Murray State University to welcome Ms. Elnora Ford on Dec. 9

Ford is the niece and longtime caretaker of Ms. Mary Ford Holland, the first Black student at Murray State University

MURRAY, Ky. – Murray State University will welcome Ms. Elnora Ford to campus on Friday, Dec. 9 at 11:30 a.m. at the Performing Arts Hall, located on the 2nd floor of the Old Fine Arts Building. Ford is the niece and was the longtime caretaker of Ms. Mary Ford Holland, the first Black student at Murray State University.

Ford will share her insights, wisdom and special recollections of her aunt. A question and answer session will follow, and both the campus and greater community are invited to attend.

Prior to the event, Ford will share an oral history of Holland’s time at Murray State with University representatives, in order to be preserved as part of the institution’s archives.

A Trigg County native, Mary Ford Holland (1907-99) integrated Murray State College in the summer of 1955 when she enrolled as a 48-year-old non-traditional student. Holland already had a teaching certificate from West Kentucky Industrial School and over two decades of teaching experience in segregated one-room schools in Lyon County, but the Brown v. Board of Education decision opened up new opportunities to upgrade her credentials.

Holland continued teaching while she pursued her degree and ultimately graduated not long after the college’s first Black alumna, Nancy Tyler Demartra, in 1961. In the final years before Holland’s retirement in 1972, she was a reading specialist at the integrated Lyon County Elementary School. In 1998, Holland was given the key to the city of Eddyville.

Ford was Holland’s caretaker until Holland’s death at age 92 in September 1999 in Lyon County.

A historical marker was designated on the campus of Murray State University by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, in front of Pogue Library in the Quad, highlighting Holland’s important legacy to the University, west Kentucky and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

As part of Murray State’s fall 2022 commencement on Dec. 10, Ms. Mary Ford Holland will be posthumously recognized.

“We are honored to welcome Ms. Elnora Ford to Murray State University and recognize Ms. Mary Ford Holland posthumously at our December commencement ceremony,” said Murray State President Dr. Bob Jackson. “Through her determination, courage, scholarly excellence and service toward others as a lifelong educator and proponent of the importance of education, Ms. Mary Ford Holland is an inspiration to countless individuals. Her impact on Murray State University and our region is immeasurable.”