Before Judy Gladney was among the first black students to integrate University City High School, she and her family were the first black people to move into a gated community in the city called University Hills.
For Gladney, 67, being among the first was almost a family tradition.
“We were a family of firsts,” Gladney said. “My father was a physician. He broke down many barriers. He was the first (black) head of a department of medicine at St. Louis U. We were one of the first black families at Pilgrim Congregational Church. So it was a lifestyle for us to constantly be in diverse environments.”
Moving to University City meant leaving behind her friends in north St. Louis, Gladney said. She was “pretty devastated” to miss out on going to Beaumont High, where her brother and sister had excelled. Check out the full story.
By Holly Edgell, St. Louis Public Radio
