A HISTORY OF BLACK WOMEN FACULTY AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY,
1968 - 2009
By
Marshanda Ann Latrice Smith

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
History
2012

ABSTRACT
A HISTORY OF BLACK WOMEN FACULTY AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY,
1968 - 2009
By
Marshanda Ann Latrice Smith

This dissertation examines the careers of African American women faculty at
Michigan State University from the 1960s through 2009. In mid-1960s, during the height of the
Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s movement, the first generation of African American
females gained employment as faculty members at Michigan State University.

This study

illuminates the obstacles which African Americans confronted and overcame in East Lansing
during this tumultuous period. Moreover, this dissertation examines the coping mechanisms
employed by some Black female faculty who encountered institutional racism and sexism on
multiple levels at MSU. Finally, I highlight the careers and intellectual women who broke
through racial, sexual, and class barriers to become successful scholars in the academy.
Black women faculty members worked towards equality of opportunity and social justice
accomplishments of African Americans in and out of the classroom. They contributed to
changing curriculum and created diverse approaches to learning about race, class, gender and the
experiences of other ethnic groups. Outside of the walls of the ivory tower, a number of Black
women professors participated in community building by working in social, civic and religious
organizations. It is important to note that several scholars published books and essays that
sought to assist the African American community on local, national and international levels.
Some of the works include books on the African Diaspora by Ruth Simms Hamilton, African

American Women’s History by Darlene Clark Hine, African American Language by Geneva
Smitherman, the Black Family by Harriette Pipes McAdoo, Children’s Literacy by Patricia
Edwards and Religion by Jualynne Dodson.
The data used for this study include: essays of Black female faculty; Affirmative Action
Records; Board of Trustees Minutes; examination of Almanacs of the Chronicle of Higher
Education; Association of Academic University Professors (AAUP) documents and reports;
examination of local and regional newspapers - Lansing State Journal, The State News, The
Michigan Chronicle, and Detroit Free Press; unpublished writings, and other relevant historical
materials relating to the MSU community during the 1960s to 2009.

This dissertation

illuminates some of the concerns, challenges as well as barriers broken down by MSU’s Black
women faculty. Implications for future research suggest that Michigan States’ climate, race
relations, and the institutionalized mentoring of junior scholars must improve in order to increase
retention of Black women faculty. This historical study of the life stories and professional
experiences of Black female faculty may inspire other scholars of marginalized groups,
institution leaders, and students to take note and devise measures that will ensure their survival,
retention, and success within the academy.

© Copyright by
Marshanda Ann Latrice Smith
2012

Dedication
My dissertation is dedicated to my late Grandmother, Mrs. Juanita Smith, my guardian angel.

v

Acknowledgements
I would like to take this time to pay homage to the late Dr. Ruth Simms Hamilton, who
paved the way for Black female faculty to be where they are on MSU’s campus today. I
recognize the many Black women faculty members who inspired this search for me to know
more about their history at Michigan State University. It has been an honor and a blessing for
you all to allow me to share some of your stories with others. I have had a rare opportunity to
study under so many renowned scholars who are truly dedicated to their scholarship as well as
helping young scholars-in-training through their undergraduate and graduate programs at
Michigan State University.
My major professor, Dr. Darlene Clark Hine, saw something in me while I was an
undergraduate and urged me to pursue a degree in History. I never knew that this journey was
going to be long, rough and stressful, but I thank you for inspiring me to keep on the path until I
finished this race. I say much obliged to Dr. Hine. To my dissertation committee: Dr. Geneva
Smitherman, Dr. Pero G. Dagbovie, Dr. Jerry Garcia and Dr. Denise Troutman, thank you for
your guidance, support, mentorship, and for your outstanding academic leadership. You are, as
Tina Turner would say, “Simply the Best!” A host of faculty and administrators have guided me
throughout my academic journey. I owe a bundle of gratitude to Dr. Leslie Page Moch, who
granted me access into my graduate program. Dean Karen Klomparens, Dean Emeritus Yevonne
R. Smith, and Dean Patrick M. McConeghy for giving me an opportunity to prove myself as a
graduate student. I thank Dr. Ralph W. Bonner and Ms. Audrey Bentley for always being
encouraging. They hired me to work in the Affirmative Action Office as an undergraduate and
provided me the chance to build my networking skills, therefore giving me a firm foundation to
stand on during my tenure at MSU. To the first female president of MSU, Dr. Lou Anna K.
vi

Simon, thank you for your leadership, genuine concern for students and for making Michigan
State University the best place to earn an academic degree. Go Green! Go White!
To my family in Muskegon Heights, Michigan, especially my Grandfather, Norvin Smith
and my Mother, Noreen Augustus, thank you for your love, and confidence in me. My GreatGrandparents: Rev. Elvin and Mrs. Glaida Smith also Mr. Eli and Mrs. Myrtle Wright guided me
spiritually, shared their knowledge and wisdom with me until their transition to glory. I know
heaven must be happy, that I have made it this far! To the rest of my large family – Great Uncle
Dr. Leon (Barbara) Smith, D.O., Great Aunt Georgia Tolbert, Great Uncle George Wright, and
Great Aunts Rosie Edwards & Eliza Wright; to my uncles and aunts who were raised like my
sisters and brothers - Darnell, Roy, Vicki, Chris, Kristi, and Johnnie, thank you for keeping me
grounded and just for being there for me. I love you all so much. There are two important
women I must thank because they have supported me from elementary school to the present:
Mrs. Paulette Miller Thompson, my second grade teacher and Mrs. Mary Ridley, my Lunchroom
Chef at Charles A. Lindbergh Elementary School.
I must give a special shout out to my Comparative Black History crew who traveled the
road before me: Dr. Felix Armfield, Dr. Dolores Sisco, Dr. Linda Causey, Dr. Rose Thevenin,
Dr. Dawne Curry, Dr. Regina Jones, Dr. Eric Duke, and Dr. Kennetta Perry. I also thank Shawn
McBee for being a great staff member during his tenure in the History Department. To my two
dissertating buddies Mary Phillips and Mona Jackson – sisters, it’s our time to shine .

Dr.

Pamela Bellamy, Dr. David Bailey, and Mr. Richard Lee (my CAAP advisor) have been some of
my biggest cheerleaders since my undergraduate years, they often would check to see how I was
doing and motivated me to continue to press towards the mark until I was able to achieve my
academic gold medal “the Ph.D.” – I am very grateful to them.
vii

Dr. Michelle Wright at

Northwestern University read sections of my dissertation, she offered great feedback and kept
me encouraged and inspired – thanks a million Dr. Wright! To my extended family members
and special friends who kept me encouraged and always smiling: Helen Graham and the entire
McCoy Family, Shanika P. Carter, Iva Nell and Kyra Jones, Devota and Timetra Horton, Janice
Owens, the Clark Family – (Alma “Brenda”, Barbara, Robbie), Lorine Hobbs and Norma Mason,
I extend my love. I thank my pastor, Rev. Dr. Melvin T. and first lady Sallie Jones for being my
“spiritual family” and for helping me to stay on the straight and narrow throughout this journey.
The senior women at my home churches, New Light Baptist Church in Muskegon Heights,
Michigan and at Union Missionary Baptist Church in Lansing, Michigan, have been very
supportive: my Great-great Aunt Mrs. Mercy B. Banks, Mrs. Ella M. Watts, Mrs. Lucy Finley,
Mrs. Martha Hines, Mrs. Mildred Darden, Mrs. Ruth McCoy, Mrs. Israel (Bonnie) Degree, Mrs.
Barbara Artis, Ms. Gladys Wheeler, Mrs. LaVerne Wilson, and Ms. Alice Fountain thank you all
for the encouraging words and prayers.
I give honor and offer thanks unto God for His goodness and bountiful blessings. On
Sunday, August 19, 2012, Bishop T. D. Jakes reminded me that “nothing that I have been
through shall be wasted; it was only a training ground to launch me into a higher dimension.” I
thank God for His amazing grace. Andraé Crouch reminded me that “I Can” do all things,
through Christ for He gives me strength. So, in the words of the Reverend Charles Jenkins and
Fellowship Chicago, I have to tell the world that “My God is AWESOME!!!

viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES …………………………………………. …………..….…………… x
LIST OF FIGURES ……………………………………………. …………..…………... xi
INTRODUCTION
ORIGINS OF WOMEN IN HIGHER EDUCATION …………………………………… 1
CHAPTER 1
LITERATURE REVIEW ON BLACK WOMEN FACULTY IN THE ACADEMY ….. 26
CHAPTER 2
PAVED THE WAY: PIONEERING GROUPS OF BLACK STUDENTS, STAFF AND
FACULTY ARRIVES TO MSU ……………………………………………. …………. 42
STATISTICAL PROFILES AND FINDINGS ...…………………………..……………. 64
CHAPTER 3
THE WORK WE’VE DONE SPEAK FOR US: DISTINGUISHED SCHOLARS BREAKS
GLASS CEILINGS IN THE ACADEMY………………………………………...……... 105
CHAPTER 4
ARE WE THERE YET?: HEARING WHAT THE BLACK FEMALE PROFESSORIATE
HAS TO SAY ………………………………………………………………………….... 135
CONCLUSION
RETENTION, RECRUITMENT AND RE-EVALUATING: LARGER IMPLICATIONS
FOR CONTINUED SUCCESS AT TEAM MSU ...………….…………………………. 187
APPENDICES ……………………………………………. ……………………………. 189
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………. …………………..……..

ix

218

List of Tables
Table 1 Academic Life with/without Race and Gender Privilege ….………………….

134

Table 2 Black Women Faculty 1968 -2009 …………….……………………………….

217

x

List of Figure
Figure 1 Black Women Faculty at MSU, 1977-1986 ……………..…………………….

65

Figure 2 Total Faculty at MSU, 1977…………………………..…………………….….

66

Figure 3 Total Faculty at MSU, 1978…………………………..………………….…….

67

Figure 4 Total Faculty at MSU, 1979…………………………..………………….…….

68

Figure 5 Total Faculty at MSU, 1980…………………………..……………….……….

69

Figure 6 Total Faculty at MSU, 1981…………………………..……………….……….

70

Figure 7 Total Faculty at MSU, 1982…………………………..………………….…….

71

Figure 8 Total Faculty at MSU, 1984…………………………..……………….……….

72

Figure 9 Total Faculty at MSU, 1985…………………………..………………….…….

73

Figure 10 Total Faculty at MSU, 1986…………………………..……..………….…….

74

Figure 11 Black Women Faculty at MSU, 1987-1996 ..…………..…………………….

75

Figure 12 Total Faculty at MSU, 1987…………………………..……..………….…….

76

Figure 13 Total Black Faculty at MSU, 1988………..…………..……..………….…….

77

Figure 14 Total Faculty at MSU, 1989…………….……………..……..………….……. 78
Figure 15 University Distinguished Professors at MSU, 1990-2009 …..………….……. 79
Figure 16 Total Faculty at MSU, 1990…………….……………..……..………….……. 80
Figure 17 Total Faculty at MSU, 1991…………….……………..……..………….……. 81
Figure 18 Total Faculty at MSU, 1992…………….……………..……..………….……. 82
Figure 19 Total Faculty at MSU, 1993…………….……………..……..………….……. 83
Figure 20 Total Black Faculty at MSU, 1994……………..……..……..………….…….

84

Figure 21 Total Black Faculty at MSU, 1995……………………..……..……………...

85

Figure 22 Total Black Faculty at MSU, 1996…………….….…..……..………….…….
xi

86

Figure 23 Black Women Faculty at MSU, 1997-2006 ..…………..…………………….

87

Figure 24 Total Black Faculty at MSU, 1997……………..……..……..………….…….

88

Figure 25 Total Black Faculty at MSU, 1998…………..………..……..………….…….

89

Figure 26 Total Black Faculty at MSU, 1999…………….….…..……..………….…….

90

Figure 27 Total Black Faculty at MSU, 2000…………….….…..……..………….…….

91

Figure 28 Total Black Faculty at MSU, 2001…………….….…..……..………….…….

92

Figure 29 Total Black Faculty at MSU, 2002…………….….…..……..………….…….

93

Figure 30 Total Black Faculty at MSU, 2003…………….….…..……..………….…….

94

Figure 31 Total Black Faculty at MSU, 2004…………….….…..……..………….…….

95

Figure 32 Total Black Faculty in the United States, 2005-2007 ..……..………….…….

96

Figure 33 Total Black Faculty at MSU, 2005…………….….…..……..………….…….

97

Figure 34 Total Black Faculty at MSU, 2006…………….….…..……..………….…….

98

Figure 35 Black Women Faculty at MSU, 2007-2009 ..…………..…………………….

99

Figure 36 Total Black Faculty at MSU, 2007…………….….…..……..………….…….

100

Figure 37 Total Black Faculty at MSU, 2008…………….….…..……..………….…….

101

Figure 38 Total Black Faculty at MSU, 2009…………….….…..……..………….…….

102

Figure 39 Black Women Faculty by College, 2009 ……….….…..……..………….……. 103
Figure 40 “Team MSU” ………………………………….………………………………. 186

xii

Introduction: Origins of Women in Higher Education
In 1821, James Monroe became the third President of the United States and Congress
passed the Missouri Compromise, a year prior to white women gaining some access to higher
education. In Before Vassar Opened, James Monroe Taylor declared, “Nothing in those early
days compares in influence for women, with the noble appeal which Emma Willard issued from
Middlebury, in 1819, to the general public, and especially to the legislature of the State of New
1

York her desire to open a female seminary.”

According to Taylor, ‘Proposing a Plan for

Improving Female Education (1819)’, written by Willard, was an “enlightened, skillful
document, aiming in the spirit of a true statesmanship at the best possible in existent conditions,
pleading for a consistent an continuous course of education, and emphasizing ably the physical
2

and intellectual, moral and spiritual conditions essential to it.”

Although some well-known

members of the New York Legislature supported Mrs. Willard’s endeavor, including Governor
Clinton, the New York Senate did not pass the bill with her request for funds to build her school.
Still determined to pursue her goals, Willard raised the necessary money, with the support of the
community in Troy, New York to build the Troy Female Seminary, which opened in 1821. This
institution of higher education was considered to be the first “Normal School” in the United
States for women and ninety girls enrolled in the first class. “Emma Willard, who served as an
instructor and wrote many of the textbooks, taught courses in mathematics, science, foreign
language, and literature. With science classes that were more advanced than many of those
offered at comparable men’s colleges, the seminary proved it was a serious educational
1

James Monroe Taylor. Before Vassar Opened: A Contribution to the History of Higher
Education of Women in America (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1914), p. 5.
2
James Monroe Taylor. Before Vassar Opened. p. 5-6.
1

3

institution deserving of respect.”

Willard’s desire was to provide women with an education,

which would equip them with skills and credentials to achieve whatever goals and aspirations
4

they desired. Troy Female Seminary has since been renamed to the Emma Willard School. It is
now a college-preparatory boarding and day school for girls from 9th grade through the post5

graduate year.

When Oberlin Collegiate Institute opened its doors on December 3, 1833, it encompassed
two departments: the Academic and the Primary, both below the college level. The Figureer,
approved by the Ohio Legislature on February 28, 1834, gave to the Trustees of the Institute
“power to confer on those whom they may deem worthy, such honors and degrees as are usually
6

conferred in similar institutions.

Oberlin was the first college in America to adopt a policy to

admit students of color (1835). In 1837, Oberlin College admitted the first group of women to
its campus. Mary Kellogg, Mary Caroline Rudd, Mary Hosford and Elizabeth Prall, enrolled in
7

the Collegiate Department.

In 1841, Rudd, Hosford and Prall were the first women granted

bachelor degrees in a coeducational program. Kellogg left school due to lack of finances,

3

The unsung heroines. History’s Women.
http://www.historyswomen.com/1stWomen/EmmaHartWillard.html
4
For more information on life and career of Emma Willard, see Murry R. Nelson’s “Emma
Willard: Pioneer in Social Studies Education” A Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the
American Educational Research Association (69th, Chicago, IL, March 31-April 4, 1985); C. L.
Butterfield’s “Pioneer Women Educators: Challenges and Contributions” – a paper 8/25/2000;
Margaret Smith Crocco and O. L. Davis, Jr, editors Building a Legacy: Women in Social
Education, 1784-1984 NCSS Bulletin 100, (Washington, D. C. : National Council for the Social
Studies, 2002); and Emma Willard School’s website : http//www.emma.troy.ny.us/ .
5
The unsung heroines. History’s Women.
http://www.historyswomen.com/1stWomen/EmmaHartWillard.html
6
See Appendix 2 for First Annual Report of the Oberlin Collegiate Institute.
7
“Beyond Coeducation: Oberlin College and Women’s History” Electronic Oberlin Group
(EOG) Oberlin Through History http://www.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/womenshist/women.html
2

however, when she returned she would become the wife of future Oberlin president James
8

Fairchild.

Oberlin fused its commitment to coeducation with its support for the education of Blacks.
9

In 1842, Sarah J. Watson Barnett became the first Black female student to enroll.

Then Lucy

Stanton Sessions became the first Black female student to complete a four-year college course in
10

1850, she graduated with a Literary Degree from the Ladies’ Literary Course.

Many Oberlin

women became famous educators. Mary Jane Patterson who was from Raleigh, North Carolina,
studied one year in the Oberlin College Preparatory Department and another four years in the
College before graduating in 1862 with a AB degree. Patterson was the first Black female in the
United States to earn a Bachelor’s degree. After graduation she taught in the Institute for Colored
Youths for seven years in Philadelphia. In 1869, she started teaching in Washington, D. C., and
in 1871, became the first Black principal of the newly founded Preparatory High School for
Colored Youth, which became known as M Street School and in 1916, the name was changed to
11

Paul Laurence Dunbar High School.

Patterson taught at the school until her death in 1894.

12

Anna Julia Cooper graduated from Oberlin in 1884 with a bachelor’s degree in
mathematics. She later earned advanced academic degrees, and was one of the 20th century’s

8

About Oberlin – Fast Facts. http://new.oberlin.edu/about/fast-facts.dot
Timeline of Oberlin History. http://www2.oberlin.edu/175/timeline.html and RG 5/4/3 Minority Student Records “A History of Recording Black Students at Oberlin College and the
Story of the Missing Record” by Ronald M. Baumann
http://www.oberlin.edu/archive/holdings/finding/RG5/SG4/S3/2002intro.html#1
10
The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=SLA
11
“Famous Women in Oberlin History” http://new.oberlin.edu/events-activities/womenshistory/oberlin-women.dot
12
Timeline of Oberlin History. http://www2.oberlin.edu/175/timeline.html
3
9

most influential educators. Cooper followed Mary Jane Patterson to Dunbar High School, where
she spent nearly 40 years as a teacher and principal, educating many of its famous African
Americans graduates. She was a prominent essayist and advocate for the rights of women and
13

African Americans.

