors had an influence on Burd. He provides a little of his family history. His family is from Tennessee.
- He was born in Missouri. He talks about his father.
- He changed his name to Gene when moving to California. He talks about how radio was back then.
- He was born in 1932. His mother died in childbirth.
- He went to a one-room school in a small town in Missouri.
- Blacks were not allowed in town after dark. He says the only time he saw blacks was when they would unload the feed sacks for the farm animals.
- He says his aunt was a role model in his life because she raised him and went to college. He talks a little about his family dynamic.
- He moved to California in 1946.
- His grandfather married a Native American who was on the Trail of Tears.
- He went to California with his father and three brothers. He talks about living in the aftermath of World War II.
- The high school he went to was predominately white. He graduated in three years in 1949.
- College was on his mind while in high school. He was influenced by English teachers. He enjoyed writing poetry.
- He decided to attend a local junior college in Pasadena.
- He had a female black friend. But, it was when he went to UCLA when he began to think of the black experience.
- He received a bachelor's in political science. After, he decided to go into journalism. He wanted to be a news analyst.
- He was accepted to Colombia University. But, the Los Angeles Times provided money for him to complete a one-year program in journalism.
- He befriended a Japanese American girl. His master's report was on a Japanese American newspaper.
- He went back to the Ozarks one summer and worked in the harvest fields. Another summer he worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad. He wanted to be around "thinkers."
- He attended the University of Iowa to complete his Ph.D. He was there for one year. After, he enlisted in the army.
- In the military, he was sent to Western Europe. He says troops were segregated. This bothered him.
- After the military, he went back to Iowa to try to get his degree, but "it didn't work." 41
- He wanted to get more experience in journalism and got a job writing for the Kansas City Star.
- He wrote obituaries for the paper; his editor told him that the only black obituaries they would publish were minsters.
- He talks about writing for the city beat. He worked for the Kansas City Star for one year or so.
- After, he went to Chicago to find a job with a publication. He went into an employment bureau and was sent to Three Rivers, Michigan, to work for a daily newspaper.
- He wrote a story on a black church in the community. He says that left a mark on him as far as how communities were being covered.
- After, he traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico to find a job. He refers to himself as a "floater." His beat at the Albuquerque Journal was on the military.
- He wrote a story on zoning and the complexities of city planning. This led him to back to school to learn more about journalism in the urban setting.
- He went to Houston, Texas and worked for the Houston Chronicle. He was a general reporter. He became educated on the role of the press in the city.
- In 1959, he started his Ph.D. at Northwestern University. He was also a teaching assistant.
- A man from Chicago city planning came to speak to his class and offered him an internship. He was hired to work in the department of city planning as a specialist in writing press releases.
- During this time, he was writing his dissertation on the decision of the location of a branch for the University of Illinois.
- Burd says he "knew too much" about the location for the new university. He was forced to resign.
- He says after 50 years he figured out what happened. He breaks down the voter fraud incident that caused him to resign.
- After, he moved to Hull House of Chicago.
- While there, he learned how to organize minorities and how to stage protest.
- He stayed out of the press after the incident because he was a "source of information."
- He hadn't finished his dissertation, so he moved to Des Plaines, Illinois. Thanks to the support of his friends, he completed it and got his degree.
- But, he didn't want his Ph.D. to teach.
- After, he was hired at the Des Plaines Journal. He wrote columns titled, "Burd's Eye view." He said these columns got him in trouble.
- He was undecided about working in higher education. He worked at a newspaper in Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect News.
- A man started a paper and Burd helped him operate.
- Marquette University was starting a study for the American press. Burd applied and began his teaching in journalism in 1965.
- He taught reporting, and a graduate course in urban studies. He also taught a course in minority journalism.
- He said he got into trouble occasionally because he was outspoken on issues.
- A poet was visiting town and he encouraged students to see him. The school was against this and Burd led a protest march. He spent 40 years in Milwaukee.
- He moved to Twin Cities, Minneapolis. He got hired in the school of journalism at the University of Minnesota.
- While there, he was active in urban issues. He was also thinking of whether he should stay in academia or go back into journalism.
- After, he moved to Austin, Texas. He was hired in 1972 at the journalism school at the University of Texas.
- Burd says he's never had a car, but he has a driver's license. He got to his assignments with the photographer.
- He says he didn't see many minorities in his years of teaching
- He traveled throughout Texas to help recruit students to attend the University of Texas. He lists a few other accomplishments.
- He helped start a minority division for AEJMC. He was head of three divisions in AEJMC.
- He campaigned for the first woman to be president of AEJMC, Mary Gardner.
- He talks about the formation of Minorities and Communication Division under AEJMC.
- He did a report that was published in 1988.
- He says, "we're all in this together" when referring to academia. There needs to be a collective coming together.
- There has been an improvement in diversity in journalism. Also, the digital age has great possibilities but opens up "a new can of worms."
- He says we have to respect differences, which can be a challenge in a multicultural society.
- While teaching minority courses, he would give students tours of campus. He also donated money to the black community center in East Austin. He ends the interview saying, "living on the cliff is very dangerous and exciting, but the view is spectacular."