Joe Atkins

Submitted By jev0010 on Thu, 07/09/2015 - 4:13pm
Joe L. Atkins (’66 M.Ed.), whose lawsuit in the 1950s paved the way for African American undergraduates to attend UNT, died July 7 in Dallas. He was 79. Atkins planned to register at what was then North Texas State College in 1955 after attending Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark., on a one-year scholarship. A. Tennyson Miller had attended North Texas in 1954 as a doctoral student and the institution’s first African American student, but Atkins’ application to attend as an undergraduate was denied. “I just wanted an education,” Atkins told The North Texan in 2004. “My sister was going to be in college the following year, and I knew it would be hard for my parents to continue to send me to Philander Smith.” Atkins’ family, represented by lawyers of the NAACP, sued the school, and the judge ordered North Texas to desegregate. The first black undergraduate student, Irma E.L. Sephas, began attending class in spring 1956. Atkins had enrolled at Texas Western College in El Paso while the lawsuit was pending and finished his bachelor’s degree there. In a UNT oral history interview, he recalled his reaction to the ruling. “I was delighted that this had happened, and I think I sent a letter to the Dallas Youth Council and encouraged them to go to North Texas. I was already comfortable there at Texas Western and didn’t want to go through with another readjustment.” Atkins did later enroll at North Texas — to work on a master’s degree in education, which he earned in 1966. In the oral history interview, he quipped that he got “the normal reception that a student receives. They never noticed me. I was delighted.” Atkins also was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from UNT in 2004. After earning his master’s, he taught in the Dallas ISD and served as a field representative for the Texas State Teachers Association. He later worked as a real estate broker. Atkins' legacy lives on campus. UNT has become one of the most diverse universities in the nation. The Progressive Black Student Organization named him an honorary member, and the NAACP’s campus chapter recognized him with the Pioneer Integration Award. A scholarship at UNT is named in honor of Atkins and Miller.

Joe L. Atkins (’66 M.Ed.), whose lawsuit in the 1950s paved the way for African American undergraduates to attend UNT, died July 7 in Dallas. He was 79.

Atkins planned to register at what was then North Texas State College in 1955 after attending Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark., on a one-year scholarship.

A. Tennyson Miller had attended North Texas in 1954 as a doctoral student and the institution’s first African American student, but Atkins’ application to attend as an undergraduate was denied.

“I just wanted an education,” Atkins told The North Texan in 2004. “My sister was going to be in college the following year, and I knew it would be hard for my parents to continue to send me to Philander Smith.”

Atkins’ family, represented by lawyers of the NAACP, sued the school, and the judge ordered North Texas to desegregate. The first black undergraduate student, Irma E.L. Sephas, began attending class in spring 1956.

Atkins had enrolled at Texas Western College in El Paso while the lawsuit was pending and finished his bachelor’s degree there.

In a UNT oral history interview, he recalled his reaction to the ruling.

“I was delighted that this had happened, and I think I sent a letter to the Dallas Youth Council and encouraged them to go to North Texas. I was already comfortable there at Texas Western and didn’t want to go through with another readjustment.”

Atkins did later enroll at North Texas — to work on a master’s degree in education, which he earned in 1966.

In the oral history interview, he quipped that he got “the normal reception that a student receives. They never noticed me. I was delighted.”

Atkins also was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from UNT in 2004.

After earning his master’s, he taught in the Dallas ISD and served as a field representative for the Texas State Teachers Association. He later worked as a real estate broker.

Atkins' legacy lives on campus. UNT has become one of the most diverse universities in the nation. The Progressive Black Student Organization named him an honorary member, and the NAACP’s campus chapter recognized him with the Pioneer Integration Award. A scholarship at UNT is named in honor of Atkins and Miller.

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