Moreover, Mary Church Terrell earned a bachelor’s degree in the “Classics” or
“Gentlemen’s Course” from Oberlin in 1884 and a master’s degree four years later. She was
among the first Black female students to graduate from Oberlin, and while there she made her
14

mark, writing for and editing the Oberlin Review.

Oberlin has graduated remarkable women of

15

passion, commitment, and achievement.

Black women played a critical role in improving black education. Even during the era of
slavery, Black women operated underground schools and found ways of teaching enslaved
16

children how to read and write.

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was absorbed with what she

could do to improve the circumstances of her race….she was serving in a productive role as a
teacher, one of many feminized and socially acceptable professions for women. However, she
was well acquainted with abolitionism and recognized that she could utilize her literary ability to

13

Ibid.
The Source: Oberlin’s Resource for Campus News “Alumnae Featured on Postage Stamp” by
Lillie Chilen and Aisha Hadlock, February 4, 2009.
15
“Beyond Coeducation: Oberlin College and Women’s History Postings in Honor of Women’s
History Month 1998” http://www.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/womenshist/women.html
16
Gerda Lerna. The Majority Finds its Past: Placing Women in History (Chapel Hill: University
of North Carolina Press, 2005), 67.
4
14

17

impact the social reform of slavery.

On March 29, 1870, Frances E. W. Harper wrote a letter,

“A Private Meeting with the Women”, where she planned on lecturing to a group of Black
women in Greenville, Georgia about the well-being of the race. She challenged the women to
become more involved in racial uplift. She wrote:

After all whether they encourage or discourage me, I belong to this race, and
when it is down I belong to a down race; when it is up I belong to a risen race . . .
Oh, if some more of our young women would only consecrate their lives to the
18

work of upbuilding the race!

The opinions of Harper and others persuaded Black women throughout the country and
abroad to create and become members of women’s suffrage groups, civic and religious
organizations, as well as sororities. While being involved, Black women carried out ‘uplifted the
race’ during the course of these memberships and worked to foster the collective progress of all
women.

17

19

While racial discrimination hindered Blacks’ entrance into white schools, Black

Archives of Maryland (Biographical Series) Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911)
http://www.msa.md.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/012400/012499/html/12499bio.ht
ml
18
Frances Smith Foster, ed., A Brighter Coming Day: A Francis Ellen Watkins Harper Reader
(New York: The Feminist Press at The City University of New York, 1990), 128; Gerda Lerna.
The Majority Finds its Past: Placing Women in History, 52.
19
The role that these organizations played in assisting all Black women in their effort to prevail
over racism, sexism, and economic unrest is examined in Angela Y. Davis, Women Race &
Class (New York: Random House, 1981), 99-137. Davis looks at Education, as a means of
liberation, Black women clubs and Black women’s involvement in the Suffrage movement.
Paula Giddings When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in
America (New York: HarperCollins, 1996), 95-119, focuses on the Black women club movement
and quest for women’s rights and read Cynthia Neverdon-Morton, Afro American Women of the
5

women did not passively accept this exclusion. At risk were the lives of their children, who were
viewed as the hope for the future. Paula Giddings quoted Mary Church Terrell’s thoughts from
1898: “The real solution of the race problem lies in the children . . . both so far as we who are
20

oppressed and those who oppress us are concerned.”

Since Blacks from the outset were unable to occupy the white classroom during the
nineteenth century, ‘Colored’ classrooms became the location for preparing others to lift up the
race. Black women were excluded from the job market and many were not allowed to do ‘white
women’s work, such as becoming a secretary. The best way for Black women to get out of doing
domestic work and possibly being raped or working in unbearable conditions in the white
household was to become school teachers. Teaching was considered a noble occupation for the
Black woman and she earned respect throughout the Black community. Women such as Fanny
Coppin Jackson in Pennsylvania, Lucy Craft Laney in Georgia, Anna Julia Cooper in
Washington, D.C., Mary McLeod Bethune in Florida, Charlotte Hawkins Brown in North
Carolina, and Nannie Helen Burroughs in Washington, D.C., became founders and
administrators of schools with a common goal of uplifting the race. Historian, Sharon Harley
maintains,
For black women, a teaching position was highly desirable for the following reasons: (1) it
represented an acceptable, even admirable, public extension of their domestic roles in the
home; (2) it represented one of the few opportunities in which educated black women could
perform duties commensurate with their professional training; (3) it provided one of the best
salaries available to blacks in general; and, finally, (4) it carried considerable social prestige
21
and status in the black community.

South and the Advancement of the Race, 1895-1925 (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee
Press, 1989), 78-103, which specifically place emphasis on teaching.
20
Paula Giddings When and Where I Enter, 100.
21
Sharon Harley. “Beyond the Classroom: The Organizational Lives of Black Female Educators
in the District of Columbia, 1890-1930”. Journal of Negro Education, 51 (3), 255-256.
6

Fanny Marian Jackson Coppin (1837-1913)
Fanny Jackson Coppin conquered overwhelming obstacles and became the beacon by
which future generations would set their courses. A teacher, lecturer, missionary to Africa, and
unyielding warrior against oppression, she holds the distinction of being one of the greatest
22

educators who ever lived.

“According to Ringwood’s Journal…. Mrs. Fannie Jackson Coppin

has probably attained more fame as a teacher than any of the noble Afro-American women of her
23

age.”

Fanny (Frances) Jackson was born into slavery in Washington, D.C. on October 15, 1837.
Her mother’s father, Henry Orr, a mullato [sic], purchased his freedom for $500 in 1825. Being
a landowner, a waiter and caterer, Orr was held in high esteem by rich Washingtonians. Several
year later, Orr, purchased his three sons freedom, leaving his three daughters enslaved. Later,
Sarah and Rebecca would become free – the oldest daughter, Sarah at age thirty due to her
engagement to be married in 1840 and then Rebecca was freed via her father’s will in 1845 after
24

his passing.

Fanny’s mother, Lucy, remained in bondage. Coppin’s Aunt Sarah, being very

fond her little niece, worked for six dollars a month and saved $125 to purchase “little Frances”
freedom.

22

25

Sarah Orr Clark sent Frances to another aunt that was married into the family,

Coppin State University, “Coppin State College to Hold Centennial Finale Coppin Street
Signs and Fanny Jackson Coppin Bust to Be Unveiled.”
http://www.coppin.edu/OUR/News.aspx?author=ubattle&story=20001219054521 (accessed
November 8, 2010).
23
Monroe Alphus Majors, MD., Noted Negro Women: Their Triumphs and Activities (Chicago:
Donohue & Henrieberry, 1893), 171.
24
Linda M. Perkins, Fanny Jackson Coppin and the Institute for Colored Youth, 1865-1902,
(New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1987), 14-15.
25
Fanny Jackson Coppin, Reminiscence of School Life and Hints on Teaching, AfricanAmerican Women Writers, 1910-1940 eds. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Jennifer Burton (New
York: G.K. Hall & Co., 1995), 10. Being grateful for what her aunt had done, Coppin dedicated
7

Elizabeth Orr, in New Bedford, Massachusetts who would see that she had a place to stay and
also obtain some education.

26

Spending her teenage years working for George H. and Elizabeth Stuart Calvert’s family,
Fanny had an opportunity to receive private tutelage a few times a week as well as attend the
public school for “colored” people. She went on to study her basics at Rhode Island State
Normal School (now known as Rhode Island College).

Pleased with her education at Rhode

Island, she declared, “Here, my eyes were first opened on the subject of teaching. I said to
myself, is it possible that teaching can be made so interesting as this! But, having finished the
course of study…. I felt that I had just begun to learn; and, hearing of Oberlin College, I made up
27

my mind to try and get there.”

Coppin enrolled into Oberlin in 1860. During her junior year at Oberlin, the faculty
selected Fanny along with some white students to become a student teacher. She became the
first Black student-teacher to ever hold this position at Oberlin. She reminisced,
The faculty did not forbid a woman to take the gentleman’s course, but they did
not advise it. There was plenty of Latin and Greek in it, and as much mathematics
as one could shoulder. Now, I took a long breath and prepared for a delightful
contest. All went smoothly until I was in the junior year in College. Then, one
day, the Faculty sent for me—ominous request—and I was not slow in obeying it.
It was a custom in Oberlin that forty students from the junior and senior classes
were employed to teach the preparatory classes. As it was now time for the
juniors to begin their work, the Faculty informed me that it was their purpose to
give me a class, but I was to understand distinctly that if the pupils rebelled
against my teaching, they did not intend to force it. Fortunately, for my training at
the normal school, and my own dear love of teaching, tho there was a little
surprise on the faces of some when they came into the class, and saw the teacher,

her book to her aunt Sarah, “This book is dedicated to my Beloved Aunt Sarah Orr Clark who,
working at six dollars a month saved one hundred and twenty-five dollars, and bought my
freedom.”
26
Coppin, Reminiscence, 11.
27
Ibid.
8

there were no signs of rebellion. The class went on increasing in numbers until it
28
had to be divided, and I was given both divisions.
Historian, Linda Perkins, who is one of the leading authorities on Mrs. Fanny Jackson
Coppin’s life and career, wrote:
Fanny’s competence and dedication to her students resulted in the original class of
40 students, which had increased to nearly 100 students, being divided into two
sections. Undoubtly, Fanny Jackson was the choice teacher among the
Preparatory students. Moreover, the success of her class drew widespread
publicity. Visitors were in attendance almost daily to observe her teaching, and
29
newspapers often carried accounts of the observations of travelers.
In the recorded documents, Jackson talked about the obstacles there were before her; however,
she did realize that she had been given an important assignment which was a way to help
“educate and uplift the race” and so she persevered. The nature of her writings shows modesty
as well her passion for teaching.
Prior to graduating, Ms. Fanny Jackson was contacted by the Religious Society of
Friends (Quakers) to come to the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia to work as a
teacher. She graduated from Oberlin College in 1865 with honors. Within a year, she was
promoted to principal of the Ladies Department and taught Greek, Latin, and higher
30

Mathematics.

At a meeting of the Board of Managers on April 13, 1869, “Fanny Jackson was promoted
to the position of principal of the Institute and to have charge of the Library, at a salary of $1200

28

Coppin, Reminiscence, 12.
Perkins, Fanny Jackson Coppin and the Institute for Colored Youth, 33.
30
“History of Teacher Education at Oberlin College”
http://www.oberlin.edu/teachereducation/history/
9
29

annum and the free occupancy of the house No. 921 Shippen St. for her own residence.”31
Jackson’s appointment was an unprecedented event for the Black race. In 1881, Fanny Jackson
married an AME preacher, Rev. Levi J. Coppin, who would later become a Bishop of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church in 1900.32 The Coppin’s traveled to South Africa and set-up Bethel
Institute, a “school and mission house” that stressed self-help programs in Cape Town.33 Fanny
Jackson served as Principal for 33 years until she retired in 1902. The Institute for Colored
Youth moved from Philadelphia to West Chester, Pennsylvania shortly after Fanny Jackson
Coppin retired and is known today as Cheyney University.34

31

O.V. Catto “Board of Managers, Institute of Colored Youth Minutes, 1855-1884” Transcribed
from records of the Institute for Colored Youth at Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore
College http://archives.pacscl.org/catto/resources/Octavius_V._Catto_Transcription.pdf
32
Coppin, Reminiscence, 122.
33
Coppin, Reminiscence, 126.
34
Michelle Howard-Vital. Paying it Forward – Women and Progress Recently” President’s
Blog, entry posted May 23, 2009, http://www.cheyney.edu/president/blog/5667/2009/3
(accessed November 8, 2010). A brief summary of the founding of Institute for Colored Youth:
“Founded in 1837 as the Institute for Colored Youth, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania is the
oldest of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities in America. The founding of Cheyney
University was made possible by Richard Humphreys, a Quaker philanthropist who bequeathed
$10,000, one tenth of his estate, to design and establish a school to educate the descendants of
the African race.” “Born on a plantation in the West Indies, Richard Humphreys came to
Philadelphia in 1764. Having witnessed the struggles of African Americans competing
unsuccessfully for jobs due to the influx of immigrants, he became interested in their plight. In
1829, race riots heightened and it was that year Richard Humphreys wrote his will and charged
thirteen fellow Quakers to design an institution: “...to instruct the descendants of the African
Race in school learning, in the various branches of the mechanic Arts, trades and Agriculture, in
order to prepare and fit and qualify them to act as teachers....” The school began in Philadelphia
as the Institute for Colored Youth and successfully provided free classical education for qualified
young people. In 1902, the Institute moved to George Cheyney’s farm, 25 miles west of
Philadelphia. The Cheyneys (aka Cheyne, Choney, Cheney, Chainy, and Chonnoy) have their
origins in Berkshire, England. An early family member, Sir Thomas Cheyne, was shield bearer
to King Edward III, the “Black Prince.” During the 1700’s, it was the grandfather (or greatgrandfather) of Squire Thomas Cheyney who purchased the plot of land in Thornbury County,
PA that bears the family name. In 1902, George Cheyney sold the family farm to officials of the
10

Fanny Coppin made the following assertions about her school and missionary work,
After having spent thirty-seven years in the school room, laboring to give a
correct start in life to the youth that came under my influence, it was indeed, to
me, a fortunate incident to finish my active work right in Africa, the home of the
ancestors of those whose lives I had endeavored to direct.35 My stay in Africa
was pleasant, for I did not count the deprivations, and sometimes hardships. We
were graciously kept from disease, even the bubonic plague that came to our very
door….If some seed was sown that took root, and will never be entirely uprooted,
the visit to Africa was not in vain.36
Coppin returned to Philadelphia because of failing health, after doing missionary work for a
decade. On January 21, 1913, Fanny Coppin died at the age of 76. Twelve years later, a teacher
training school in Baltimore, Maryland, was named the Fanny Jackson Coppin Normal School to
“honor the outstanding African-American woman who was a pioneer in teacher education.”37 It
is now Coppin State University.

Lucy Craft Laney (1854-1933)
Fanny Jackson Coppin, Lucy Craft Laney, and Anna Julia Cooper were pioneering Black
women who established schools or who became administrators in educational institutions

Institute for Colored Youth. In 1914, in order to better reflect the school’s mission, ICY became
the Cheyney Training School for Teachers. In 1921, name was changed to the State Normal
School at Cheyney and in 1959, Cheyney State College. In 1983, Cheyney joined the State
System of Higher Education as Cheyney University of Pennsylvania.”
http://www.cheyney.edu/about-cheyney-university/ (accessed November 8, 2010) and
http://www.cheyney.edu/library/FAQ.cfm.
35
Coppin, Reminiscence, 122.
36
Coppin, Reminiscence, 133.
37
“About Coppin State University” http://www.coppin.edu/About/History.aspx
11

(principals) with the common goal of advancing the race through education of the “colored”
38

youth.

Lucy Craft Laney was born a slave in Macon, Georgia, April 13, 1854.

Her father,

David Laney, was a Presbyterian preacher and carpenter. Her mother, Louisa Laney, was
employed as a domestic in the Campbell’s household. Her parents not only reared their
immediate family but also, often, took in other family members and acquaintances. Laney, a
member of the first graduating class at Atlanta University with the highest honors, received her
39

teacher certificate from the Higher Normal Department on June 23, 1873.

38

For the next ten

Bert James Lowenberg and Ruth Bogin, eds. Black Women in Nineteenth-Century American
Life: Their Words, Their Thoughts, Their Feelings (University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State
University Press, 1976), p. 281-331. Chapter five “To Get an Education and to Teach My
People, focuses not only on Laney, Coppin and Cooper, but also the life and career of Charlotte
Forten Grimké.
39
Titus Brown, Faithful, Firm & True: African-American Education in the South (Macon, GA:
Mercer University Press, 2002), p. 138. Robert J. Douglass, “Haines Institute Embodies Spirit of
Miss Lucy Laney,” The Chicago Defender (National edition), (May 27, 1933), p. 10. There is a
great body of literature on the life and career on Lucy Craft Laney: James T. Haley and Booker
T. Washington. Afro-American Encyclopedia, Or, The Thoughts, Doings, and … (Nashville:
Haley & Florida, 1895), pages 108-112 discusses Laney and Haines Institute; Home Mission
Monthly published by the Women’s Executive Committee of the Home Missions of the
Presbyterian Church (New York, 1885), was a journal that gave updates of Laney’s progress
through the religious organization. Henry F. Kletzing and William Henry Crogman, Progress of
a Race..or..The Remarkable Advancement of the Afro-American (Atlanta: J. L. Nichols & Co,
1903), pages 525-526. Also see: Ann Short Chirhart and Betty Wood, eds. Georgia Women
Their Lives and Times- Volume 1 (Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2009); Audrey
Thomas McCluskey and Elaine M. Smith, eds. Mary McLeod Bethune: Building a Better World:
Essays and Selected Documents (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999); Gerda Lerner.
Black Women in White America: A Documentary History (New York: Vintage Books, 1972);
Anne Firor Scott. Making the Invisible Woman Visible (Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
1984); Laceye C. Warner. Saving Women: Retrieving Evangelistic Theology and Practice
(Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2007); John Dittmer. Black Georgia in the Progressive
Era, 1900-1920 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977); Walter C. Parker, ed. Educating
the Democratic Mind (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996); Charles W.
Wadelington and Richard F. Knapp. Charlotte Hawkins Brown and Palmer Memorial Institute:
What One Young African American Woman Can Do (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1999); Jacqueline Anne Rouse. Lugenia Burns Hope: Black Southern Reformer (Athens:
12

40

years, she taught in the state of Georgia, including her hometown of Macon.

Laney’s parents

were committed to helping their Black community; they motivated Laney to become one of the
prominent educators of her era.
In 1886, with very little money Laney started a school, by renting a room in the basement
of Augusta’s Presbyterian Church, to educate black children in Augusta, Georgia. Three years
later, the school became known as Haines Normal and Industrial Institute and was chartered by
Georgia.

