- [Morgan] I was born at my mother's house,
and my father was a principal
of the Buchanan School in Topeka, Kansas.
When I was 12 years old, we moved to Tucson, Arizona
when my father was offered the job as a principal
at the all-segregated black Dunbar School.
- My great grandfather was born a slave.
My great grandfather, they were part of
the Maxwell House coffee plantation in Tennessee.
My grandfather grew up in Kansas.
- [Morgan] My mother was a teacher at Marana,
and the schools they were segregated everywhere,
and so she taught the black students
from the first through the ninth grade,
and they were all cotton,
their families were cotton pickers.
My mother and I used to go out there every weekend
and talk to the parents as to why
their kids didn't go to school,
and my mother would say, education is worth more
than the money you'll make at picking cotton.
- [Female Narrator] District policy prohibited
Mrs. Morgan from teaching at the same school as her husband.
Dunbar was built in 1913,
and was originally known as, the colored school.
It consisted of two rooms with no cafeteria or auditorium.
Those, along with 23 classrooms, were not built until 1948,
eight years into Morgan Maxwell Sr.'s tenure as principal.
- And I was the only student in the Tucson District
who went to the same school where their father
was a principal.
We had excellent teachers.
They would tell the girls, you have two choices,
either be a maid, or get an education.
And with the guys, you had three,
you could either be a maintenance man,
or go into the military, or get an education.
And why our teachers were the best,
there were no black engineers,
there were no black bankers,
or architects or any other field,
but there were blacks who were trained in those fields,
so therefore our teachers were the best.
- At my grandfather's school,
he made Time Magazine because he was the only principal
who didn't have a police officer on his campus,
because he was afraid that the police officer
would interview these kids and get intel on their parents.
So he was trying to prevent kids from having records
and parents from having records.
- [Female Narrator] In 1951, by state law,
Arizona schools began to be integrated,
slowly, but a few years ahead of most other states.
Education; however, is only one objective of a community.
Segregation and racism continued to exist throughout Tucson.
- It was totally (chuckling) segregated
as far as the restaurants, at the theaters.
Like at the theater, at the Fox Theater,
we had what is known as the crow's nest
that we would sit in the top three rows
and when I went to high school friends of mine like,
Croella and Frank Borman, and all my white friends,
we would meet and go to the downstairs
at the popcorn stand, at the Fox Theater,
then I would go upstairs and they'd all
stay on the, down on the first floor
and then we would meet afterwards.
There were several parks here, but the only park
we could use was Oury Park and they would change
the water every Saturday morning so we would swim
in the dirty water Friday.
All of the restaurants were segregated,
but, and it changed when the Civil Rights changed.
And Civil Rights laws were put on the books.
- [Female Narrator] Not all establishments
immediately complied with
the legally-mandated integration.
Some businesses required more persuasion
like a notable Tucson restaurant on the old Benson Highway.
- [Morgan] It was the only place where blacks
could not eat so we all said that has to stop
so we went out to the p-ap-per-k-an
and we blocked the doors.
And I was standing in the doorway for hours
and we wouldn't let anybody through.
- [Female Narrator] While attending
the University of Arizona Maxwell was told
he couldn't take an international finance course
because blacks couldn't get a job in that field.
He graduated with a finance degree and later received
an MBA from USC.
In 1961 Maxwell began a long and successful career
in real estate appraisal.
Through his expertise he alone was able
to navigate the obstacles that stood in the way
of the sale of a house, to the first black head coach
of a major university.
That was Fred Snowden with the U of A in 1972.
Maxwell continued his steadfast fight for justice
throughout his career.
He served as the chairman of the state of Arizona
Civil Rights Commission under two governors.
His example and his accomplishments are a legacy
for the community and for his family.
- My dad, he really didn't, he was a very modest person.
I knew more about my grandfather.
My dad was very modest
and didn't really brag about anything.
We would talk about it at dinner
and I didn't really appreciate the significance
of what he did at that time.
'Cause as a youth you think you know everything
and it's hard to comprehend.
Until I got older did I really realize
how important that was.
My dad always told me to have integrity, ethics,
to always be the best, and to work hard,
and to treat others with respect,
and to be open to people, include them don't exclude them.
I work as a lawyer and I work as a professor
so I get to give back to the kids.
Being a professor I tell them where I screwed up.
I try and guide them in the right direction
and in the legal practice I'm a prosecutor
so I get to dole out the punishment and I get to make
judgment calls as to where mercy should be made
and where someone should be punished.
So I think with my background I'm fair and ethical
and I try and do that with every person,
every victim, every defendant.
I try and listen to them and make a sound decision.
It's ironic how history tends to repeat itself.
What's good about it though is I think
that we are getting a younger generation
with fresh eyes, fresh ideas, not as much baggage
that has been going on with the generations before.
So I think that they'll be able to handle it a lot better.
- [Female Narrator] Those young people include
another generation of Maxwells.
Skyler, a track star like her grandfather,
excels on a path he helped open for her.
- I like to like run because I do Track & Field
and Cross Country and I like to play sports,
but I also like love to do like math and like science.
I might wanna be like an engineer and I think
that education's good for doing that.
I think that it shouldn't be discriminated
because like everybody's the same inside,
just maybe not outside.
My parents have just like taught me to like respect people
no matter what they look like.
- I hope she just enjoys her life and is happy
that's, that's really basically all we want
for our children to get a good education,
to be happy, to live this life, you know,
that is better than the generation before.