Courtesy of Bertha Rogers Looney
Bertha Rogers Looney
When Bertha Rogers Looney thinks back to her first week at Memphis State University in 1959, what stays with her most is not the shouting crowds or dramatic confrontations. It is something much quieter.
“No words were spoken,” she says. “Yet the silence was overwhelming.”
That year, eight Black students integrated Memphis State, now the University of Memphis. Their names often appear in history books as a single act of courage. But for Ms. Looney, one of the women among the Memphis State Eight, history unfolded in everyday moments. It lived in classrooms where no one spoke to her, and in the quiet emotional work of holding herself together.
“I carried the weight of history while simply trying to attend class and succeed,” she says. “The challenge was learning how to remain strong without becoming hardened.”
As a young Black woman, she quickly learned how to navigate an environment that offered no guidance or comfort. There weren’t any signs telling her where she did or did not belong, yet the message was always existent. Her experience is a reminder that strength often shows up quietly, and resilience is learned over time.
Ms. Looney was able to endure with the help of the sisterhood she shared with other women among the Memphis State Eight: Sammie Burnett Johnson, Rose Blakney Love, Eleanor Gandy, and Marvis LaVerne Kneeland Jones.
“We leaned on one another in ways that were often unspoken,” she says. “Knowing someone else shared the same daily strain helped sustain us.”
Excluded from many of the university’s social spaces, the women created their own support system. They understood one another without explanation. “That bond was quiet, steady, and deeply rooted,” says Ms. Looney.
Those early lessons shaped the life she went on to build. After Memphis State, Ms. Looney dedicated herself to education, carrying forward what she had learned as one of the first. In recognition of her lifelong impact in education and service, Ms. Looney was recently honored as a 2025 Distinguished Alumna by the University of Memphis.
“Being one of the first taught me that education carries responsibility. I wanted my students to feel seen and supported, especially those who felt overlooked,” she explains.
For her, teaching was not just about lessons or grades, but encouragement and compassion — students knowing someone believes in them. Her story suggests that what young people often need most is not more instruction, but presence. They need someone willing to listen and stand with them even when their struggle goes unspoken.
In recent years, Ms. Looney decided to write her memoir. The decision was deeply personal and carefully timed.
“Time can soften history. I wanted to tell the truth while these memories still live within me; not only the courage it took to be first, but also the cost,” she says.
Her memoir honors all eight members of the Memphis State Eight, including John A. Simpson, Ralph Prater, and Luther C. McClellan, many of whom are no longer here to tell their own stories. By sharing her individual experience, Ms. Looney ensures that their legacy lives beyond textbooks.
Listening to Ms. Looney — as a student of a later generation — makes her story feel personal rather than distant. Sitting across from her, it became clear that history is not something finished or sealed away. It is something we inherit. Her experiences challenge students like me to think differently about what it means to show up, persist, and take responsibility for the spaces we enter.
When asked what she would say to a young person daring to be first today, Ms. Looney did not hesitate.
“Do not allow fear to determine your future,” she says. “Being first is rarely easy, but it is often necessary. Prepare yourself, stand firm in who you are, and remember that your courage can open doors for others you may never meet.”
As Memphis observes Women’s History Month, Ms. Looney is quick to remind readers that the Memphis State Eight were not trying to make history, but simply seeking an education. Yet their perseverance reshaped the city and expanded what was possible for generations that followed. For students today, her story is a reminder that progress often begins without certainty or applause. It truly begins when someone chooses to keep going anyway.
History may remember the Memphis State Eight as pioneers, but students remember Bertha Rogers Looney, the last surviving member, as proof that even ordinary choices can leave an extraordinary impact.