Jean Price Interview

Restrictions: This interview has a signed release for scholarly or educational purposes only.

Summary: Jean (Scott) Price was born in Wichita, Kansas, on June 16, 1929, and attended segregated schools from the first through eighth grades. She then attended the integrated North High School. For a short time she lived in Kansas City, Kansas and attended the segregated Sumner High School. She graduated from North High School in Wichita and later on from Wichita University (now Wichita State University) with a degree in teaching. She also received her master's in education from Emporia State. After moving to Topeka in 1956, Price accepted a job at the Parkdale School where she was the only teacher of African-American descent. After the Supreme Court declared segregated schools unconstitutional in 1954, Parkdale became integrated. She also taught at the Lowman Hill School. According to her interview, she generally got along well with her students' parents and school officials, even though some were opposed to desegregation. The interview was conducted by Jean VanDelinder. This interview has a signed release for scholarly or educational purposes only.

Biog. Sketch (Full): Jean Price

Jean Price was born in Wichita, Kansas, on June 16, 1929, to parents Mamie (Richardson) and Glover Scott. She had two sisters and one brother. Her mother was born in Ottawa, Kansas; in 1946 she died as a result of breast cancer when Jean was sixteen years old, and is buried in Wichita. Glover Scott was born in Louisiana. He passed away in 1942, after being hit by a car while riding his bike, when Jean was just twelve years old; he is also buried in Wichita.

In Wichita, Mrs. Price attended segregated schools in grades first thru eighth, but went to integrated North High School. However, when she moved in with her aunt and uncle in Kansas City, Kansas, after her mother’s death, she went to segregated Sumner High School. After a year, she moved to Los Angles, California, to live with another aunt and uncle. The schools there were integrated. She graduated from North High School in Wichita and went on to attend Wichita University (now Wichita State University).

It was when she was in the seventh grade that Mrs. Price started working outside the home; she washed dishes for a neighbor every evening. After graduating from Wichita University with a teaching degree, she took a teaching job in Wichita. She attended classes at the University of Kansas and received a master’s degree in education from Emporia State University. Jean taught for 38 years.

Jean married Gratz Price on April 30, 1955; he was also born in Wichita, Kansas. Gratz’s father was a dentist who had moved his practice from Wichita to Topeka. The couple was introduced to each other by one of Jean’s former teachers. Mr. Price worked for the Santa Fe Railway. The couple adopted a five-year-old girl, Pamela (Price) Long.

After they were married, Mrs. Price stayed in Wichita for a while since she could not find a teaching job in Topeka. She finally found a job in 1956 at Topeka State Hospital as the first to teach the emotionally disturbed children who were patients there. After three or four years, Mrs. Price moved onto a teaching position at Parkdale School; she was the only African American teacher there. From Parkdale she went to Lowman Hill; she taught there until her retirement. Mrs. Price still resides in Topeka.

Restrictions: This interview has a signed release for scholarly or educational purposes only.