It was named to honor Mrs. Francine E. H. Haines, president of the Women’s

Department of the Presbyterian Church, USA, who was Laney’s financial supporter.
Haines soon established as its primary mission the training of black teachers. Though her
original plan was to cultivate a place of learning for young women, the school developed as a coeducational facility. The school graduated its first class in 1888. The following year, they
erected the first building. Lucy Laney felt that women were the “regenerative force” to uplifting

University of Georgia Press, 1989); Sara M. Evans. Born for Liberty: A History of Women in
America (New York: Free Press, 1989); Anastatia Sims. The Power of Femininity in the New
South: Women’s Organizations and Politics in North Carolina, 1880-1930 (Columbia:
University of South Carolina, 1997); Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore. Gender and Jim Crow: Women
and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Carolina, 1896-1920. (Chapel Hill: University of
North Carolina Press, 1996); Deborah G. Felder. A Century of Women: The Most Influential
Events in Twentieth-Century Women's History. (Secaucus, NJ.: Carol Pub. Group, 1999); Anne
Ruggles Gere. Intimate Practices: Literacy and Cultural Work in U. S. Women’s Clubs, 18801920 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997); Cynthia Neverdon-Morton. Afro-American
Women of the South and the Advancement of the Race, 1895-1925(Knoxville: University of
Tennessee Press, 1989); Barbara Dianne Savage. Your Spirits Walk Beside Us: The Politics of
Black Religion (Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2008) and Jacqueline
Jones. Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, Work, and the Family, from Slavery to
the Present (New York: Basic Books, 2010).
40
Brown, Faithful, Firm & True, p. 138.
13

41

the black race.

On June, 21, 1890, the Freeman Newspaper out of Indianapolis, Indiana, ran an

article about Haines Institute and Laney:

“The Haines Normal and Industrial School is an institution that deserves to be placed
upon the highest pinnacle of educational endeavor Miss Lucy C. Laney, the principal and
president is one of the most progressive, energetic, and successful Negro women in the
south. Her educational experience is wide and varied, and the influence exerted by her
teaching is felt all over the land... humble and modest were her first efforts….The future
is bright and promising. If we are to judge by the past, we have another Fisk situated in
42
our mist.”
In the January, 23, 1897 edition of The Washington Bee, Mrs. E.V.C. Williams had indicated
that, “There is no young woman in the South who, single handed, has done more for the
education of the race that Miss Lucy C. Laney…. not only founded a school but raised enough
money to build the present magnificent building now occupied by the school. Miss Laney is a
power for good among our people in this section. We would that there were thousands of such
women.”

43

During a missionary society meeting at the First Presbyterian Church on May 23, 1903,
Laney spoke to the women at the meeting, “Do not be afraid of giving the negro [sic] higher
training, for he is not getting too much of any sort. We are isolated. The negro must be taught

41

Bert James Loewenberg and Ruth Bogin, Black Women in Nineteenth-Century American Life:
Their Words, Their Thoughts, Their Feelings (University Park, Pa: The Pennsylvania State
University Press, 1976), p. 296.
42
“Commencement at Haines, A Description of Its Work and Worth. Miss Lucy C. Laney an
Honor to her Sex” Freeman (June 21, 1890), p.7.
43
Mrs. E. V. C. Williams, ed. “Our Women,” The Washington Bee Vol. XV, Issue 34, (Jan. 23,
1897), p.5.
14

by the negro teacher, and then that negro teacher must make a place in life for his negro pupil,
44

who in turn must help some one [sic] else.”

Robert Douglass of the Chicago Defender wrote this about Laney,
“Miss Laney realized early that all men are not born to lead. Some must be
willing to serve by following and the earlier an individual realize this, the surer
progress in putting over programs of construction will be. She sought the best
prepared men and women to aid her in the work; ….women like Mary McLeod
Bethune are proud to tell you that their candles were lighted at the feet of Lucy C.
45
Laney, with whom they labored.”
Between 1890 and 1892, Laney established the first kindergarten for black children in
46

Augusta and an instructional program to train black women nurses.

In 1909, the Lamar

Hospital for “Negroes” was built with the generous funds from banker and philanthropist,
Gazaway Bugg Lamar, where the nursing school was housed. For several years, Laney used one
of her buildings on Haines campus to teach the medical professionals and care for the sick, when
Lamar Hospital burned down in 1911. The Augusta City Hospital (founded in 1818) which
serviced white patients, and the Lamar Hospital and Lamar School of Nursing, which serviced
Black patients were brought under one facility with the opening of a replacement hospital in
1915, which was named University Hospital to honor the ongoing clinical association with the
44

“Eloquent Negress at Missionary Meeting: Lucy Laney Pleads for Her Race to White Sisters,”
Los Angeles Times (May 23, 1903), p. A2. See also “Young Negress Thrilled the Presbyterian
Women,” Los Angeles Times (May 23, 1903), p. A1.
45
Robert J. Douglass, “Haines Institute Embodies Spirit of Miss Lucy Laney,” p. 10.
46
Edward J. Cashin and Glenn T. Eskew, editors, Paternalism in a Southern City: Race,
Religion, and Gender in Augusta, Georgia (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2001), p. 127.
Note: Laney convinced a white nurse, Virginia Borden, from Canada to be the director and ten
young women were selected to enroll in the Nursing School. About thirty-five years later,
African American professionals ran the nursing school. Gazaway Bugg Lamar, gave money to
build hospitals specifically for Blacks in Savannah and Augusta, Georgia; Kent Leslie. “Lucy
Laney and Early Black Professional Nursing in Augusta, GA” Georgia Nursing, Vol. 70, No. 2,
(May, June, July 2010), p14.
15

Augusta Medical College. According to an observer, “There, the Black students trained in the
Lamar Wing, while the white students were trained in the Barrett Wing, on opposite sides of the
47

building.”

Within four years, Laney’s school went from five students enrolled to 234. While the
principal at Haines, Laney took graduate courses at the University of Chicago, but did not
complete her graduate studies.

She received a number of honorary degrees from Lincoln
48

University (1905), Atlanta University (1923) and South Carolina College (1925).

Laney was

involved in community service activities and social uplift and was a Figureer member of the
Augusta Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Throughout her life, Laney advocated for justice, racial harmony, and upward social mobility for
blacks. Moreover, she played a significant role in the Women’s Federated Club movement, the
Inter-Racial Movement.

49

The Haines School continued to thrive throughout Laney’s lifetime with the continued
support of the Presbyterian Church; she saw her institution grow into a community college
50

status, having over 900 students, a teaching staff of thirty-four teachers and a physical plant.

“Lucy Craft Laney occupies a place in American life as one of the pioneers in the development
of the Race.”51 The New York Amsterdam News observed that, “She built up an institution as

47

CSRA African American Association “Augusta History”
http://my.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=87&subpageid=9497&ck=
48
Ibid.
49
Ibid., p. 139.
50
Ibid.
51
Robert J. Douglass, “Haines Institute Embodies Spirit of Miss Lucy Laney,” p. 10.
16

high as 800 students, many doing junior college work….a member of the Interracial Commission
52

and influential throughout the state and nation.”

Lucy Craft Laney died on October 23, 1933 at the age of seventy-nine. According to the
“Weekly Bulletin of Urban League” in The Atlanta Constitution, “The passing of Lucy Laney
brings widespread grief and universal sorrow. It has been given to few women of any race or
generation to so largely enhance the welfare fortune of as many people as was true of Miss
Laney.

Her scholastic fidelity, moral integrity, creative imagination, spiritual enthusiasm,
53

courageous devotion to the cause of human uplift was a benediction to us all.”

During 1949,

Haines Institute merged with Augustus R. Johnson High School, becoming Lucy Craft Laney
High School. Moreover, the segregated nursing schools (Lamar and Barrett) joined forces to
become the University Hospital’s School of Nursing in Augusta, Georgia. Lucy C. Laney’s
legacy still continues to thrive in the present day.

Anna Julia Haywood Cooper (1858-1964)
Anna Julia Cooper was one of the most influential African-American educators of the
late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, graduated with
classmate Mary Church Terrell from Oberlin College in 1884, receiving her bachelor’s degree
and master’s degree in Mathematics in 1887. Recognized as a community activist, author, and
scholar, Cooper committed her life to the education and empowerment of African-American
youth and adults. Her dedication and fervent belief in the command of education as a means to
economic and political freedom was a driving force in her life.
52

“Leaders Pay Honors to Miss Lucy Laney: Haines Institute Founder Stayed on Job 47 Years –
Built Big School,” The New York Amsterdam News (November 1, 1933), p. 16.
53
“Weekly Bulletin of Urban League,” The Atlanta Constitution (October 29, 1933), p. 3C.
17

Anna Julia Cooper was a teacher with a mission, and a strong sense of urgency to meet
the educational needs of black people, and especially those needs of black women. She believed
not only that individuals, men and women alike, deserved and required education, but that the
future of the black race, degraded and deprived for centuries, depended on the development of
black women working together with the men. There was a broader social argument relating to
the needs for higher education of all women regardless of race. The world, she maintained,
needed the education of women to unlock the feminine side of truth, and to make their women’s
54

perspectives as valid as the masculine perspective in importance.

From early on, Cooper possessed an unrelenting zeal for knowledge and an unshakable
belief that Black women must be prepared to pursue intellectual training and employment as
teachers. Cooper wrote her first book, A Voice from the South: By a Woman from the South,
55

published in 1892, which is considered as one of the first publications of Black Feminism.

The

book advanced a vision of self-determination through education and social uplift for African
American women. Its central argument was that the educational, moral, and spiritual progress of
Black women would improve the general standing of the entire African American community.
Cooper advanced the view that it was the duty of educated and successful Black women to
support their underprivileged peers in achieving their goals.
At age sixty-six, in 1925, she was awarded the degree of doctor of philosophy by the
Sorbonne University in Paris, France. She taught Latin, mathematics, and science; … and

54

Bert James Loewenberg and Ruth Bogin, eds. Black Women in Nineteenth-Century American
Life: Their Words, Their Thoughts, Their Feelings (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State
University Press, 1976), p. 318.
55
Cooper, Anna Julia. A Voice from The South: By a Black Women of The South. (Xenia, Ohio:
The Aldine Printing House, 1892).
18

instilled in her pupils high ideals of scholarship, racial pride, and self-improvement.

56

According to physician, Monroe Majors, “Mrs. Cooper’s book, A Voice from the South, received
positive press reviews throughout the country, and she is in daily receipt of clippings from areas
where least expected.” One example comes from the Chicago Inter Ocean:
It is not often that the question here raised has been discussed more candidly, more
earnestly and intelligently, and in better spirit than in the volume before us. The argument
is keen, seldom the least shade of vindictiveness, and yet so pointed and honest as to be
convincing for its justice. She claims that the best hopes of the race rest upon the higher
education of black women. That only as the woman is educated and lifted up and refined
57
and the home made pure, will the black man advance to an honored position.
A writer from the Detroit Plaindealer declared: “There has been no book on the race
question that has been more cogently and forcibly written by either white or black authors. The
book is not only a credit to the genius of the race, but to woman whose place and sphere in life
58

men have so long dictated.”

Moreover, the Kingsley (Iowa) Times reported that A Voice from

the South is “One of the most readable books on the race question of the South….written by Mrs.
A. J. Cooper, of Washington, D.C., a colored lady with the brain of a Susan B. Anthony, George
Eliot, or Frances Willard. The volume is attracting wide attention, owing to its being worthy of
59

careful perusal and because of its originality and great literary strength.”

56

Henry S. Robinson. “The M Street High School, 1891-1916.” Records of the Columbia
Historical Society, Washington, D.C., Vol. 51, Historical Society of Washington, D.C. (1984), p.
122.
57
Monroe Alphus Majors, MD., Noted Negro Women: Their Triumphs and Activities (Chicago,
Donohue & Henrieberry, 1893), p. 285. More reviews of Anna Julia Cooper’s A Voice from the
South were also included in this collection and were written in elite African American
newspapers of that era: New York Independent, Philadelphia Public Ledger, Boston Transcript,
Public Opinion, Detroit Plaindealer, Kinsley (Iowa) Times, and Albion Wineager Tourgee.
58
Ibid., 286.
59
Ibid., 286.
19

After retiring from the Washington D. C. public school system in 1930, Dr. Cooper
60

became the second president of the Frelinghuysen University of Employed Colored Persons.

At the gentle age of 105, after a lifetime of educating Black youth, Dr. Cooper passed away
peacefully in her home in Washington, D.C.

Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955)
Mary McLeod Bethune was the most prominent Black woman in the twentieth century.
Her legacy spans the fields of education, government, politics, economics, social activism, and
women’s rights. Bethune, an educator, founded the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training
School for Negro Girls in Daytona Beach, Florida in 1904; today the school is known as Bethune61

Cookman University.

She served as president for thirty-eight years. As college president until

1942, her efforts gained tremendous recognition. Bethune became a national leader and united all
major black women's organizations across the nation into one powerful group, the National
Council of Negro Women (NCNW) in 1935, which still exists today. During Bethune’s 14 year
62

presidency of NCNW, she led campaigns against segregation and discrimination.

According to Mary Frances Berry, Bethune’s “reputation as an educator and school
founder first brought her to the attention of the White House during the Coolidge administration in

60

Sharon Harley. “Beyond the Classroom”, p. 263.
Bethune-Cookman University History.
http://www.cookman.edu/about_BCU/history/index.html
62
“Black Republican History” National Black Republican Association.
http://www.nbra.info/index.cfm?fuseaction=pages.blackgop
20
61

63

1928.”

President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Bethune to the Advisory Board of the
64

National Youth Administration (NYA) in 1935.

After reporting back to the White House for a

meeting about the NYA, the President decided to add an office of minority affairs and appoint
65

Bethune as the head of the office.
many people.

Bethune’s leadership helped open educational opportunity for

In 1942 she was special assistant to the Secretary of War for Selection of

Candidate for the First Officer Candidate School for Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps
(WACS).

66

Presidents Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt and Truman sought her advice on issues

concerning Black Americans.

Nannie Helen Burroughs (1879-1961)
Nannie Helen Burroughs was born the eldest daughter to John and Jennie Burroughs on
May 2, 1879 in Orange, Virginia. Her widowed mother took her to Washington, D.C. at an early
age in pursuit of a better education. She studied business and domestic science in high school
and graduated with honors in 1896.

63

Mary France Berry, “Twentieth-Century Black Women in Education” in Journal of Negro
Education. Volume 51, Issue 3, ‘The Impact of Black Women in Education: An Historical
Overview’ (Summer 1982), p. 288.
64
See Emma Gelders Sterne’s Mary McLeod Bethune (New York: Knopf, 1957), Audrey
Thomas McCluskey and Elaine M. Smith’ s editors, Mary McLeod Bethune: Building a Better
World: Essays and Selected Documents, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999), Joyce A.
Hanson’s Mary McLeod Bethune and Black Women's Political Activism (Columbia: University
of Missouri Press, 2003), and Nancy Ann Zrinyi Long’s The Life and Legacy of Mary McLeod
Bethune (Cocoa, FL: Florida Historical Society Press, 2004) for more information on the life and
career of Mary Mcleod Bethune.
65
Ibid, p. 291.
66
Joyce A. Hanson. Mary McLeod Bethune and Black Women's Political Activism (Columbia:
University of Missouri Press, 2003), p.4.
21

Miss Burroughs was a prolific writer, educator, orator, businesswoman and Christian
leader. She contributed much toward bringing about the recognition of the power and influence
of the Black woman in all of the important issues in American life. In her travels in this country
and abroad, her forceful utterances and charming personality left a lasting impression upon all
with whom she came in contact.
“Believing that black females were ultimately to provide the major support system for the
race, black and white intellectuals and educators founded schools to meet what they considered
to be the special needs of black women.”

67

In 1907, with the support of the National Baptist

Convention, Miss Burroughs began coordinating the building plans for the National trade and
Professional School for Women and Girls located in Washington, D.C. The school opened its
doors in 1909 with Dr. Nannie Helen Burroughs as Founder and First President under the motto,
“We specialize in the wholly impossible.” Its creed, stressed by Miss Burroughs, emphasized
the value of the “three B’s – the Bible, the Bath and Broom: clean life, clean body and clean
68

house.”

Charlotte Hawkins Brown (1883-1961)
Brown was born in Henderson, North Carolina but educated in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. As a teenager, she met Alice Freeman Palmer, the second president of Wellesley
College, while serving as Palmer’s babysitter. Palmer mentored Brown and encouraged her to
start her own school. In 1902, at the age of nineteen, having very little money, Brown founded
the Palmer Memorial Institute (PMI) with a handful of rural students.
67

Cynthia Neverdon-Morton. Afro-American Women in the South and the Advancement of the
Race, 1895-1925 (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1989), p. 41.
68
About Nannie Helen Burroughs http://www.nhburroughs.org/id1.html
22

She continued to seek support and donations from some of New England’s wealthiest
families; Dr. Brown assembled a Board of Trustees of black and white leaders from both the
North and South. Galen Stone of Boston became one of the largest contributors to the school in
the 1910s and 1920s. He is reputed to have told Dr. Brown, “I am not interested in educating and
advancing Negroes, but in making American citizens.” With this encouragement and Stone’s
financial backing, Dr. Brown began to move PMI away from the agricultural focus of its early
years.
In Europe she shared ideas with black educators Mary McLeod Bethune and Nannie
Helen Burroughs. Together, these three women were known as the “Three Bs of Education.” The
Three Bs believed in combining a holistic triangle of ideas and lessons to achieve racial equality:
Brown's triangle combined education, religion, and deeds; Bethune’s triangle was "the head, the
heart, and the hand"; Burroughs’s was “the book, the Bible, and the broom.” By the mid-1920s
Brown was a nationally known speaker who stressed teaching these concepts through culture and
liberal arts for racial uplift.

69

By the late 1930s, the Palmer Institute had evolved into a college preparatory school
widely known for rigorous academics, strict discipline and character development. Over 90% of
its graduates attended college, and many became leaders in communities and organizations
across the nation. Dr. Brown’s school became the nation’s renowned preparatory school for
Blacks and the school of choice for wealthy Blacks in the age of Jim Crow. During the 1940s,
Brown was increasingly in demand as a lecturer and speaker. She gave talks to college students,
church goers, and others on numerous topics, including education, race, and even social graces.

