A letter from Forrest Whittaker to Dartmouth Administration. Shows that Whittaker did at one point attend Dartmouth and needed his transcripts from the school to help assist him with his time in the Army.

Not much is known about Forrest Whittaker’s time at Dartmouth other then he was kicked out of the school. From this letter, we get a feeling that he did not contribute much to the school’s athletics or academics.

Forrest Bartley Jr. Whittaker was born in 1907 and died in 1944. During his 37 years of life he attended both Ohio State University and Dartmouth College for a short period of time. From research we know he did not gain a degree from either school and matriculated to Dartmouth in 1928 but was kicked out for something we are unaware of.

Also, we know Whittaker was selected for Army Specialized Training in 1943 before he died of acute alcoholism in 1944. Forrest Whittaker lived a short life during a crucial period in American history and even more so African-American history. As we learned in class blacks such as Whittaker utilized sports as a way to reclaim certain aspects of their lives in contradiction to the whites that could not excel in the same manner. For Whittaker coming to Dartmouth to be a part of the men’s basketball team may have shown that promise of a better life, a way out of his “negro neighborhood” in Columbus, Ohio.

To the contrary, there was no information about Whittaker’s athletic endeavors, instead we learned more about the struggles he may have been facing during a period when tension and discrimination were rampant for African-Americans. In essence, we can tell that Whittaker was a talented and skilled individual who may have struggled significantly with the problems and hardships engulfing his life.