Her Disappointments

Nancy Harriette Lee's Disappointments

Despite the fact that she left $10,000.00 to the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh, she was dismayed that the school's Mission was so limited and short sighted, without efforts to help families and endangered potential ones to cope. She was disappointed with social scientists attitudes against putting some effort (getting physically close) to African-American clusters, families and neighborhoods "not successfully up from the decadence of slavery."

Nancy wanted social work akin to 19th century Presbyterians, ... getting into alleviating problems by getting to the Root of a Problem. She grew so weary of band-aid fixes. Below picture is her Pitt School of Education Class of 1927, taken at a reunion photo taken October 15, 1977 reflecting realities of the prevailing quota system at most predominantly White universities in America: one or two each African heritage males and females. And, even in the lives of persons photographed, African-Americans whether tall like the African-American on far right or short like Nancy were always placed and viewed to be in the back row of Americans. Except for World War II when the results of systemic racism became self-evident, it is doubtful that she and the fellow Black student would have even been invited for a group photograph.