69

Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum: “What One Young African American Woman Could Do”
http://www.nchistoricsites.org/chb/chb-pmi.htm
23

She was also a writer and one of her books, The Correct Thing to Do, to Say and to Wear (1941)
70

was on polite behavior.

71

In 1952, Dr. Brown retired after 50 years as president of PMI.

Yet

through exceptional personal courage, perseverance, powers of persuasion, faith in God,
intellect, and some good luck at times, she succeeded, and she and her school became nationally
known.

Her formula for success was based on a shrewd, timely, and changing mix of

accommodation, activism, education, hard work, propriety, and social graces. More than one
thousand students graduated from Palmer Memorial Institute before it closed its doors in 1971
and later turned into the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum.
A memorial plaque honoring the life and legacy bears the following inscription:
Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown Founder and Builder of the Alice Freeman Palmer
Memorial Institute Leader of Women in their quest for finer and more productive living –
Mentor, by her writings, of those seeking to live more graciously – by her Eloquence,
inspired youth to nobler achievements – by her Vigor of Mind and Force of Character,
championed a disadvantaged race in its striving for human rights and adult
responsibilities. She gave 58 years completely of her unique energies and talents to the
building of this Institute from its humblest of beginnings in an old blacksmith shop. Her
Vision, Dedication, Singleness of Purpose, and Undaunted Faith made this school
possible in her native state – North Carolina. May her memory in turn lend inspiration
72
always to this place and its people.
The cumulative work of these six pioneers, gave African American women an enviable
reputation as important with the educators of the black communities as in the larger society.
They all received considerable support from Black clubwomen in establishing and maintaining
73

their educational institutions.
70

The primary work of these ladies was achieved though coming

Biography: “Charlotte Hawkins Brown” http://www.biography.com/people/charlotte-hawkinsbrown-206525
71
Charlotte Hawkins Brown and the Palmer Memorial Institute: Teacher Materials for the
Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum, p. 10.
72
Teacher Materials for the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum, p. 11.
73
Anne Ruggles Gere. Intimate Practices: Literacy and Cultural Work in U. S. Women’s Clubs,
1880-1920 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997), p. 125.
24

up against many obstacles. They met race prejudice, and successfully vanquished it, at least to
so large a degree that in the cities in which they taught no Afro-American woman was denied a
74

position as teacher on account of her race.

74

Monroe Alphus Majors, MD., Noted Negro Women, p. 171.
25

Chapter 1:
Literature Review on Black women faculty in the Academy
What factors promote the study of Black women as a distinct topic in American history?
What types of questions do such studies raise and answer? How is the field of Black women's
studies related to Black history and traditional United States history? These question remain
important and the answers are being revealed and addressed.
Changes in the structure of the American academy inspired some researchers, particularly
African American female scholars to research the lives of Black women, not only in the academy,
but also to look at their lives within both the African American culture and in mainstream society.
Black women face a multiplicity of issues, at the crossroads are the areas of race, class and gender.
The field of Black women’s history is three decades old. When women are focused on in
mainstream history of the United States, Black women were rarely portrayed in the manner as
white women.

African American women are typically described in many history books in

stereotypical ways that date back to the time of slavery. Several black women who appear in most
American history textbooks are Phllis Wheatley, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks.
Yet, there is an abundance of great Black men appear who appear in these textbooks, like: Booker
T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X.
What about the rest of the African Americans who made history and those who continue to make
their contribution to history in his or her own way? The goal of historians is to tell the truth and to
ensure that the historical record is inclusive. For the time being it is importatn to place Black
women in the center of history, especially of the modern academy.

26

This chapter dicusses the literature written mostly by Black women scholars.

A

chronological approached is used in examining key monographs, edited collections and essays on
Black women in higher education.
The first book on the experiences of Black college women was written by Jeanne L.
Noblein 1956. Noble’s The Negro Woman’s College Education, presented for the first time, a
massive amount of data describing the education of collegiate Negro women. Noble declared that
Negro women had distinctive needs that were quite different from other women. Noble insisted,
that “Negro women specifically on the college level had little or perhaps no voice, when it came
down to matters that concerned their livelihood and survival at a college campus and matters that
75

concerned the education of women in society.”

The author suggested that very information

existed on middle-class Negro women and especially those who had attended an institution of
76

higher learning.

She called for more explorationand analysis of Negro college women so to

better understand their distinct needs. Noble indicated that her motivation for writing the book was
to help make college education “a more personally meaningful experience” for black women.
Jean Noble distributed a questionnaire to one thousand Negro women graduates. The
major requirement to participate in Noble’s research, was that the Negro woman had to have
graduated from college at least five years prior to filling out the survey. She gathered the list of
four sororities in order to collect the voices of certain middle-class Negro women. Her findings of
the survey were revealing in that the answers to the questionnaire varied based upon the types of
educational institutions from which these women matriculated from. Of those interviewed, 104 of
75

Jeanne L. Noble, The Negro Woman’s College Education., (New York: Garland, reprinted 1987,
1956), p. 3.
76
For further research on Middle-class Black women in higher education, see Elizabeth
Higginbotham’s book Too Much To Ask: Black Women in the Era of Integration., (Chapel Hill:
The University of North Carolina Press, 2001).
27

them went to white coeducational colleges, while 16 attended white women’s colleges, another 412
attended Negro coeducational colleges, and 29 attended Negro women’s colleges. According to
Noble, “Most of the graduates of this study seem to be more concerned with the practical aspects
77

of an education and less with a personal or liberal arts kind of education.”

She maintains that,

“Graduates of white colleges showed more preference for liberal and cultural education than did
graduates of Negro colleges. The graduates of women’s colleges showed more preference for
78

liberal arts than graduates of coeducational colleges did.”

Many of the respondents felt that

college made either a “noticeable” or “exceptional” contribution to them in their occupations.
Some black women surveyed stated that an education was self-fulling, yet, Noble shows that many
79

were concerned about personal aspects of their college education.

In a concluding portion of her

book, Noble appeals for more sisterhood among Negro and white women, hoping the women who
recognize their differences and similarities, in order to fight for improvement in collegiate
education that benefit all women. “The more education helps the Negro woman to realize her own
identity as a woman, as a human being, the nearer she is to all people, to all women…the more the
white woman identifies some of her problems with those of Negro women, the more kinship she
feels with all women and the more similar will the educational process and provisions need to
80

be.”

The Journal of Negro Education, nearly thirty years later, published an essay by Mary
Frances Berry, in 1982, on the contributions of twentieth-century black women in education.
Berry notes that, “throughout the history of blacks in America, numerous black women have made
77

Ibid., p. 67.
Ibid., p. 68.
79
Ibid., p. 119.
80
Ibid., p. 141.
78

28

contributions to education through schools, colleges, community and civil rights organizations and
81

Berry zeroed in on five black women for this essay who had significant positions of

groups.”

power to “influence significantly the education of millions of students (and particularly black
82

students) in the twentieth century and have been successful in their endeavors.”

Berry examines the work and career of educational pioneer Mary McLeod Bethune. Berry
resolves, she’s in a “class by herself.” Bethune is known for helping to educate more than “150,
000 black youths who went to high school and 60,000 black youths attended college or graduate
school under her student aid program that was established under the Presidency of Franklin
83

Roosevelt.”

Bethune’s leadership helped open educational opportunity for

many people.

According to Berry, Bethune would say that “The drums in Africa beat in my heart,… I cannot rest
84

while there is a single Negro boy or girl lacking a chance to prove his worth.”

One of the outstanding black women educators after Bethune’s death was

Barbara

Sizemore. She gained national attention, as the Director of the Woodlawn Experimental School
85

Project in Chicago, from 1969 to 1972.

Sizemore persuasively argued that black students could

indeed learn if they were taught by the use of examples of that “reflected the reality of their
86

lives.”

She felt that teachers should educate students based on their cultural experiences and

backgrounds. Though publicly condemned and later fired from her job, Sizemore remained
81

Mary France Berry, “Twentieth-Century Black Women in Education” in Journal of Negro
Education.
Volume 51, Issue 3, ‘The Impact of Black Women in Education: An Historical Overview’
(Summer 1982), p. 288.
82
Ibid.
83
Ibid., p. 290
84
Ibid.
85
Ibid., p. 291
86
Ibid.
29

commited to her cause. As a powerful school superintendent of D.C. public schools, “Sizemore
views concerning the appropriate education and the destructiveness of non-culturally based
methods of teaching black children influenced a whole generation of teachers and
87

administrators.”

In spite of everything that was negatively portrayed with the way Sizemore ran

her administration, she left an indelible mark on the lives of people who dared to help educate poor
Black students. She was in Berry’s words, “one of the most significant role models for blacks ad a
88

contemporary embodiment of the historic strength of black women.”

Berry discussed the contributions of lawyer, Constance Baker Motley, who served with
Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, during the Brown v. Board of Education case.
Between 1961 and 1964 Motley argued ten, and won nine, major civil rights cases involving
89

education before the U. S. Supreme Court.”

Then the life of Willa Beatrice Player, who

implemented the Federal Government’s Title III Developing Institutions program to focus
resources on black colleges and universities while serving as the director at the Division of College
90

Support in the Bureau of Higher Education in the U. S. Office of Education (OE) was examined.

Player, president of Bennett College from 1955 to 1969, was a major figure in the role in the civil
91

rights direct action struggles in Greensboro, North Carolina.

She strongly supported students

who participated in the sit-ins and showed her support by visiting them in jail as a means of
92

encouragement.

As the Director of the Division of College Support program, Willa Player made

87

Ibid., p. 292
Ibid.
89
Ibid., p. 293.
90
Ibid.
91
Ibid.
92
Ibid.
88

30

sure that the committee “emphasized awarding of funds to black institutions that were the intended
93

beneficiaries of the program.”

Berry expounded on the contributions of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) President,
Marian Wright Eldelman.Berry describes how Edelman sought to meet the needs of children in a
political arena while working as a lawyer in Mississippi, by establishing an organization to
94

respond swiftly to the kinds of needs addressed by Head Start and those of all children.

In the

closing segment of Berry’s essay, she looks at the contributions of other contemporary black
women educators of 1960s through the late 1970s. To best sum up the accomplishments of these
women, Berry asserts:
“Most of these women were persistent and held strong beliefs about
the importance of education and the roles they could play. They
were courageous and did not surrender when attacked. East woman
discussed in this survey made a significant contribution in her own
way as black women have always played a key role in the survival
95
and development of the black community.”
Bettye Collier-Thomas, increases our understanding of the lives of successful Black
women educators, in her essay, “The Impact of Black Women in Education: An Historical
Overview.” Collier-Thomas’s essay differs from Berry’s in that she presents the reader with an
overview on the history of Black women in U.S. education, highlighting the need to “establish an
historical context for understanding the very basic struggle in which black women have been
96

engaged to acquire an education and to utilize that education as a professional.”

The voices of

these educated African American women are not used in Collier-Thomas’s essay as they are
93

Ibid., p. 294.
Ibid.
95
Ibid., p. 300.
96
Ibid., p. 174.
94

31

quoted throughout Berry’s essay. What does come across, however, are the nice bio snippits of
such known scholars like Mary McLeod Bethnue and Fanny Jackson Coppin, as well as some
women are unfamiliar to the readers. In her conclusion, Bettye Collier-Thomas declares, “In order
to determine more fully the impact of black women in education, we must know more about who
they were and what they did, as well as the issues and movements that characterized the different
97

periods of time during which they lived.”

While Collier-Thomas examines the struggles of Black women in education, Carol Hobson
Smith’s essay, “Black Female Achievers in Academe,” zoom in on achievements of group of
Black women. Smith asserts that her goal is, “to highlight the accomplishments” of a few such
women. The article describes their contributions and aspirations, how they worked to achieve
them, the problems encountered en route to their goals, and relates how their presence has made a
difference in higher education. The author also sought to find out if the assistance of a mentor was
a source of inspiration and facilitator for career advancement, and if, as a result, these women in
98

turn served as mentors.”

Smith uses biographical sketches of Black women to show how they

survived and achieved a place of excellence in their various field.
In 1993, Elizabeth L. Ihle’s edited an anthology, Black Women in Higher Education: An
Anthology of Essays, Studies and Documents. Ihle’s book draws heavily upon primary sources like
oral interviews and personal narratives of Black women from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Chronicling the college careers of black female students to the highest rank of the professoriate,

97

Ibid., p. 178.
Carol Hobson Smith, “Black Female Achievers in Academe” in Journal of Negro Education.
Volume 51, Issue 3, ‘The Impact of Black Women in Education: An Historical Overview’
(Summer 1982), p. 319.
32

98

she allows the readers to hear each woman’s voice.

The anthology has fifty-six essays and four

sections. The first essay in the manuscript, set the tone for what was to follow. Ihle uses the work
of Fannie Coppin, the second Black woman to graduate from Oberlin College, as a casestudy. She
discusses how Coppin, despite severe economic hardship, sought to get a good education, while
Coppin’s contemporaries came from more affluent households.
Similarly, present-day Black women scholars express Black women’s concerns about
society’s treatment or opinions of educated Black females on the whole. They focus attention on
topics like conflicts between education and marriage, competition in the workforce, and
segregation. The editor, Elizabeth Ihle, reveals in selecting the essays in her volume, that sexism
and racism have dogged black women’s lives throughout their quest for higher education. One
example is of Eva D. Bowles’s struggle to become a teacher. This is one of many requirements “.
. . must be graduates from Northern colleges of first standing and have at least two years’
99

experience in teaching.”

Black women often encountered racism. When Lena Beatrice Morton

talks about her college experience at the University of Cincinnati in 1918. She declared that when
she wanted to take a certain course, the instructor advised her, “Your people don’t do well in this
100

course.”

Also in 1993, Joy James and Ruth Farmer edited a volume entitled‘Spirit, Space and
Survival’ in White Academe. Both of the editors are Black women who teach at Predominantly
White Institutions (PWI).

The essays in this collection point towards reflect their personal

experiences and scholarship. Throughout the anthology, the contributors were very outspoken
about their struggles as Black women in white colleges and universities. James and Farmer
99

Elizabeth L. Ihle, Editor, Black Women in Higher Education: An Anthology of Essays, Studies,
and Documents (New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1993), p. 107.
100
Ibid., p. 131.
33

remarked that it is true that they struggle more when the persons in charge are white males and that
the ‘old boy network’ still exsist. The book shows that Black women are frequently isolated
faculty members and desire to associate with their black communities.

Bonding with outside

communities provided to be basically good positive reenforcement.
The editors interweave the voices of different Black women to present how some challenge
the authorities at predominately white institutions in order to create space for themselves and to
excel in their careers. The book is divided into three parts: spirit, space, and survival. In part one,
the first two writers deal with spiritual connectedness and how they call on the Lord for guidance
and their ancestors. Editor Joy James has an essay in part one that focuses on Black women’s
culture and women’s political activism entitled, “African Philosophy, Theory, and Living
Thinkers”. In part two book, ‘Space’, the first contributor, Elizabeth Hadley Freydberg notes how
there is a lack of black women in many fields of study, more specifically she refers the void in her
field of American Studies. There is no representation of people of color in her department.101
Helán E. Page gives a comparative approach of space by looking at people in the Caribbean and
102

the United States as they talk about women.

The first essay in part three – “Survival”, examines the misrepresentation of black women
in literature. James, looks at the way in which Black women are portrayed by examining the ways
they are misrepresented in the academic curriculum. “Since academia recognizes neither the
intellectual nor moral authority of the (African) communities it dissects, and African communities

101

James Joy and Ruth Farmer, Editors, Spirit, Space & Survival: African American Women in
(White) Academe (New York and London: Routledge, Inc., 1993), p. 49-63. The essay’s title is
‘American Studies: Melting Pot or Pressure Cooker?’, written by Elizabeth Hadley Freydberg.
102
Ibid., p. 63-83. The title of the essay is “Teaching Comparative Social Order and Caribbean
Social Change,” written by Helán E. Page.
34

do not determine how African people are to be‘studied,’ our misrepresentation seems the rule.”

103

Recommendations are given in the concluding chapters for current and future actions to ‘advance
the cause’ of black women in academe. What makes this work valuable is the section with syllabi
and proposals, in which the editors provide a sample grant proposal and a listing of audio-visual
resources to guide those interested in incorporating a focus of black women into women’s studies
programs. The syllabi range from undergraduate to graduate level courses and they also have quite
an impressive bibliography.
Sheila T. Gregory wrote in 1995, Black Women in the Academy: The Secrets to Success
and Achievement.

In the foreword, senior scholar on the American Council on Education,

Reginald Wilson, declares that “black women have struggled in the academy against the twin
forces of sexism and racism. Some have prevailed, others have not.”

104

Gregory conducted a

thorough study on black women who are currently in the academy, have returned to the academy,
or who have left the academy. In each case, she gives solid reasons for the choices they have made
with their careers in the academy. Black Women in the Academy, according to Wilson, “recaptured
the history of Black women’s odyssey in academic and the forces that have acted upon her, from
105

the church and the community.”

The goal of the book for Gregory was to explore the history of Black women and their
families. She wanted to identify the common barriers to success and achievement as a whole,
while exploring their careers as well as life choices. Gregory asked three fundamental questions
that were imprtant to her research.
103

“How can Black women faculty and higher education

Ibid., p. 121.
Sheila T. Gregory, Black Women in the Academy: The Secrets to Success and Achievement
(Lanham: University Press of America, Inc., 1995), p. xii.
105
Ibid.
35
104

institutions help to create opportunities for success and achievement? How can colleges and
106

universities better attract and retain talented Black women scholars? Why is this necessary?”

In 1997, Lois L. Benjamin edited, Black Women in the Academy: Promises and Perils,
which is divided into seven parts. The contributors are from colleges and universities around the
United States. Four parts of the book are extremely important to this research. In part three,
‘Black Women Faculty: Issues in Teaching and Research’, the scholars discuss their dilemma
against being demographically and intellectually challenged at white institutions. Rose M. Brewer
asserts that “as a result of the demographic shift, larger numbers of black women are entering
white higher educational institutions, and this pattern has contributed to the current intellectual
107

critiques of Anglo-male paradigms.”

Part five, ‘The Social Dynamics of Academic Life,’

concentrates on the most important factor in the academy: tenure. Professors Vernellia R. Randall
of University of Dayton and Vincene Verdun of Ohio State University, openly discuss the issues
that Black women face in legal academia, as they try to achieve tenure at predominately white
institutions. The law professors agree that there is a need for support between other Black women
and men in the academy. They said, “By whatever means available, we talk, we share, we support
108

each other in the pursuit of our professional and personal goals.”

