Howard University

August of 1949 was a seminal event in my life, I had gone to Chicago, Nashville and St. Louis alone for short stays but to go off to college for a year and be on my own was an adventure I could barely wait to happen.
My father sat me down and explained that I was being entrusted with funds for the first year at Howard to get an education and if I didn’t apply myself and punched out I was
essentially on my own. He than gave me a money belt, in it were 6 one hundred dollar bills for tuition. room and board for my first year. And with that my trip to college and adult hood began.
Getting to Washington, DC from Evansville involved a train ride North to Terre Haute, In on the “Georgian” and there changing to an East bound train “The Spirit of St. Louis” for the overnight trip to DC. That in itself was an adventure for a seventeen year old. I had shipped my truck by railway express a week or so earlier and had a duffle bag with my needs. The train had reserved seat cars and sleeping cars. It left Terre Haute around 4PM arriving in Washington around 8AM the next day. The “Spirit” was one of the Pennsylvania Railroads premier trains and was quite luxurious. As soon as I got settled in my seat and got my ticket punched, I explored the train. Forward was the mail cars and reserved seat cars between them and the sleeping cars was the dining car and behind the sleeping cars at the tail of the train was the club car.
Around 6 PM came the first call for dinner and I was ready. I had been on this train before with my Aunt years before and knew the routine. So the dining steward sat me at a table for two. Man, I can remember ordering off this elegant menu about 5 or 6 dollars worth of food which was an enormous amount and a pot of hot tea, all this served on china. I go into detail because nothing like this exists today unless one goes on an ocean cruise. After dinner I went back to my seat and watched the country side fly by, hearing the clickety clack of the wheels and the whistle sounding in the night.
Around midnight I wanted a pop and wandered back to the club car, and as I passed thru the sleeping car a porter hailed me. “Hey young blood, where are you headed to”. I said, Howard. He said I went there for a while but had to drop out. When you come back from the lounge get your stuff and I’ll give you a berth to sleep in tonight. Usually on trips to and from school a porter would comp me to some amenity on the train. I think it was to encourage the young to pursue their education and not get stuck in the jobs they had.
I arrived in DC and spent the night at my Aunt’s apartment going on campus the next day to get my housing which was in Cook Hall, I even remember the room, # 210 located right over the entrance.
There are hundreds of experiences that I had at Howard but one of the most significant was meeting a guy who became a life long best friend, Bobby Cook from Clairton, Pa.
We instantly hit it off and before long had fooled other freshmen into thinking we were upper classmen, even hazing them. Actually getting caught by the Dean cutting some freshman’s hair and almost getting put out before school even started. Good old Aunt Mad came to our rescue with some pull, she having taught the Dean in high school.








There was a diner run by one of the big numbers men in DC who knew my Uncle Billy and he let us borrow his truck for a fee and within a week we were hauling trunks to the dorm from the train station for in coming freshmen, especially the girls, at $5 a pop. This also gave us first crack at meeting them. We would go into the dorm and holler “man in the hall” as they scattered covering themselves from our lecherous stares. Registering who was foxy and who wasn’t.
Once we got registered and classes begun, you could sense with all the newly found freedom who would make it pass the first quarter before flunking out. I knew I was going to make it, no matter how late I stayed out to party or in a bull session, I was always ready for my classes. Dudes would say, “I’m gonna take a little nap” and wake up not having studied, not me! By the end of the first quarter I was on the honor roll and was lab assistant in inorganic chemistry for Dr Hugely from the second quarter on. I also was serving his poker buddies and cutting the pot at his weekend games .Grading paper was one my duties and this made some instant female relationships possible and I took advantage of all opportunities.
For the most part college was easy. Of course there were some tough subjects like physics and calculus and some asshole professors. Like Dr F. who had given me a grade in Algebra that would bring my GPA down. So I went to him and said “Dr F, if you raise my grade one point I’ll maintain my average”. He said “Robinson if you were jumping over a creek and it was 8 ft and you jumped 7 ft 11in, you‘d be all wet! And that’s what you are all wet. Now get out of here!”
More about Howard in another chapter.