Royster, Constance, 2005 May 3

Constance Royster was born in New Haven, but moved to Bethany, CT while she was in ninth grade. After spending a year at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, Royster transferred to Yale as part of Yale College's first co-ed class. She discusses her experiences at Yale and the difficulties of being a "pioneer." Royster discusses her impressions of the Bobby Seale/Erika Huggins Black Panther trials in 1970, focusing specifically on the manner in which the experience bonded together formerly disparate segments of the Yale and New Haven communities. Erika Huggins, coincidentally, is a distant cousin of Royster's. She also speaks to the nature of racial and gender relations on Yale's campus in the early 1970s. After graduation from Yale, Royster attended law school and became an attorney in New York City. Royster discusses changes she's seen in the New Haven area since her childhood years, including the destruction of important residential and community centers such as the Elm Haven projects. She sees, however, positive changes on the horizion, epitomized by the increasing cleanliness, safety, and vitality of New Haven's downtown.

Interviewer: Matthews, Emily and Sufrin, Hannah

Length (min): 51