Professor Norma Burgess

talks about issues and strategies to gaining tenure at white institutions. She comments that “tenure
109

brings on power, privilege, and prestige.”

Faculty fight so hard to gain tenure because it

“insures job security, more money, eligibility for sabbatical leaves, and institutional support for
106

Ibid., p. xiv.
Lois Benjamin, Editor, Black Women in the Academy: Promise and Perils (Gainesville:
University
Press of Florida, 1997), p. 65.
108
Ibid., p. 213.
109
Ibid., p. 227.
36
107

110

research.”

Part six, ‘Black Women in Diverse Academic Settings,’ deals with gender and race

exclusion. Professor Saliwe M. Kawewe makes an important observation:
“Black women encounter both racism and sexism at white institutions, while they face
sexism in black institutions of higher education. In both settings, misconceptions and
stereotypes about race and sex lead to the treatment of and interaction with the black
woman as a label, thus mystifying the real person behind the stigma and encouraging self111
fulfilling prophesies by the sex and race that hold power.”
The final section, ‘The Future of Black Women in the Academy,’ offers thoughts on the
outlook for Black women in the academy. Darlene Clark Hine, reflects upon becoming a John A.
Hannah Professor and discusses the struggles that accompany the endowed position. Hine brings to
light that some of her colleagues were troubled by her presence. Yet, she declares, “The surest
way to a productive and fulfilling future for black women in any profession is paved with
112

understanding of the experiences of those who went before.”

Hine’s essay provides a roadmap

for future black women scholars to follow.
In 1999, Sheila T. Gregory published a revised and updated edition of Black Women in
the Academy: The Secrets to Success and Achievement. A major point in this edition was that,
“African American women faculty continued to be concentrated among the lower ranks,
primarily non-tenured positions, promoted at a slower rate, paid less than their male and white
female counterparts, located in traditional disciplines, and primarily employed by two-year
113

colleges.’’

110

Ibid.
Ibid., p 263.
112
Ibid., p 327.
113
Sheila T. Gregory Black Women in the Academy: The Secrets to Success and Achievement,
Revised and Updated Edition (Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, Inc.), p. 11.
37
111

A wealth of new scholarship has emerged between the years 2000 to 2009 on Black women
in higher education.

In 2000, Caroline Sotello Viernes Turner and Samuel L. Myers, Jr. wrote

Faculty of Color in Academe: Bittersweet Success. They compared the experiences of African
Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, American Indians, and Latino faculty with those of White
faculty at eight Midwestern universities located in Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri,
Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Documenting the sustained underrepresentation of
faculty of color in American colleges and universities, their data showed the understated but
114

insidious influence of a ‘‘decidedly chilly work environment.’’

Moreover, the study

pinpointed a number of barriers, including racial and ethnic prejudice, that ends in an
115

‘‘unwelcoming and unsupportive work environment.’’

Certainly, such an environment affects

the productivity and career satisfaction of ethnic minority faculty in the academe and discourages
others from trying to enter the professoriate.
An edited collection by Reitumetse Obakeng Mabokela and Anna L. Green , Sisters of the
Academy: Emergent Black Women Scholars in Higher Education (2001), shed some light on
experiences of Black women whose educational range covers “All But Dissertation” (ABD)
graduate students to the rank of Associate Professors. Contributor Alicia C. Collins had concerns
about the work environment. She declares, ‘‘the academy provides a chilly environment for
Black women students, faculty, and administrators. The environment of the academy for the
most part, is unreceptive, unsupportive, and lacks in understanding and sensitivity to issues that

114

Caroline Sotello Viernes Turner and Samuel L. Myers, Jr. Faculty of Color in Academe:
Bittersweet Success (Boston : Allyn and Bacon, 2000), p. x.
115
Ibid.
38

affect Black women.’’

116

This book is quite useful for those who wish to begin to understand the

experiences of a select group of Black women scholars in the Academy.
In 2002, Our Stories: The Experiences of Black Professionals on Predominately White
Campuses was edited by Mordean Taylor-Archer and Sherwood Smith. This collection of essays
was written by people with BA degrees to Ph.D. Two chapter stands out: Chapter 5 by Sheila T.
Gregory “Creating Our Own Success: A Bird’s-Eye View of the Journey Towards Tenure from
One African American Faculty Woman’s Perspective and Chapter 10 by LaJuana K. Williams
117

“An African American Woman Working for a Negro”.

The essay by Williams another

example of how sometimes working for other people of color, including people of your own race
can be problematic. It was very enlightening. There was at least one senior Black woman
professor at MSU who experienced some of the same problems as Williams did, to the point
where she almost had to take legal actions against her supervisor.
In 2005, Gail L. Thompson and Angela C. Louque wrote Exposing the “Culture of
Arrogance” in the Academy: A Blueprint for Increasing Black Faculty Satisfaction in Higher
Education. The book has eight chapters. Four chapters are important this study: Chapter 1 To
Remain or To Leave? That is the “Question”: Factors Affecting Black Faculty’s Satisfaction and
Dissatisfaction Levels at Their Current Institutions – this is one of the questions that some of the
assistant professors hired between 2000 to 2009 pondered, if they should remain or leave MSU.
Chapter 2 All I’m Asking is for a “Little” Respect at Work: The Importance of Feeling Valued
and Respected – this chapter is relevant to the entire Black women faculty at MSU. Chapter 4
116

Reitumetse Obakeng Mabokela and Anna L. Green , Sisters of the Academy: Emergent Black
Women Scholars in Higher Education (Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2001), p. 38.
117
Mordean Taylor-Archer and Sherwood Smith, eds., Our Stories: The Experiences of Black
Professionals on Predominately White Campuses (Cincinnati: John D O' Bryant National Think
Tank, 2002), p. 58-78, 130-140.
39

Did this Package Come with Instructions? How the Unwritten “Rules” of the Academy can
Affect Black Faculty – some of MSU’s Black women faculty cases, they felt that there were
some “unwritten rules” which led to problems of gaining tenure, promotion and collegiality
among some of their peers. Chapter 7 The Bright Side of the Academy: Sources of Satisfaction
and Recommendations from Black Faculty - this chapter is a good tool for those who are
pursuing the professoriate and gives suggestions to navigating the academy as a Black faculty
member. In an interview about Exposing the “Culture of Arrogance”, Thompson states:
Black faculty, especially those in predominantly white institutions (PWIs), do have
unique experiences, because as members of a historically oppressed group, they have
often found themselves marginalized, stereotyped, treated less respectfully by students,
their colleagues, and administrators, and subjected to cultural insensitivity and racism at
work. Moreover, in addition to the duties that other faculty performs, they also are
expected to mentor black students and other students of color, even if these students have
not taken courses with them. Furthermore, the lack of a critical mass of black faculty in
most departments at PWIs contributes to a great sense of loneliness and isolation for
some black faculty who may find it difficult to find mentors at these institutions. Another
difference is that in African American culture, black professionals are expected to “give
back” to the community outside of the university. This adds to the workload and may
make it difficult for black faculty to find enough time to devote to their research
118
interests.

In 2007, Stephanie Y. Evans wrote Black Women in the Ivory Tower, 1850-1954: An
Intellectual History. Evans chronicles the stories of the first generation of Black women to earn
college degrees, and sheds light on the various trials as well as accomplishments of their higher
academic experience. She declares, “overall, Black women’s reflections on their collegiate days
reveal a sense of appreciation for having access to higher education and a frustration at the social

118

Inside HigherEd “Culture of Arrogance” by Scott Jaschik, September 13, 2005
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/09/13/black
40

119

limitations they continued to face despite that access”

The women in her book reported

numerous cases of racial discrimination and public embarrassment by professors and peers. They
were often the victims of verbal abuse, negative attitudes, and physical attacks. Prohibited from
sororities and left out from other aspects of campus life, Evans contends they were,
120

“conspicuously invisible: shunned, ignored, treated as exotic, or silently despised.”

The fact

that many Black women could not even secure campus housing on White campuses speaks to
how the well-intentioned, hierarchical decision to provide access academically did not prevent
these women from falling through the cracks socially. To make matters worse, there were few, if
any, Black women professors or administrators available on campus to counsel and provide
social support for these isolated students.
Conclusion
During the past four decades scholars have studied the experiences of black women
educators. The 1990s, however, witnessed a great outpouring of new scholarship. There is a
considerable growing historiography about Black women educators and the history of the quest for
education. Still more work is to be done as we try to “shatter the silences” and give voice to these
women, who too often remain unnoticed and little celebrated. This study provides insight into the
strength of black women’s belief in the importance of education as a means for uplifting the race
and ensuring better lives for themselves. Education in their perspective was the most powerful
antidote to race, class, and gender oppression. This is a rich historical legacy that provide the
foundation for Black women at MSU.

119

Stephanie Y. Evans Black Women in the Ivory Tower, 1850-1954: An Intellectual History
(Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2007), p. 104.
120
Ibid.
41

Chapter 2:
Paved the Way:
Pioneering Groups of Black Students, Staff and Faculty arrive to MSU
In 1855, the Michigan State Legislature passed Act 130 which provided for the
establishment of the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan and appropriated ‘‘twenty-two
sections of Salt Spring Lands for its support and maintenance . . . ’’ along with $40,000 to carry
the college through its first two years of operation. The college was dedicated on May 13, 1857.
Michigan State University in East Lansing became the first agricultural college in the nation, and
the prototype for seventy-two land-grant institutions later established under the Morrill Act of
121

1862.

In 1899, MAC admitted its first African American student, Mr. William O. Thompson.
After graduation in 1904, he taught for a while at what is now called Tuskegee University and
later returned to the Lansing area and served the congregation of the African Methodist

121

Information was collected on the Michigan State University website about the establishment
of this institution of higher learning. There are two books that specifically speak to the history of
land-grant institutions. The first book edited by Chase Going Woodhouse is titled, After college–
what? A study of 6665 land-grant college women, their occupations, earnings, families, and
some undergraduate and vocational problems. (Greensboro, N.C. : Published by The North
Carolina College for Women, 1932.) The second work written by B. D. Mayberry is entitled, A
Century of Agriculture in the 1890 land-grant institutions and Tuskegee University, 1890-1990.
(New York: Vantage Press, 1991). For further research on Michigan State University’s history
see: A Short History of Michigan State, by Lyle Blair and Madison Kuhn (East Lansing, MI:
Michigan State College Press, 1955); Reprinted: (East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University
Press, 1990). The pioneer land-grant college: The formative years of Michigan State University
as revealed by excerpts from the issues of the Michigan farmer, January 1, 1845- June 1864 by
Herbert Andrew Berg (East Lansing, Michigan, 1965). College to University: the Hannah years
at Michigan State, 1935-1969 by Paul L. Dressel (East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University,
University Publications, 1987).
42

122

Episcopal Church until his death in 1923.

In 1902, Ms. Myrtle Craig, became the first African

American woman to enter MAC. Jonathan Snyder was the president of the college at the time.
Craig graduated on May 31, 1907, and received her diploma from the hand of President
123

Theodore Roosevelt, honored guest at the College’s Semi-Centennial Jubilee.

She taught

African American youths in Kansas and Missouri and later at Lincoln Institute, currently Lincoln
University in Kansas, a historical black college founded under the second Morrill Act, the landgrant philosophy of 1890.
Another first happened when on June 15, 1900, Booker T. Washington spoke at the MAC
commencement ceremony. He was the first African American to ever speak at the MAC
commencement. He regularly wrote MAC President Snyder and asked him about the training of
black men at the college. Mr. Washington accepted MSU’s alumnus William Thompson to teach
at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama after graduation.
Justin Morrill’s land-grant act of 1862 was the catalyst to eventually provide access to
public higher education to people from all backgrounds. The second Morrill Act of 1890 that
124

established black land-grant colleges further opened that access.

More Blacks arrived at the land grant institution in the 1890s, since the college’s goal
was to “promote liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the areas of

122

“From the President’s Desk” Office of the President Michigan State University, February 7,
2005. http://president.msu.edu/desk/index.php?/site/february_7_2005/
123
“The African American Presence at Michigan State University: Pioneers, Groundbreakers
and Leaders, 1900-1970.” Michigan State University, 1996-1997.
http://www.msu.edu/unit/msuarhc/africanpresence1.htm p. 1.
124
“From the President’s Desk” Office of the President Michigan State University, February 7,
2005. http://president.msu.edu/desk/index.php?/site/february_7_2005/
43

125

agriculture and mechanical arts.”

The second Black male to graduate from Michigan

Agricultural College was Gideon Smith in 1916. He was a talented athlete and one of the first
two Blacks to play college football in the United States and one of the first to play professional
126

football.

Only a year later another Black male to graduate named Delbert McCulloch

Prillerman graduated.

It took ten years before another Black female was graduated from

Michigan Agricultural College. Mabel Jewell Lucas of Lansing, Michigan received her Bachelor
of Science degree in 1927.
The first black woman to be hired at Michigan State University was a housekeeper in
127

1923, more than sixty years after it opened.

Between the years 1923 to 1948, six more

African Americans graduated from Michigan Agricultural College, two of whom were women.
In 1948, approximately ninety years MSU after its founding the college hired its first black
128

woman staff member.

Pioneering Black Male Faculty at MSU
In 1948, Michigan Agricultural College hired Dr. David W. Dickson in the Department
129

of English. He became the first African American MSU faculty member.

125

Between 1948 to

“The African American Presence”, p. 1.
Ibid., p. 2.
127
Minutes presented to the Office of the President, “Presentation to the Board of Trustees,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, Pertaining to Employment of Black Women
at Michigan State University.” February 25, 1972, p. 2. The identity of the black female
housekeeper remains unknown. Perhaps a reason was to protect the person from racial and
sexual discrimination. Another reason could possibly be that no one from the Board of Trustees
was interested in knowing who this person was and therefore her name was not mentioned at this
particular hearing.
128
Presentation to the Board. p. 2. No information was given as to who the person was.
129
“The African American Presence at Michigan State University.” p. 7.
44
126

1956, six more students became alumni of Michigan Agricultural College. Ramona Porter
graduated with honors with a Spanish degree in 1950. Myrtle Pless received her Masters of Arts
degree in Education, in that same year. In 1956, the name of this institution was changed to
Michigan State University of Agriculture and Applied Science. Also in that same year, the first
130

clerical black woman employee was hired.

The next year, 1957, Dr. William Harrison Pipes joined the faculty of Michigan State
University, teaching speech and literature. Pipes was the first African American in the United
States to earn a Doctorate of Philosophy in Speech as well as the first African American to be
granted a Full Professorship at Michigan State University. Not only was Pipes an outstanding
scholar on Michigan State’s campus, but his daughter Harriette Pipes McAdoo later joined the
faculty at Michigan State University.

Black Women Faculty Make Their Arrival to Campus
One hundred and ten years after MSU was founded, on September 1, 1968, Ruth Simms
Hamilton became the first Black woman faculty member. The way in which she was hired is
quite significant in that she and her husband, Dr. James B. Hamilton were both faculty members
on the campus. She was hired first and the next year he was hired. There is no prior data that
reveals other Black faculty members who had spouses that were professors, until the Hamiltons
came in the late 60s. Ruth Hamilton was hired as a visiting assistant instructor in Sociology.
She received her undergraduate training from Talladega College. Hamilton then earned her
Doctorate of Philosophy from Northwestern University in 1966; her dissertation was entitled,
“Urban Social Differentiation and Membership Recruitment among Selected Voluntary
130

Presentation to the Board. p. 2. The person’s identity remains unknown.
45

Associations in Accra, Ghana.” She arrived on campus as the spouse of Dr. James B. Hamilton.
It was also a moment when MSU captured national attention as the only Big Ten school to have
an African American President.
The legendary President John A. Hannah ended his tenure at Michigan State in 1968,
after having served for twenty-eight years. MSU to Black Americans were stunned by the
assassination of their leader, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Detroit as well as other cities
experienced devastating race riots and uprisings. Students and other Blacks rioted because of
frustration, anger, and the weight of injustice. It was at this juncture that James B. Hamilton,
husband of Ruth Simms Hamilton, joined the teaching staff in the chemistry department. James
Hamilton played a pivotal role in the lives of the black student population. Hamilton served as a
faculty mentor to Black students as well as a consultant to the office of the President on racial
issues.
Under the tenure of Michigan State’s new president, Walter Adams, African American
and African students made their concerns known about Michigan State’s future and its response
to people of color. In 1969, physician, Georgia A. Johnson joined MSU’s faculty on an equal
status with white males and white female colleagues. She was hired as an assistant professor, a
few years after the College of Human Medicine was formed. Johnson received her Doctorate of
131

Medicine Degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

In addition, she became the

only other Black female faculty member, besides Dr. Ruth Hamilton, to come in under what I
consider to be the “inaugural cohort” of Black women faculty at Michigan State University.
131

Dr. Georgia A. Johnson, self-published a book, Black Medical Graduates of the University of
Michigan (1872-1960 inclusive) and Selected Black Michigan Physicians, (East Lansing: G. A.
Johnson Publishing Co., 1994). The book features biographies of black physicians that attended
medical school at the University of Michigan as well as other well-known black physicians in the
state of Michigan.
46

Johnson remained on the staff of Olin Health Center as a physician until she retired in the mid1980s.
According to James B. Hamilton, two major demonstrations by African American and
African students occurred during Walter Adams’s tenure and led to new commitments to expand
access for African American students, faculty, staff, and administrators at Michigan State
University.132 First, African American students began their sit-ins and protested at MSU’s
Wilson Hall cafeteria on April 29, 1969. The State New headlines read: “BSA holds Wilson
cafeteria; claims harassment of blacks.” The article stated that “Over 100 black students shut
down Wilson Hall cafeteria Monday to protest the alleged harassment of three full-time black
employees.”133 The students of Black Student Alliance (BSA) took matters into their own hands
after hearing that three black women employees walked off their jobs because of racial remarks
made by their managers. According to the newspaper, “shortly before 5 p.m., the black students
took over the cafeteria and refused to allow dinner to be served. ‘If those who rule or govern the
operations of this University cannot control their racist employes [sic] who are in positions of
134

management, black students will do their job for them,’ the statement said.”

Another headline

featured that day was “Wilson hearing airs charges; BSA stays; decision pending.” President
Walter Adams responded quickly. He appointed Dr. Robert L. Green and Dr. James Hamilton to
a committee to investigate the Wilson Hall incident.

