The Last

Negroes

at Harvard

The Class of 1963 and the 18 Young Men Who Changed Harvard Forever

Meet the 18: John Woodford

John Woodford
Born: Benton Harbor, MI, 1942
Prepared at: Benton Harbor High School, Benton Harbor, MI

I don't think they were trying to turn us into Harvard gentlemen any more than they were trying to turn everyone else into one. But the material they were working with was not all that malleable. I would say most of the people I knew were not likely to become Harvard gentlemen. 

John grew up in Benton Harbor, Michigan, the son of a physician. As a freshman at Harvard, he met Eliza Duffy, the Radcliffe girl he would marry in 1965. Early in his career, he wrote for Ebony and Jet, the New York Times, and Muhammad Speaks. He and Eliza returned to Michigan to raise their family, where John edited various publications for the University of Michigan.