Meet Bernyce Mills-DeVaughn, the freedom fighter who helped integrate Philadelphia's Girard College
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A woman who marched to force the integration of an all-White boys' school in North Philadelphia shared her story at a Black History Month program at Arcadia University Thursday evening.
"We saw them picketing at Girard College and we started walking with them," 76-year-old Bernyce Mills-DeVaughn said.
She was just 16 years old in the mid-1960s when the Norfolk, Virginia, native moved to North Philadelphia near Girard College. Back then, it was an all-boys school for only White orphans.
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"In 1964, Cecil Moore said, 'I'm going to take it back to court,'" she said.
Mills-DeVaughn still had pictures from the protests she joined to integrate Girard College the following summer as a member of the freedom fighters. The group was led by former Philadelphia NAACP Chapter President Cecil B. Moore. Mills-DeVaughn said she remembered marching while police watched.
"Being afraid? We were young, so we didn't have that overall fear," Mills-DeVaughn said.
She also remembered a scary day when police dogs chased her late sister, who also protested.
"Debbie tripped and fell. When she fell, the dogs were chasing. They pounced on Debbie, and the dog started biting her and holding her down," Mills-DeVaughn said.
The two both witnessed the changes that would come.
"The student body now is predominantly African American," Girard College president David Hardy said.
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He said was grateful to Mills-DeVaughn. The first Black students who joined started attending Girard in 1968. Since then, the premier prep school has educated hundreds of students of color every year.
"We send two kids to Space Camp every summer. That is an incredible opportunity," Hardy said. "The freedom fighters made Girard's will and his estate relevant to today's world, and we owe them a debt of gratitude for that."
And 60 years later, Mills-DeVaughn said she still cannot believe her impact.
"Wow! It's a feel-good, and it's kind of overwhelming, but it's a good thing," Mills-DeVaughn said.