132

James B. Hamilton, What A Time To Live: The Autobiography of James B. Hamilton. (East
Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1995) p. xx.
133
“BSA holds Wilson cafeteria; claims harassment of blacks,” a clipping from the State News,
29 April 1969, in the Vice President For Student Affairs Student Protest Files, Michigan State
University Archives and Historical Collections, East Lansing, Michigan.
134
Ibid.
47

Then on October 22, 1969, another black student organization, Black Liberation Front
(BLF), and other black students took over Holden Hall because black students were being
mistreated in the cafeteria. A State News article read, “....Tom Haring, a cafeteria employe [sic],
told the blacks to use the main entrance. Sam Riddle, BLF representative, presented a pass that
allows him admittance into any residence hall cafeteria. Haring informed them that passes were
135

only honered [sic] at the main entrance. A fight ensued.”

Moreover, another version of the

story stated that, “Riddle asked Haring to get a supervisor to confirm Riddle’s right of
136

admittance. Haring refused and allededly [sic] pushed Riddle out of the cafeteria.”

The article

goes on to give more explicit details of the events that occurred that night at Holden Hall. The
Black students let the people who were spectators in the cafeteria know that they were coming
back and they were not going to keep them out of the cafeteria. So the Black students met. The
climax of the story was when the “Black students milled around the cafeteria, a few swinging
137

billy clubs and informing the residents that their dinner was over.”

The management of

cafeteria closed it and told the residents to eat at Wilson Hall cafeteria instead. There were some
minor altercations between some white and black students. “One white student said, ‘It’s my
cafeteria and I’m not going to leave.’ A black student informed him, ‘You ain’t got no God damn
cafeteria.’ The black students had a short meeting after the whites dispersed and left Holden to
regroup at the Wilson Auditorium.”

135

138

The next day, President Adams went to visit Holden Hall

“Black students force cafeteria shutdown,” a clipping from the State News, 29 April 1969, in
the Vice President For Student Affairs Student Protest Files, Michigan State University Archives
and Historical Collections, East Lansing, Michigan.
136
Ibid.
137
Ibid.
138
Ibid.
48

139

in hopes to calm all parties involved and to get some understanding of what happened.
Adams’ tenure was only a year and he was replaced as president in 1970.

Dr. Clifton R. Wharton, Jr., an African American became the 14th president of Michigan
State University in 1970. Wharton was the only Black president in Michigan State’s history and
the first at a major, predominantly white university.

Dr. Wharton was born in Boston,

Massachusetts on September 13, 1926. He entered Harvard University at the age of sixteen and
graduated in 1947 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in history. Wharton went on to receive a
Masters Degree in the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in
1948. Additionally, he became the first Black to earn a Ph.D. in Economics from the University
of Chicago in 1958. According to Hamilton, Wharton “saw the need immediately to set MSU on
a new direction in the recruitment, admission, and enrollment of a more diverse student
body.”

140

Wharton first established the ‘President’s Commission on Admissions and Student

Body Composition’. Hamilton took special interest in the report which the committee produced.
The report focused on the need for Michigan State to become a more accessible institution to
141

various student groups, including adults, handicappers, the disadvantaged, and minorities.

Dr. L. Eudora Pettigrew started the “1970s cohort” of new Black women faculty during
the 1970s. She was an associate professor at the time of hire and became a member of the
Metropolis Studies Department in 1970. In 1966, Pettigrew earned her doctorate of Philosophy
from the University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale in the field of Educational Psychology.
She was appointed as chair of the Urban Metropolis Studies program during the 1970s.
139

“Adams Eases Hall Incident”, a clipping from the State News, 22 October 1969, in the Vice
President For Student Affairs Student Protest Files, Michigan State University Archives and
Historical Collections, East Lansing, Michigan.
140
What A Time to Live., p. xx.
141
Ibid.
49

Pettigrew left Michigan State University as a Full Professor in 1980 to receive the highest
position that a Black has ever held at the University of Delaware as Associate Provost. She
would later leave Delaware to become the first African American president of the nation’s
largest university system, New York (SUNY) at Old Westbury, an undergraduate college of
3,600 students located on the north shore of Long Island in 1986; she later retired in 1998.
Additionally, Dr. Patricia Barnes-McConnell, the fourth Black woman faculty member, joined
the College of Agriculture faculty in 1970 as an instructor. McConnell received her Doctorate of
Philosophy from Ohio State University in 1972; her dissertation was entitled, “Studies of
Cognitive Development in Early Infancy.” She served for twenty years as the Director of the
Bean/Cowpea Collaborative Research Support Program and retired as a Professor in the
Department of Resource Development in the College of Agriculture and National Resources in
2001.
In1971, Dr. Gloria Smith joined the faculty of the Department of Education. Smith
received her undergraduate training from Miami University in Ohio and her Doctorate of
Education Degree at the University of Massachusetts. In 1972, Smith served as a member of the
steering committee for the Black Women Employees Association of Michigan State University.
She along with others, met with the President and Board of Trustees at Michigan State
University to discuss the issue of Black women under representation at an institution of MSU’s
magnitude and stature. (See Appendix 4. for a copy of the transcript of the oral presentation,
which was given by Josephine Wharton). In Smith’s opinion, demands for more Black women
professors fell on deaf ears. She served as the second Director for the African American &
African Studies Ph.D. Program and retired as Professor of Department of Department of
Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education, and Special Education in 2007.
50

In 1976, with the support of President Wharton, June Manning Thomas joined the
Geography Department as an instructor in 1976 and Margaret I. Aguwa joined the faculty in the
Department of Family and Community Medicine. June Thomas earned a Ph.D. in Urban and
Regional Planning from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) in 1977. Her dissertation was
“Blacks on the South Carolina Sea Islands: Planning for Tourist and Land Development.” In
2007, she retired from MSU as Professor of Urban and Regional Planning and moved to Ann
Arbor, Michigan to take on a newly endowed professorship as the first Centennial Professor in
Urban + Regional Planning at the University of Michigan. Moreover, Dr. Aguwa earned her
Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Degree from the University Health Sciences College of
Osteopathic Medicine in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1973. She is Professor and Associate Dean
for Community Outreach and Clinical Research and director of the OsteoCHAMPS Program at
MSU. In 2007, Dr. Aguwa was named one of the Detroit News “Michiganian of the Year.”
Now, the Affirmative Action Report at Michigan State University revealed that Black
women were grossly under-represented during the year of 1977. As a result, MSU hired Dorothy
Harper Jones and Frankie J. Brown. Jones taught in the Department of Social Work. She
received her Ph.D. from Smith College School for Social Work in 1990, with a dissertation titled
“Synchrony in the Separation-Individuation Experience of Mothers and Their ‘Practicing’
Infants: A Comparative Analysis of African Mothers and Their Infants and African-American
Mothers and Their Infants.” She went on to work with Michigan State’s then Provost Lou Anna
K. Simon on special projects, including being the chairperson of

the Committee

Commemorating the Life of the late, Civil Rights Leader, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. until
she retired from the university in 2001. Then Brown was hired by the university after receiving
her Ph.D. in 1981 from the Department of Zoology at Michigan State University. The topic for
51

her

dissertation

was

“Genetic

Studies

of

Taste

Perceptions

of

Antidesma

and

Phenlythiocarbamide”. She worked in an administrative capacity for most of her tenure in the
University Undergraduate Division (UUD) as an advisor and retired in 2008.
The following year, 1978 two more Black women came aboard as faculty, Wanda D.
Lipscomb and Bonita Pope Curry. Lipscomb received her Ph.D. from Michigan State University
in 1978. She wrote her dissertation on “The Effect of an In-Service Training Program in
Systemic Management on the Decision Making Skills of Counselors Supervisors in the Detroit
Public Schools.” She is currently the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs in the College of
Human Medicine and the Director of Center of Excellence and an Associate Professor of
Psychiatry.

Additionally, Bonita Pope Curry came from Southern Illinois University at

Carbondale, having written a dissertation and receiving her Ph.D. in 1978; her research was
entitled “The Relationship of Race, Racial Attitudes, and Need for Approval Interracial
Intimacy.” Curry being hired in 1978 ended the “1970s cohort” of black women faculty. She is
the Associate Dean and Director of the Undergraduate University Division Office (UUD) and is
a Full Professor.
It would be two years after Wharton’s presidency that the next black woman would
arrive. Becoming an Assistant Professor in 1981, Carrie B. Jackson started the “1980s cohort”.
Jackson received her Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1979 from the Department of
Family, Child Ecology.

Her dissertation was titled “Family Life Satisfactions and Job

Satisfaction as Predictors of Perceived Well-Being.” Jackson was an Assistant Professor in
Pediatrics and Human Development. She did not pursue a higher rank within the university
tenure system; she preferred to do administrative work, so she became the Assistant Dean of
Student Affairs in the College of Human Medicine until she retired from the university in 2001.
52

Only a year later would MSU see the arrival of two more African American women
scholars, Eunice F. Foster and Linda S. Beard. Foster came from the University of Arkansas at
Fayetteville. She wrote her Ph.D. dissertation in 1982 on “Nitrogen Assimilating Enzymes,
Foliar Nitrogen Loss, and Ethylene Evolution in Soybeans (Glycine Max L.).” She is a Full
Professor and works in the Department of Crop, Soil, and Science. Similarly, Linda S. Beard
made her journey from Columbia University, having earned a Ph.D. in Literature.

Her

dissertation title is “Lessing’s Africa: Geographical and Metaphorical Africa in the Novels and
Stories of Doris Lessing.” She was an Associate Professor in the English Department until she
left the university in 1995 to accept a position at Bryn Mawr College.
Next, two more women joined the faculty in 1983. Dr. Ida J. Stockman entered MSU
with a Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. She graduated in 1971 in the field of SpeechLanguage Pathology. Her dissertation title was “Heterogeneity as a Confounding Factor When
Predicting Change in Articulation Development.”

Stockman is a Full Professor in the

Department of Audiology and Speech Sciences. She received a special honor at the New Ways
of Analyzing Variation (NWAV) conference held at MSU in October 2000; the conference
“cited her pioneering work on language and development in African-American English.”
NWAV is the world’s premier meeting for sociolinguists who study language varieties in
142

relation to social context.

Dr. Barbara Ross Lee entered MSU as Professor and Chairwoman

of Family Medicine. She graduated from the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic
Medicine in 1973. Ross Lee is the sister of musical legend, Diana Ross. She served on the
faculty for ten years. In 1983, she became the first African American woman dean of a United

142

“Stockman Honored at Conference,” a website from the College of Communications Arts and
Sciences, 24, April 2001. http://cas.msu.edu/about/newsevents/show/71
53

States medical school. She remained dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine of Ohio
University until 2001. Three years went by before the next Black female faculty hire. In 1986,
Dr. Denise Troutman came to the university.

She earned her Ph.D. from Michigan State

University in 1987, with a dissertation in Linguistics. The title was “Oral and Written Discourse:
A Study of Feature Transfer (Black English).” Troutman is an Associate Professor in the
Departments of Writing, Rhetoric, &American Cultures as well as Linguistics.
Within the next year, three Black women faculty joined the group of “1980s generation”:
Lauren S. Young, Julia R. Miller and Darlene Clark Hine. Young’s tenure at MSU was short;
she was an Associate Professor in Teacher Education. She earned an Educational Doctorate
(Ed.D.) from Harvard University in 1984, writing a dissertation titled “In Time of Silver Rain:
The Case of Five Urban High School Interventions (Minority, Inner-City, Alternative Schools).”
She left MSU in 2001 to later become the Director of Spencer Foundation. Next, Julia Miller
took her seat in the College of Human Ecology as the Dean. She earned her Ph.D. from the
University of Maryland at College Park in 1974, writing a dissertation entitled “Family
Communication and Academic Achievement of Black Adolescent Females.” She came to MSU
as a Full Professor; her accomplishments have made her one of the shining stars within her
“1980s cohort.”
Something that was rare happened in the year of 1987 for the status of Black women
faculty. One of their colleagues was not only hired as a Full Professor, but she also received an
Endowed Professorship. Dr. Darlene Clark Hine, former Vice-Provost of Purdue University,
became the John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of American History. Hine was the only
Black professor to be given a Hannah Professorship named in honor of former president John
Andrew Hannah. The Hannah professors, of whom there are six, represents the highest honor
54

bestowed on a faculty member.

The John A. Hannah Distinguished Professorships were

established in 1969 to expand and maintain excellence in the faculty across broad areas of
Michigan State University. The Hannah professorships are awarded to preeminent scholars to
honor John Andrew Hannah’s twenty-five years as president of Michigan State University. A
Hannah professor has an academic appointment in their respective college at the level of full
professor, a nationally competitive salary, and an endowed fund for research expenses. Hine
earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Roosevelt University in 1968, Masters Degree from Kent
State University in 1970 and a Doctorate of Philosophy with a major in American History from
Kent State University in 1975. Her dissertation, which later turned into her first book was
entitled, “The NAACP and the Destruction of the Democratic White Primary, 1924-1944.” In
2004, Hine left MSU to become the Board of Trustees Professor of African American Studies
and Professor of History at Northwestern University.
Moreover, two more women joined the sophomore class: Ruby L. Perry and Georgia
Padonu. These two women work in the medical profession. Ruby L. Perry received her
Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Tuskegee University in 1977. She was an Associate
Professor in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Science. In 2008, Felton left MSU to
become Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the School of Veterinary Medicine at Tuskegee
University. Still, Georgia Padonu received her Doctor of Public Health Degree from the John
Hopkins University, School of Public Health. She is an Associate Professor in the College of
Nursing.
Additionally in the year 1989 two more black women entered the sophomore class:
Patricia A. Edwards and Geneva Smitherman. Dr. Edwards is a Full Professor of Language and
Literacy and a Senior Researcher at the National Center for the Improvement of Early Reading
Achievement at Michigan State University.

She earned her Ph.D. from the University of
55

Wisconsin-Madison in 1979. Her area of research was in Reading Education; she wrote her
dissertation on “An Investigation of English Teachers’ Knowledge of Reading Techniques and
Their Observed Teaching Methods.” She is also the recipient of the prestigious Michigan State
University 2001 Distinguished Faculty Award. On February 15, 1994, Dr. Edwards was the
recipient of the prestigious Michigan State University Teacher-Scholar Award and on April 28,
1994, the Michigan State University Lilly Teaching Fellows Scholarship Program honored Dr.
Edwards for her outstanding teaching.
Moreover, Dr. Geneva Smitherman came to the Department of English in 1989 as a Full
Professor.

Smitherman earned her Doctorate of Philosophy Degree from the University of

Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1969; her dissertation was on “A Comparison of the Oral and Written
Styles of a Group of Inner-City Black Student.” Before coming to MSU, she was a founding
faculty member of the Department of Afro-American Studies at Harvard University and taught at
Wayne State University. In 1992, she became a University Distinguished Professor of English.
She was the last professor in the “1990s cohort” to come to MSU.

The criterion for becoming a

University Distinguished Professor is:
The title, University Distinguished Professor, will be conferred one elected
members of the Michigan State University faculty to recognize distinguished
achievement in teaching, research and public service. A University Distinguished
Professorship Emeritus will be conferred upon retirement. Individuals holding a
University Distinguished Professorship will receive, in addition to salary, an
average stipend of five thousand dollars for five years to support professional
activities. Assignments for University Distinguished Professors will be arranged
with the dean, chairperson/director and the Provost. The designation will be highly
honorific and consequently very exclusive. Membership in this category will
143
reflect the diverse scholarly dimensions of Michigan State University.

143

Michigan State University, Office of the Provost, Faculty Handbook. February 2002. Section
IV, under Academic Personnel Policies, University Distinguished Professorship.
http://www.msu.edu/unit/facrecds/FacHand/udistingprof.html
56

There are only slight differences between the Distinguished Hannah Professorship and the
University Distinguished Professorship. The Hannah Chaired professors have a large endowment
starting at $100, 000, which increases over time. They also have the opportunity to take more
research time than University Distinguished and regular faculty members.

Most of the Hannah

Chairs have a staff comprised of administrative assistants and graduate students, which aid in
research collecting and book projects. Dr. Smitherman is the only Black female faculty member to
become a University Distinguished Professor. She is a founding member of the African American
& African Studies Ph.D. program, having served a year as interim director. In December 2011,
Smitherman retired from MSU.
The first member of the “1990s cohort” arrived in 1990, Dr. Yevonne R. Smith. She
received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in Physical Education in 1981.
Her dissertation title was “Analysis of Selected Processes Associated with Physical Education
Student Teachers’ Experiences.”

