A LOOK BACK: KAPPA HISTORY
Fifteen-year-old Parsons represented his 20-year-old brother in court and presented the written argument to the judge. inspired to achieve his dream by his 8 th grade civics teacher, who in- sisted he study civics and govern- ment. The Depression prevented his parents from providing him the financial support to attend college, so he worked odd jobs to support his education. Since there were no law schools at Millikin or in De- catur, he remained at the Milliken conservatory and worked at the
Indirect Educational Path to Achieve Goal Parsons’ father hoped that Par- sons would follow in his foot- steps and become a minister, but recognized that the field of law was his calling. In an effort to achieve this goal, Parsons began his undergraduate studies at Mil- liken University as a music major. His older brother introduced him to music at the age of 10 with the violin, the French horn, and the trumpet followed by lessons on the piano by his mother. While in junior high, Parsons took organ lessons at Millikin’s Conservatory of Music. Parsons later studied the viola and the cello. Although his affiliation for music was supported by his major, his love for law was never far from his thoughts. Parsons was further
Decatur Herald Review to earn money for law school. Parsons subsequently earned his music degree from Millikin University in 1934. To finance his graduate studies, Parsons taught music and political science at Lincoln Uni- versity, in Jefferson City, Missouri (1934-1938). While at Lincoln University, Parsons held the posi- tion of acting head of the music department (1938-1940) and subsequently as the supervisor of instrumental music at the Public Schools of Greensboro, North Carolina (1940-1942). During his tenure at Lincoln, he spent summers doing graduate studies in political science at the University of Wisconsin. He was the only Black among 364 stu- dents in his class. He was hon- ored as being named class orator and was third highest in his class.
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Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
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