Lynn Cecilia Eusan

Lynn Cecilia Eusan (October 11, 1948 – September 10, 1971) was an American activist and the first black Homecoming queen at the University of Houston, where she studied journalism, and the first black woman to earn the title at any predominantly white college or university in the Southern United States. Only seven years earlier, UH had been an all-white institution, not integrating until the 1962–63 academic year. In 1971, less than three years after that Homecoming ceremony, she was found dead in the back of a stranger's car. Her death was believed to be a murder, and no one was ever found guilty for her death.

Personal life Eusan was born on October 11, 1948, in Galveston County, Texas. Her parents, Ida Mae (Boudreaux) Eusan and Wilbur Thirkield Eusan, Sr., were working class. Eusan and her four siblings grew up in San Antonio, Texas.

She graduated from Phillis Wheatley High School in 1966 and immediately enrolled at the University of Houston.

University of Houston At the University of Houston, Eusan was involved in the Spirit of Houston marching band and worked as a reporter and photojournalist. She majored in education and journalism.

In the weeks leading up to the Homecoming game, Eusan received death threats and white fraternities mocked her in minstrel shows.

Jackson had been arrested 14 times prior to the incident for charges including rape and armed robbery.

The SHAPE Community Center is still active in the Third Ward. The center mobilized voters to elect Houston's first black mayor, organizes an annual Pan African Cultural Festival, and contributed to efforts to build the Third Ward Multi-Service Center.

Three years after Eusan's death, the University of Houston Board of Regents named a park in her honor, called the Lynn Eusan Park. Until the 1980s, the park was home to the university's live mascot, a cougar named Shasta, who resided in a cage. In 2013, the university built a modern stage for the park equipped with lights and a sound system. The park is a hub of student life and activity at the university.