She was an Associate Professor in the Department of

Kinesiology and Associate Dean of Michigan State University Graduate School. Smith retired
from MSU in 2009. In 1991, Joyce M. Grant joined the faculty in the College of Education. She
graduated from Harvard University with a Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) in 1979, having written
a dissertation entitled “Harvard University: A Partner in Urban School Desegregation.” Grant was
an Associate Professor in Teacher Education and retired in 2007.
Later in the 1991-1992 school year, the daughter of Dr. William Pipes, Harriette A. Pipes
McAdoo, took her seat as a Full Professor in the Department of Family and Child Ecology and in
the 2000s, she joined the faculty of Sociology. Dr. Harriette McAdoo earned both her Bachelor’s
Degree in 1961 and Masters Degrees in 1963 from Michigan State University and began her
doctoral work in 1963-1964. She left Michigan State University and later received her Doctorate of
57

Philosophy Degree in Educational Psychology, Child Development in 1970. Her dissertation
focused on “Racial Attitudes and Self Concepts of Black Preschool Children.” McAdoo, in 1996,
won a Distinguished Faculty Award for her outstanding service to Michigan State University.
McAdoo retired from MSU in 2008 and passed away after a lengthy illness in 2009.
At the demand for having another Black female scholar hired, Wilma King was recruited to
join the faculty in the Department of History in 1991. Her dissertation title was “Coming of Age:
Hollis B. Frissell and the Emergence of Hampton Institute, 1893-1917 (Virginia).” Her research
focus was on Black History. King left the History Department as a Full Professor in 1999 to
accept an Endowed Chair, Arvah Strickland Distinguished Professor, at the University of Missouri,
Columbia. She was the author of a prize winning path-breaking study on the history of slave
children, Stolen Childhood: Slave Youth in Nineteenth-Century America. Still, another Black
woman faculty would grace the College of Education, Lynette Y. Overby. Dr. Overby received
her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland at College Park in 1986, with a dissertation title “A
Comparison of Novice and Experienced Dancers’ Imagery Ability with Respect to Their
Performance on Two Body Awareness Tasks.” She taught in the Department of Theatre; she left
MSU in 2008 to become the Faculty Director for Undergraduate Research and Service at the
University of Delaware.
In 1992, Dr. Robbie J. Steward joined the Department of Educational Psychology. She
matriculated in 1984 from the University of Oklahoma with a Ph.D. in Education Psychology. Her
dissertation was on “Black Freshmen: A Study of Academic Success and Persistence on
Predominately White University Campuses.” Steward is Professor in Counseling Educational
Psychology in the College of Education. Additionally, Stephanie Heard, Marquita Chamblee and
Sonya Gunnings-Moton were hired. Dr. Heard received her MD from the University of Michigan,
58

Ann Arbor in 1986. She was hired in the Psychiatry Department and left MSU in 2007 to start her
own practice in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Dr. Chamblee earned her Ph.D. in Agricultural Education
from the Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania in 1983. Her dissertation
is “A Profile of Black Agriculture Students at Selected 1862 and 1890 Land Grant Institutions.”
She was hired in the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. She left MSU in 2007 to
become the Director of Dismantling Racism Program at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley,
California. Dr. Gunnings-Moton received her Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1989. Her
dissertation is “An Examination of Dual-Career Marriage, Family, and Career Street Expectations
of Undergraduate Students at Michigan State University.” She is an Associate Professor in the
Counseling, Educational, Psychology Department and serves as Assistant Dean of Student Support
Services and Recruitment in the College of Education.
Only on Black female faculty member was hired in 1993, Dr. Patricia Herring Jackson.
She joined the faculty of the Department of Microbiology. She is a Research Assistant Professor
in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. In 1994, Margo S. Holland, Gloria T.
Randle, Jeanette Gassaway, and Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore were hired. Dr. Holland received her
Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1994. Her dissertation is “Molecular Aspects of Turkey
Herpesvirus Latency in Chickens: Identification and Localization of Latent Infections.” She was
hired in the Department of Pathology and in 2000, took a job at the University of Tennessee. Dr.
Randle earned her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1994. Her dissertation is “Good-enuf
Mothering: The African American Woman in 19th- and 20th-Century Literature.” She was hired
in the English Department, where she taught African American Literature. Randle left MSU due
to some health and personal challenges in 2002. Dr. Gassaway graduated from Michigan State
University in 1994 with her Ph.D. She wrote a dissertation on “The Combined Effects of School
59

Environment, Preschool Experience, and the Head Start/Early Childhood Transition Program
upon the Academic Achievement of Young School Children.” She worked in the Psychology
Department and in 2000, she left the university. Dr. Jackson-Elmoore earned a Ph.D. in Public
Administration from the University of Southern California in 1994. Her dissertation is
“Production and Financing Choices for Municipal Services: Contracting and Franchising.” She
was hired in the Department of Social Work and carries a dual appointment now in the
Department of Political Science as well. She is a Professor and serves as the Dean of the Honors
College.
Two years went by before another Black female faculty member was hired. In 1996,
Francesca Dwamena and Teresa C. Jones joined MSU. Dr. Dwamena received her MD from
Howard University College of Medicine in 1989. She is an Associate Professor in the Department
of Medicine. Dr. Jones earned her Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1996. Her
dissertation is “Adoption decision-making in the African-American community.” She was hired
in the School of Social Work and left in 2002 to work at the University of Washington. Two
more Black women were brought to East Lansing as faculty members in 1997, Alifee M. Breland
and Ihuoma U. Eneli. Dr. Breland earned her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
in 1997. Her dissertation is “Airing Dirty Laundry: Reasons and Processes by which Skin Tone
Stratification continues to be a Pervasive Aspect of the African-American Community.” She
was hired in the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education, and
Special Education, and Special Education and in 2002; Breland left MSU to take a position at
Duke University. Dr. Eneli received her MD degree in 1989 from the University of Nigeria in
Pediatrics.

She was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Human

Development. She left MSU in 2006 to become the Associate Director for Clinical Programs at
60

the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and an Associate
Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.
During the 1998 school year, three Black women joined the faculty, Elaine Mason,
Lorraine Weatherspoon, and Karen P. Williams.

Dr. Mason was hired in the Department of

Psychiatry as an Assistant Professor; however, she left the university after one year of service.
Dr. Weatherspoon earned her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University in 1992.

Her

dissertation is “The epidemiology of glycemic control in a black and white patient population
with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in north central Florida.” She was hired in the
Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition. Weatherspoon is an Associate Professor and
the Director of the Didactics Program in Dietetics. Dr. Williams graduated from Michigan State
University with a Ph.D. in Human Development in 1998. Her dissertation is “An Analysis of
Community Development Approaches to Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Projects for
African-Americans.” Williams was hired in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and
Reproductive Biology and is an Associate Professor who specializes in community-based
research and health services for medically underserved women of color.
Another four women would take their seats as faculty members in 1999 – Deborah J.
Johnson, Debreena L. Agbenyiga, Karen D. King and Reitumetse O. Mabokela. Dr. Johnson
was hired by Department of Family, Child Ecology after leaving the University of WisconsinMadison as a Professor.

She wrote a dissertation “Identity Formation and Racial Coping

Strategies of Black Children and their Parents: A Stress and Coping Paradigm” and received her
Ph.D. degree in Human Development and Social Policy from Northwestern University in 1987.
Johnson is Professor of Family, Child Ecology in the Department of Human Development and
Family Services. Dr. Agbenyiga earned her Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 2005 from
61

the School of Social Work. Her dissertation is “An Organizational Culture Assessment: Does
Understanding Provide Implications for Effective Services for Children in Foster Care?”
Agbenyiga is an Associate Professor and is Assistant Dean for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusive
Academic Affairs in the College of Social Science. Dr. King became the first Black female
faculty in the Department of Mathematics. She received her Ph.D. degree from the University of
Maryland College Park in 1997. Her dissertation is “Instructor Decision-making in Reformoriented Undergraduate Mathematics Classes.” King remained on the faculty at MSU until
2005, where she took another position at New York University. Dr. Mabokela was hired in the
Department of Educational Administration. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign in 1998.

Her dissertation is “Black Students on White Campuses:

Responses to Increasing Black Enrollments at Two South African Universities.” Mabokela is
Professor of Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education.
The first members of the “2000s cohort” arrived in 2000, Adesuwa Olomu, Coretta C.
Patterson, Kimberly M. Ellis and Daina L. Ramey Berry. Dr. Olomu earned her MD degree from
the University of Benin, Nigeria. She is an Associate Professor in the Division of Internal
Medicine. Dr. Patterson earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Degree from the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1995.

Before coming to MSU, she served as Outpatient

Clinician at University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine from 1998-2000. She became
a member of MSU’s faculty in 2003. Patterson is an Assistant Professor and Associate Dean for
Professional Academic Programs and Student Affairs in the Department of Small Animal
Clinical Sciences.

Dr. Ellis became the only Black female faculty in the Department of

Management. She received her Ph.D. from Florida State University in 2000. Her dissertation is
“Outcomes in Related Acquisitions of Similar-sized Firms: The Effects of Integration Approach
62

and Process Management.” After serving for eight years, Ellis left Michigan State University to
pursue other opportunities. Dr. Berry came to MSU from Arizona State University, after serving
in the History Department. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Los
Angeles in 1998. Her dissertation is “‘A Place of Our Own’: Labor, Family and community
among Female Slaves in Piedmont and Tidewater Georgia, 1820-1860.” Berry left MSU in 2008
to accept a position in the Department of History at the University of Texas at Austin.
From 2001 to 2009, twenty Black women faculty members began new careers at MSU as
Assistant Professors. There were three exceptions Dr. Jualynne Dodson, came to from the
University of Colorado at Boulder in 2002, with the rank of Professor in Sociology, Dr. Nwando
Achebe, who came from the College of William & Mary at the rank of Associate Professor to the
Department of History, and Dr. Brenda Alston-Mills from North Carolina State University in 2000.
Alston-Mills joined the Department of Animal Science with the rank of Professor. Seven of the
“2000s cohort” has left MSU to pursue other academic and civic careers. These faculty members
are located in the College of Arts and Letters, College of Business, College of Social Science,
College of Human Medicine and College of Education.

63

Statistical profiles and findings
While no data exists for the years prior to 1971 at Michigan State University, current data shows
that Black faculty are largely under-represented in proportion to the size of the Black student
population and its percentage of the student population at large.
In this section, I present a statisical profile of Black women academicians. Black women
faculty ages range from 30-68. Many of them received their doctorate degrees from highly
accredited institution, including ivy league schools such as Harvard University. The majority of
the faculty who are discussed are still members of the teaching body at MSU. There are, however,
some exceptions, of those who left MSU have either retired or accepted positions at another
institution. They earned tenure and promotion at their new locations. Some images in the
dissertation are presented in color. To interpret the data, Figures and graphs are used throughout
this chapter, so that the reader can further understand the scope of the limited numbers of black
women faculty on the campus of Michigan State University.

64

Figure 1.
Black Women Faculty at MSU, 1977-1986
25
Numbers

20
15
10
5
0
1977 1978
1979 1980
1981 1982

Instructor
Assistant Professor
Associate Professor
Full Professor
Total Number of Professors

1977
1
6
4
2
13

1978
1
7
4
2
14

1979
0
6
5
3
14

1980
0
6
5
3
14

1983
1981
0
7
5
1
13

1984
1982
0
10
6
5
21

1985
1983
0
10
7
2
19

1986
1984
0
11
6
3
20

1985
0
9
6
2
17

1986
0
8
7
4
19

For interpretation of the references to color in this and all other figures, the reader is referred to
the electronic version of this dissertation.
Figure 1. Gives an overview of numbers of Black women faculty at MSU from the rank of Instructor to Professor (1977-1986).
65

Figure 2.
Total Faculty Population at MSU - 1977

Numbers

2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0

White Men/Other
Black Men
White Women/Other
Black Women
Ethnic Men
Ethnic Women

Professor
993
11
68
2
30
2

Associate
505
12
70
4
20
3

Assistant
322
19
128
6
10
5

Instructor
18
2
17
1
0
0

Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1977.

66

Totals
1838
44
283
13
60
10

Figure 3.
Total Faculty Population at MSU - 1978

Numbers

2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0

White Men/Other
Black Men
White Women/Other
Black Women
Ethnic Men
Ethnic Women

Professor
1027
11
75
2
41
2

Associate
486
10
67
4
21
4

Assistant
313
20
132
7
18
6

Instructor
17
3
13
1
0
0

Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October1978.

67

Totals
1843
44
287
14
80
12

Figure 4.
Total Faculty Population at MSU - 1979
2000
1800
1600

Numbers

1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
All Professors

White
Men/Other
1847

Black Men
43

White
Black Women
Women/Other
300
17

Ethnic Men
86

Ethnic
Women
13

White men/other were 80.1% of the population, Black men were 1.9% of the population, White women/other were 13% of the
population, *Black women made up only 0.7% of the population, while Ethnic Men were 3.8% of the population followed by Ethnic
women making up the last 0.6% of the total faculty population in 1979.
Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1979.
68

Figure 5.
Total Faculty Population at MSU - 1980
2000
1800
1600

Numbers

1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
All Professors

White
Men/Other
1835

Black Men
47

White
Women/Other
308

Black
Women
14

Ethnic Men
90

Ethnic
Women
12

White men/other were 79.6% of the population, Black men were 2.0% of the population, White women/other were 13.4% of the
population, *Black women made up only 0.6% of the population, while Ethnic Men were 3.9% of the population followed by Ethnic
women making up the last 0.5% of the total faculty population in 1980.
Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1980.
69

Figure 6.
Total Faculty Population at MSU - 1981

Numbers

2000
1500
1000
500
0
All Professors

White
Men/Other
1726

Black Men
47

White
Women/Other
297

Black Women

Ethnic Men

Ethnic Women

13

93

13

White men/other were 78.8% of the population, Black men were 2.1% of the population, White women/other were 13.6% of the
population, *Black women made up only 0.6% of the population, while Ethnic Men were 4.3% of the population followed by Ethnic
women making up the last 0.6% of the total faculty population in 1981.
Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1981.
70

Figure 7.
Total Faculty Population at MSU - 1982

2000

Numbers

1500
1000
500
0
All Professors

White
Men/Other
1663

Black Men
43

White
Women/Other
295

Black Women

Ethnic Men

17

92

Ethnic
Women
13

White men/other were 78.3% of the population, Black men were 2.0% of the population, White women/other were 13.9% of the
population, *Black women made up only 0.8% of the population, while Ethnic Men were 4.4% of the population followed by Ethnic
women making up the last 0.6% of the total faculty population in 1982. There was no Affirmative Action data available for 1983.
Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1982.
71

Figure 8.

Numbers

Total Faculty Population at MSU - 1984
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Professor
Associate
Assistant
Instructor
Totals

White
Men/Other
1024
375
202
1
1602

Black Men
17
19
10
0
46

White
Women/Other
105
91
88
1
285

Black Women

Ethnic Men

3
6
11
0
20

55
25
21
1
102

Ethnic
Women
6
7
5
0
18

White men/other were 77.3% of the population, Black men were 2.2% of the population, White women/other were 13.7% of the
population, *Black women made up only 1.0% of the population, while Ethnic Men were 4.9% of the population followed by Ethnic
women making up the last 0.9% of the total faculty population in 1984.
Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1984.
72

Figure 9.
Total Faculty Population at MSU - 1985
1600
1400

Numbers

1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
White Men/Other
Black Men
White Women/Other
Black Women
Ethnic Men
Ethnic Women

Professor
1027
16
111
3
56
6

Associate
376
18
95
6
23
6

Assistant
197
11
93
9
20
9

Instructor
0
0
2
0
0
0

Totals
1600
45
301
18
99
21

White men/other were 76.8% of the population, Black men were 2.2% of the population, White women/other were 14.4% of the
population, *Black women made up only 0.9% of the population, while Ethnic Men were 4.7% of the population followed by Ethnic
women making up the last 1.0% of the total faculty population in 1985.
Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1985.
73

Figure 10.

Numbers

Total Faculty Population at MSU - 1986
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
White Men/Other
Black Men
White Women/Other
Black Women
Ethnic Men
Ethnic Women

Professor
1024
17
113
4
56
6

Associate
377
21
108
7
22
5

Assistant
202
9
95
8
24
9

Instructor
0
0
0
0
1
0

Totals
1603
47
316
19
103
20

White men/other were 76.0% of the population, Black men were 2.2% of the population, White women/other were 15.0% of the
population, *Black women made up only 0.9% of the population, while Ethnic Men were 4.9% of the population followed by Ethnic
women making up the last 1.0% of the total faculty population in 1986.
Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1986.
74

Figure 11.
Black Women Faculty at MSU, 1987-1996

Number

40
30
20
10
0
1987 1988
1989

Assistant Professor
Associate Professor
Full Professor
Total Number of Professors

1987
7
9
6
22

1990

1988
10
9
6
25

1991

1992

1989
10
12
8
30

1990
12
13
7
32

1993
1991
13
11
11
35

1994
1992
13
12
12
37

1995
1993
13
9
11
33

1996

1994
14
10
12
36

1995
10
8
14
32

1996
9
10
14
33

Figure 11. Gives an overview of numbers of Black women faculty at MSU from the rank of Instructor to Professor (1987-1996).

75

Figure 12.
Total Faculty Population at MSU - 1987

Numbers

1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0

White Men/Other
Black Men
White Women/Other
Black Women
Ethnic Men
Ethnic Women

Professor
1006
17
122
6
56
6

Associate
374
21
114
9
22
5

Assistant
209
9
113
7
27
9

Instructor
1
0
0
0
0
0

Totals
1590
47
349
22
105
20

White men/other were 74.5% of the population, Black men were 2.2% of the population, White women/other were 16.4% of the
population, *Black women made up only 1.0% of the population, while Ethnic Men were 5.0% of the population followed by Ethnic
women making up the last 0.9% of the total faculty population in 1987.
Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1987.
76

Figure 13.
Total Black Faculty Population at MSU - 1988
50

Numbers

40
30
20
10
Black Men

0
Professor

Black Women
Black Men

Associate

Professor
6
17

Black Women
Assistant
Associate
9
20

Totals
Assistant
10
9

Data was not available for entire faculty population at MSU in 1988.
Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1988.

