“Today is the first time in the history of our institution that we will be awarding an honorary undergraduate degree,” said then President Michael T. Nietzel. Ms. Price Walls was escorted to the podium as he spoke. As a teenager growing up in post-war Springfield, Price Walls was undeniably bright and dedicated, and graduated salutatorian of her high school class. She aspired to attend Southwest Missouri State College.

However, in 1950, Southwest Missouri State was still an all-white college, due to the legalized racist laws and policies of racial segregation. President Nietzel noted, “She was the first African-American to apply for admission to this university. That was a very different time in our state and country’s history, and Mary Jean Price was not admitted.” He stated that in 1950 when Price Walls applied, all public schools were segregated, and her application was denied even though she was salutatorian of her class. She was denied admission and never officially notified of the decision.

Price Walls, a Springfield resident, could not go to Lincoln University (the state’s black college in Jefferson City) because of expenses and her father’s poor health. In 1954, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned “separate but equal,” public education laws, she was married with children. Instead of fulfilling her dream of becoming a teacher, she married a welder and raised eight children. She cleaned houses for white families, and then worked as a janitor until she retired in 2009.

Missouri State University (MSU) learned of the events during the writing of Daring to Excel, The First 100 Years of Southwest Missouri State University by Dr. Donald Lancaster. Price Walls’ son, Terry Amin Walls, a criminology major at the University, explored the archives after recalling an aunt who said his mother was the school’s first black applicant. Amin discovered correspondence that confirmed his aunt’s account.

MSU wanted to acknowledge the episode and fulfill Ms. Price Walls’ dream of a college degree. The administration, the Faculty Senate, and the Board of Governors all recommended that she receive the first honorary bachelor’s degree in the history of the university. Mary Jean Price Walls was awarded an honorary degree from Missouri State University in 2010, six decades after she was denied admission based on race and the color of her skin.

What she didn’t know in 1950 was that her application had created shock waves in the top circles of Missouri’s higher education leadership. A series of letters between the presidents of the state’s public colleges and universities refer to her as “the colored girl” who was seeking admission. The formal minutes from the University’s board of regents’ special meeting showed her application was eventually denied by eight white men. The Price Walls story not only captivated the local audience, but national news outlets, including ABC and NBC, aired pieces about Price Walls which were broadcast around the country.

In 2016, the MSU Multicultural Resource Center Annex was proudly named in recognition of Mary Jean Price Walls. Ms. Price Walls, the daughter of a black woman and a white man, had attended Lincoln High School-the school designated for African Americans during the era of legalized segregation. In a 2012 KSMU interview, she said, “I kept waiting and waiting and waiting, and I never got an answer. I always had the hope, but I never got a formal ‘yes’ or ‘no’.” A generation later, her son, Terry Amin Walls, discovered the eloquent letter his mother had typed on fragile, onion-skin paper and had mailed to the university registrar. It read, “My Dear Mr. Thompson, I desire at this time to explain why I want to enter the college and why I believe my application should be granted. If denied admission, I must either abandon my ambition, or go elsewhere to obtain the same advantages which could be made available to me at home. My parents are not well-to-do…” He eventually graduated from the same university that had denied his mother admission all those years ago. Mary Jean Price Walls watched from the audience.

The 11th Missouri State University President, Clif Smart, remembered Mrs. Mary Jean Price Walls at her passing, saying that she was “…a reminder of our history of discrimination which we continue to work to overcome!”