[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 33 (Thursday, February 27, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E264]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF MR. LANCELOT THOMPSON

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 27, 2014

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, during Black History month, I rise today to 
recognize Lancelot C.A. Thompson of Toledo, Ohio. Toledo Blade 
newspaper reporter Federico Martinez wrote about Dr. Thompson when a 
room at the University of Toledo was dedicated in his name recently.
  A chemistry instructor, Dr. Thompson was the first African American 
professor hired by the University of Toledo, in 1958. He explained his 
initial reception to the reporter: while driving to work through what 
was considered a white neighborhood, ``The police would pull me over 
and accuse me of failing to stop at the stop sign. `What are you doing 
over here?' the police would ask me. When I told them I was faculty at 
the university, they would call me a liar and give me a ticket.'' 
Arriving on campus the reception was no better. School security would 
try to stop him from entering the faculty parking lot. Sometimes they 
would threaten him; other times they would mock him for claiming that 
he, a black man, was a professor. ``They tried to stop me from parking 
in the lot,'' Dr. Thompson said. ``But I did anyways.''
  Dr. Thompson retired from the University of Toledo in 1998 after 40 
years of teaching. He recently returned to campus for a special honor: 
the unveiling of the Lancelot C.A. Thompson Meeting Room in the 
University of Toledo's Student Union. At the ceremony, University of 
Toledo Athletic Director Mike O'Brien noted, ``Over the years, Lance 
has been an adviser, a mentor, and most of all, a friend to many of our 
student-athletes,'' Among the over one hundred attendees was Dr. 
Thompson's longtime friend John C. Moore who said the recognition was 
both overdue and well-deserved. He explained that Dr. Thompson was a 
pioneer who paved the way for other African American professionals at 
the university. ``He is such an intelligent gentleman who is really 
concerned about the fate of his fellow man. He's very educated and 
still wants to learn something new every day. He's fearless, and he 
makes it look so easy.''
  Lancelot Thompson was born and raised in Jamaica. His parents were 
teachers. He was an accomplished athlete who competed in the broad jump 
and 400-sprint relay during the 1946 Pan American Games held in 
Barranquilla, Colombia, and again during the games held in Guatemala. 
Both times he took second-place honors in the competition. He was a 24-
year-old high school teacher when he received track scholarship offers 
from Morgan State University in Maryland and Tennessee State 
University. He recalled, ``Many people in Jamaica, they told me, go to 
Morgan State; they will lynch you in Tennessee.''
  So he boarded a plane for Morgan State University and it didn't take 
long for Dr. Thompson to be introduced to American racism and 
discrimination. ``Jamaica is a biracial country, so we didn't have 
those problems,'' he said. ``In Jamaica, it's more about class issues. 
The first time I got to an airport I saw no black people, so I started 
to look for a place to sit down. A black janitor came over and told me 
I wasn't allowed to sit in that section. He sent me to another part of 
the airport where other black people were. That was my first experience 
in America.''
  The airport experience was just the beginning of more to come. The 
reporter writes that upon boarding a train to Baltimore he was dragged 
and deposited in the ``black coach'' section of the train. ``Everybody 
in there were black southerners,'' Dr. Thompson said. ``I didn't 
understand a single word they said.''
  In spite of the racism, Lancelot Thompson earned a bachelor of 
science degree in chemistry from Morgan State in 1952 and a doctorate 
in physics and inorganic chemistry from Wayne State University in 1955. 
He went home to Jamaica with the goal of ``trying to revolutionize the 
way we were teaching chemistry. The school books in Jamaica were old 
and outdated, and it was difficult to get the `powers-that-be' to 
understand how much chemistry had changed over the years.''
  In 1957 Dr. Thompson attended a job fair in New York. He explained to 
the reporter that he applied for and received numerous interview 
requests. He soon realized that was because potential employers didn't 
know he was black. ``A guy from Alabama, when he saw me, he turned so 
red I thought he was going to have a heart attack. `You know where 
Alabama is, don't you?' the man asked me. `Yes sir,' I told him. `You 
know we probably don't want you,' he said. `I probably don't want to 
go,' I said.''
  When Dr. Thompson applied for the University of Toledo job, he 
included a photo so there would be no surprises. The person who 
interviewed and hired him, Jerome Kloucek, dean of the arts college, 
never mentioned race, Dr. Thompson recalled in the newspaper feature. 
``Some of the faculty was a little uncomfortable, but I was 
comfortable. I was used to being around white people.''
  In addition to teaching chemistry, Dr. Thompson created the 
university's first track team. More importantly, he started the annual 
Aspiring Minorities Youth Conference. He served as assistant dean for 
undergraduate study in the college of arts and sciences from 1964-66, 
becoming the dean of student services from 1966-68. He was then 
promoted to vice president of student affairs, from which he retired in 
1988. He retired as a teacher in 1998. Along the way, in 1964, Dr. 
Thompson was voted the school's Outstanding Teacher.
  It was always important to Dr. Thompson to mentor young people, 
especially African American young people. He explained, ``Being the 
only black faculty at the university for four years, I had to be a 
mentor. There was nobody else for them. It didn't matter if it was a 
black, white, Hispanic, or Asian student, my job was to teach and 
mentor all students.'' Explaining he was even harder on African 
American students Dr. Thompson said, ``Oh yes, I was hard on them. I 
made sure they did the work. I was harder on them than the other 
students because I knew they had to be a little better than the whites 
to get the job. You had to be prepared.''
  Lancelot Thompson's legacy is carried on in those students and all 
those he taught. His footprint on the school carries forth through 
today. We salute his spirit, his tenacity and his courage even as we 
offer thanks for all he has given to decades of University of Toledo 
students and our community. Thank you always, Dr. Lancelot Thompson.

                          ____________________