Audrey Cyrus McCallum was the first African-American student to enroll at the Peabody Preparatory, and this is a program from what was likely her first recital at Peabody.
After a five and a half year long conversation and nine months after Brown v. Board of education, the Peabody Institute Board of Trustees made the decision to drop all discriminatory policies in all branches of the Institute.
Reginald Stewart received this inquiry from Katherine J. Lane regarding the Preparatory’s policies on accepting African-American students. He then wrote to William Marbury saying, “This is obviously a test letter. I should like to have your opinion…
Leah Thorpe, Dean of the Preparatory, submitted a plan for integrating the Preparatory Department over the course of four years. This plan paralleled a similar model used by the Friends School, a private school nearby, but was not adopted at Peabody.