77

Totals
25
46

Figure 14.
Total Faculty Population at MSU - 1989
1600
1400
Numbers

1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
White Men/Other
Black Men
White Women/Other
Black Women
Ethnic Men
Ethnic Women

Professor
987
21
124
8
55
4

Associate
383
21
125
12
28
10

Assistant
179
7
112
10
19
6

Instructor
0
0
1
0
0
0

Totals
1549
49
362
30
102
20

White men/other were 73.3% of the population, Black men were 7.1% of the population, White women/other were 17.1% of the
population, *Black women made up only 2.4% of the population, while Ethnic Men were 4.8% of the population followed by Ethnic
women making up the last 0.9% of the total faculty population in 1989.
Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1989.
78

Figure 15.
University Distinguished Professors
Michigan State University 1990-2009
Other Ethnic Males,
11
Black Male, 1

Black Female, 1

White Females, 17

White Males, 83

White Males

White Females

Black Male

Black Female

Other Ethnic Males

Michigan State University | Academic Human Resources Office of the Provost
http://www.ahr.msu.edu/awards/university-distinguished-professors
Out of 113 University Distinguished Professors, there is only one Black Woman Faculty Member – Dr. Geneva Smitherman.
79

Figure 16.
Total Faculty Population at MSU - 1990
1600
1400
Numbers

1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
White Men/Other
Black Men
White Women/Other
Black Women
Ethnic Men
Ethnic Women

Professor
987
21
124
8
55
4

Associate
383
21
125
12
28
10

Assistant
179
7
112
10
19
6

Instructor
0
0
1
0
0
0

Totals
1549
49
362
30
102
20

White men/other were 72.0% of the population, Black men were 2.5% of the population, White women/other were 17.3% of the
population, *Black women made up only 1.5% of the population, while Ethnic Men were 5.2% of the population followed by Ethnic
women making up the last 0.9% of the total faculty population in 1990.
Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1990.
80

Figure 17.
Total Faculty Population at MSU - 1991
1600
1400
Numbers

1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
White Men/Other
Black Men
White Women/Other
Black Women
Ethnic Men
Ethnic Women

Professor
970
28
130
11
56
6

Associate
360
20
136
11
33
11

Assistant
152
8
112
13
25
13

Instructor
0
0
0
0
0
0

Totals
1482
56
378
35
114
30

White men/other were 70.7% of the population, Black men were 2.7% of the population, White women/other were 18.0% of the
population, *Black women made up only 1.7% of the population, while Ethnic Men were 5.4% of the population followed by Ethnic
women making up the last 1.4% of the total faculty population in 1991.
Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1991.
81

Figure 18.
Total Faculty Population at MSU - 1992
1600
1400
Numbers

1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
White Men/Other
Black Men
White Women/Other
Black Women
Ethnic Men
Ethnic Women

Professor
954
29
139
12
59
8

Associate
362
19
135
12
35
8

Assistant
152
11
110
13
20
15

Totals
1468
59
384
37
114
31

White men/other were 79.0% of the population, Black men were 1.0% of the population, White women/other were 12.0% of the
population, *Black women made up only 1.0% of the population, while Ethnic Men were 5.0% of the population followed by Ethnic
women making up the last 1.4% of the total faculty population in 1992.
Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1992.
82

Figure 19.
Total Faculty Population at MSU - 1993
1600
1400
Numbers

1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
White Men/Other
Black Men
White Women/Other
Black Women
Ethnic Men
Ethnic Women

Professor
946
29
152
11
60
9

Associate
349
21
143
9
34
7

Assistant
133
10
95
13
20
17

Totals
1428
60
390
33
114
33

White men/other were 69.4% of the population, Black men were 2.9% of the population, White women/other were 19.0% of the
population, *Black women made up only 1.6% of the population, while Ethnic Men were 5.6% of the population followed by Ethnic
women making up the last 1.6% of the total faculty population in 1993.
Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1993.
83

Figure 20.
Total Black Faculty Population at MSU - 1994
Totals

Assistant

Associate

Professor
0
Black Women
Black Men

10
Professor
12
30

20

30
Associate
10
15

40

50

Assistant
14
14

60

70

Totals
36
59

*Note: The years 1994 – 2009, the only academic population available to researcher was of Black faculty members only. No
percentages were calculated for this body of data.
Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1994.
84

Figure 21.
Total Black Faculty Population at MSU - 1995
Totals

Assistant

Associate

Professor
0
Black Women
Black Men

10
Professor
14
30

20

30
Associate
8
16

40

50

Assistant
10
16

Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1995.

85

60
Totals
32
62

70

Figure 22.
Total Black Faculty Population at MSU - 1996

Totals

Assistant

Associate

Professor
0
Black Women
Black Men

10
Professor
14
29

20

30
Associate
10
16

40

50

Assistant
9
13

Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1996.

86

60
Totals
33
58

70

Figure 23.
Black Women Faculty at MSU, 1997-2006

Numbers

50
40
30
20
10
0
1997 1998
1999

1997
Assistant Professor
8
Associate Professor
9
Full Professor
14
Total Number of Professors 31

2000

1998
9
9
14
32

2001

2002

1999
10
9
14
33

2000
10
10
14
34

2003
2001
12
8
13
33

2004
2002
10
10
13
33

2005
2003
11
9
15
35

2004
13
9
13
35

2006
2005
20
12
13
45

2006
18
13
14
45

Figure 23. Gives an overview of numbers of Black women faculty at MSU from the rank of Assistant Professor to Professor
(1997-2006).

87

Figure 24.
Total Black Faculty Population at MSU - 1997
Totals
Assistant
Associate
Professor
0

Black Women
Black Men

Professor
14
33

20

40

Associate
9
21

60

80

Assistant
8
8

Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1997.

88

Totals
31
62

Figure 25.
Total Black Faculty Population at MSU - 1998
Totals
Assistant
Associate
Professor
0

Black Women
Black Men

Professor
14
32

20

40

Associate
9
19

60
Assistant
9
7

Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1998.

89

Totals
32
58

Figure 26.
Total Black Faculty Population at MSU - 1999

Totals

Assistant

Associate
Professor
0

Black Women
Black Men

Professor
14
31

10

20

30

Associate
9
20

40

50

Assistant
10
7

Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 1999.

90

60
Totals
33
58

Figure 27.
Total Black Faculty Population at MSU - 2000
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
Black Women

0
Professor

Black Men
Black Women

Associate

Professor
29
14

Black Men
Assistant
Associate
24
10

Totals
Assistant
9
10

Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 2000.

91

Totals
62
34

Figure 28.
Total Black Faculty Population at MSU - 2001
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Black Women
Professor

Black Men
Black Women

Associate

Professor
28
13

Black Men
Assistant
Associate
25
8

Totals
Assistant
11
12

Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 2001.

92

Totals
64
33

Figure 29.
Total Black Faculty Population at MSU - 2002
60
50
40
30
20
10
Black Women

0
Professor

Black Men
Black Women

Associate

Professor
25
13

Black Men
Assistant
Associate
21
10

Totals
Assistant
14
10

Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 2002.

93

Totals
60
33

Figure 30.
Total Black Faculty Population at MSU - 2003
60
50
40
30
20
10
Black Women

0
Professor

Black Men
Black Women

Associate

Professor
24
15

Black Men
Assistant
Associate
20
9

Totals
Assistant
13
11

Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 2003.

94

Totals
57
35

Figure 31.
Total Black Faculty Population at MSU - 2004
60
50
40
30
20
10
Black Women

0
Professor

Black Men
Black Women

Associate

Professor
25
13

Black Men
Assistant
Associate
18
9

Totals
Assistant
15
13

Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 2004.

95

Totals
58
35

Figure 32.
Black Faculty at 4 year Undergraduate Institutions 2005 - 2007
18,000
16,000
14,000
12,000

Numbers

10,000
8,000

Male-2005

6,000

Female-2005

4,000

Male-2007

2,000

Female-2007

0
Male-2005
Female-2005
Male-2007
Female-2007

Full
Professor
3,498
1,986
3,646
2,193

Associate
Professor
3,497
3,455
4,110
3,745

Assistant
Professor
4,459
5,438
4,607
6,035

Instructor

Total

2,987
4,475
2,928
4,552

14,441
15,354
15,291
16,525

Almanac of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

96

Figure 33.
Total Black Faculty Population at MSU - 2005
60
50
40
30
20
10
Black Women

0
Professor

Black Men
Black Women

Associate

Professor
22
13

Black Men
Assistant
Associate
22
12

Totals
Assistant
13
20

Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 2005.

97

Totals
57
45

Figure 34.
Total Black Faculty Population at MSU - 2006
60
50
40
30
20
10
Black Women

0
Professor

Black Men
Black Women

Associate

Professor
23
14

Black Men
Assistant
Associate
23
13

Totals
Assistant
14
18

Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 2006.

98

Totals
60
45

Figure 35.
Black Women Faculty at MSU, 2007-2009
50
Numbers

40
30
Total Black Female Professors
Full Professor

20
10

Associate Professor

0
2007

Assistant Professor
Associate Professor
Full Professor
Total Black Female Professors

Assistant Professor
2008

2009
2007
19
12
11
42

2008
17
9
12
38

Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 2009.

99

2009
13
11
12
36

Figure 36.
Total Black Faculty Population at MSU - 2007
60
50
40
30
20
10
Black Women

0
Professor

Black Men
Black Women

Associate

Professor
22
11

Black Men
Assistant
Associate
24
12

Totals
Assistant
11
19

Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 2007.

100

Totals
57
42

Figure 37.
Total Black Faculty Population at MSU - 2008
60
50
40
30
20
10
Black Women

0
Professor

Black Men
Black Women

Associate

Professor
22
12

Black Men
Assistant
Associate
25
9

Totals
Assistant
12
17

Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 2008.

101

Totals
59
38

Figure 38.
Total Black Faculty Population at MSU - 2009
100
80
60
40
20
0
Professor

Black Women
Black Men

Professor
12
24

Associate

Assistant

Associate
11
23

Totals
Assistant
13
13

Totals
36
60

This graph provides a glimpe of the distribution of the Black women faculty on campus. The numbers are inclusive of all Black women
faculty on the campus in the tenure system. At present, 2009, the numbers of tenured Black women faculty stands at 36 out of 60 Black
faculty members.
Affirmative Action Data on Tenured Faculty as of October 2009.
102

Figure 39.
Black Women Faculty by College, 2009
11
12
10
8
3

6

6

4

5

4

2

1
0

2

2

1
0

0

2

2

1
0

0

0
Agriculture & Natural Resources Arts & Letters

Residential Arts & Humanities

Eli Broad Business

Communication Arts & Science

Education

Engineering

Human Medicine

James Madison

Lyman Briggs

Music

Natural Science

Nursing

Osteopathic Medicine

Social Science

Veterinary Medicine

Non-College Units

Academic Human Resources Black WomenTenured Faculty March 2009.

103

Figure 39 displays the total number of black women faculty where they are located by college on
MSU’s campus during the year 2009. Sixteen academic colleges are central to MSU’s academic
makeup. The College of Law’s information is not available as to the status of Black women
faculty . The college of Social Science (11) and the college of Education (6) have the highest
concentration of Black women faculty members. The College of Engineering, Residential Arts &
Humanities, Lyman Briggs, Music and Veterinary Medicine have no Black women faculty
members represented that are in the tenure system. According to historian, David Bailey, these
colleges were considered to be “academic desserts.” This chapter was to show readers with first
hand information, by using graphs to demonstrate that still is a need for more Black women faculty
members to be hired on the campus of Michigan State University.

104

Chapter 3:
The Work We’ve Done Speaks for Us:
Distinguished Scholars Break Glass Ceilings in the Academy
It is of no use for us to sit with our hands folded, hanging our heads like bulrushes, lamenting
our wretched condition; but let us make a mighty effort, and arise; and if no one will promote or
144
respect us, let us promote and respect ourselves. ~ Maria W. Stewart

PROFESSOR RUTH SIMMS HAMILTON
Ruth Simms Hamilton earned a Ph.D. degree in 1966 in Sociology from Northwestern
University. In 1968, she joined the Michigan State faculty as an Assistant Visiting Instructor. A
year later, she became an Assistant Professor. In 1971, MSU awarded Professor Hamilton a
Teacher-Scholar Award. During the Winter Quarter of 1987, Ruth Hamilton (Distinguished
Professor of Sociology), served as commencement speaker. She was also presented with the
Ralph H. Smuckler Award for Advancing International Studies and Programs in 1995. Lastly, in
2000 she received the A. Wade Smith Award for Outstanding Teaching, Mentoring and Service
provided by the Association of Black Sociologists.

Research
At the time of her passing, in November 2003, Hamilton was preparing for publication an 11
volume set of books on the African Diaspora, Routes of Passage, by Michigan State University
Press.

144

Maria W. Stewart and Marilyn Richardson, editor. Maria W. Stewart, America’s First Black
Political Writer: Essays and Speeches, (Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1987), p. 37.
105

In a review of the first of the eleven volumes, A. F. Roberts at University of California, Los
Angeles noted that, “the present volume is the first in a posthumous series that will offer readers
a sense of the eclectic voices Hamilton assembled, and, indeed, if the collection hangs together at
all, it is by dint of the legacy of Hamilton's activism, insight, and gumption. Aside from seven
papers by Hamilton on topics ranging from African descent people in Germany to global Africa
and WW I, equally pioneering scholars such as Joseph Harris and Edward Alpers are
represented. So are a good mix of early and mid-career scholars, several of whom trained with
Hamilton. Michael Thornton has four articles, and the book's topics include Africans in the
Middle East, the historical kingdom of Judah, the Indian Ocean world, East Asia, Australia,
Yugoslavia, Great Britain, and ‘Indo-Afro-Ibero-America.’” Roberts highly recommended this
volume and insisted that it would be most useful in upper-division undergraduate courses and to
145

those in higher educational classes.

Teaching
Ruth Simms Hamilton was Professor of Sociology and Urban Affairs, Director of the African
Diaspora Research Project, and a core faculty member of the African Studies Center and Center
for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Michigan State University. She taught courses
about the sociology of international inequality and development. She specialized in the areas of
comparative race relations, international migration and Diasporas, Third World urbanization and
146

change, and sociological theory.

145
146

A. F. Roberts. Choice. Middletown: Nov 2007. Vol. 45, Iss. 3; p. 524.
http://msupress.msu.edu/editorbio.php?editorID=18
106

As reported in the Northwestern Magazine (Spring 2004), Hamilton was a “founding member of
Michigan State’s African Studies Center. Hamilton examined issues of race and power years
before her academic peers. She pioneered the study of African urbanization and focused on
cross-cultural studies of peoples of African descent. She believed slavery created not a class of
victims but a resilient people with a distinct African identity.”

147

Professor Ruth Simms Hamilton’s unexpected and tragic death elicited remembrances and
testimony about her contributions in research and pedagogy to Michigan State. “Ruth was more
than an example of the ‘total scholar,’ she was a model,” said MSU Provost Lou Anna K. Simon.
“A distinguished researcher, a master teacher, a service-directed faculty member and a beloved
mentor, Ruth Hamilton truly was a person of significant influence and impact. She brought
academic prestige to this university time and again, and her widely admired leadership of the
African Diaspora Research Project will influence scholars and many policy-makers for decades
to come.”

148

David Wiley, the director of the African Studies Center at MSU, knew Hamilton for 25 years. He
said she was a professor who required a lot of her students. “Her feeling was that Americans and
American scholars are a privileged group to have the resources that we do and we owe it to the
world to use those resources wisely,” Wiley declared. “I know few faculty members who have

147

http://www.northwestern.edu/magazine/northwestern/spring2004/classnotes/inmemoriam.htm
148
“In Memoriam: Ruth Simms Hamilton (1937-2003). Black Issues in Higher Education 20,
no. 22 (December 18, 2003), p. 22.
107

had as big an impact and are so systematically serious for a long period of time about bringing
149

Africa and African Diaspora into the consciousness of people.”

In the last two decades of her career Hamilton was best known and highly regarded for her work
as the Director of the African Diaspora Research Project. This project was composed of an
international team of graduate research assistants and was funded by the Ford Foundation, the
Carnegie Corporation, and Michigan State University. It was a big wide-ranging multi-faceted
investigation of key topics in what is now known as Diaspora Studies. She was an early pioneer
of research concerning the African Diaspora, the dispersion and settlement of African people
once they left Africa. She was particularly interested in the social construction of race and
identity formation; collective action, consciousness, and human agency. Moreover, she looked at
intersections of race, class, gender and nationality; geo-social displacement and emigration. She
examined the impact of major global changes such as economic, political, military and sociocultural on in Diaspora communities.

MSU President Peter McPherson put it succinctly when he spoke of Hamilton. “Ruth Hamilton
was not only a cherished and honored member of the MSU community, but a widely respected
member of an international community of scholars. He continued, “Her commitment to
scholarship and to global understanding won her the admiration of students, faculty, researchers
and so many others over the years. Surely, the impact of her work and service lives on in her

149

Shannon Murphy. “MSU Professor Killed in Okemos Woman Found Dead at Home; Man in
Custody” Lansing State Journal. Nov 12, 2003. p. 1a-2a.
108

publications, in her example and in the many students now located throughout the world she so
profoundly impressed inside and outside the classroom.”

150

Service
Hamilton participated in programs, advised students, served on committees, and consistently
intervened with artfully expressed advice when most needed. She was unfailingly pleasant,
cooperative, and generous with her time. Her colleagues considered her to be a model of
excellence in faculty citizenship. She was an engaged and committed leader in the effective
governance and smooth functioning of the department of sociology. “Dr. Hamilton was a valued
member of our community for more than 30 years,” added Dr. Marietta Baba, dean of the MSU
College of Social Science. “Her visionary work--most recently in leading a team in the design of
a new urban studies initiative at Michigan State University--contributed greatly to our
understanding of modern social processes. She was a highly regarded professional as well as a
good friend to many of us.”

151

Without question, Ruth Simms Hamilton was one of the most gracious and trustworthy of
colleagues, at once energetic and enthusiastic, and admirably fair and balanced in all interactions
with colleagues, staff, and students. She was a highly regarded sociology professor and a faculty

150
151

Ibid.
Ibid.
109

member of the African Studies Center, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and
152

the Center for Advanced Study of International Development.

152

http://www.tiaa-crefinstitute.org/awards/hamilton.html
110

PROFESSOR PATRICIA BARNES-McCONNELL
In 1983 she received an Outstanding Faculty Award from the Faculty-Professional Women’s
Association.

Since 1983 Barnes-McConnell has been the director of the Bean/Cowpea

Collaborative Research Support Program where she organized and implemented the development
of collaborative research between U.S. scientists and scientists from developing countries. She
received her Ph.D. degree in developmental psychology from The Ohio State University. She is a
153

member of the Board on Science and Technology for International Development.

In 1993,

she received the Ralph H. Smuckler Award for Advancing International Studies and
Programs.

154

Later in Barnes-McConnell was awarded a Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society

Excellence Award in Interdisciplinary Scholarship from the Michigan State University
155

Chapter.

Dr. Patricia Barnes-McConnell, Professor, Department of Resource Development, College of
Agriculture and Natural Resources, Michigan State University, has provided distinguished
leadership to the Bean/Cowpea Collaborative Research Support Program from its inception. She
contributed to the formulation of the initial vision of the program by serving as the Assistant
Planning Coordinator for Development of the Bean/Cowpea CRSP in 1979-80. As a social
scientist with an interest in the impact of international development on women, she participated
in the Malawi project during the early years with Dr. M. Wayne Adams. In 1981, she was
153

National Research Council. “Authors.” Toward Sustainability: A Plan for Collaborative
Research on Agriculture and Natural Resource Management. (Washington, DC: The National
Academies Press, 1991), p. 144. http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNABP913.pdf
154
“International Studies and Programs Awards” http://www.isp.msu.edu/awards/award.htm
155
The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi http://pkp.msu.edu/awards_eais_recipients.asp
111

appointed as Deputy Director of the Bean/Cowpea CRSP while at the same time providing
leadership in the capacity of Director (1981-83) to the expanding Women in International
Development (WID) Program at MSU. Dr. Barnes-McConnell assumed the CRSP Director role
in 1983 and remained in that position for nearly 17 years.

Under Dr. Barnes-McConnell’s leadership, the Bean/Cowpea CRSP has not wavered from its
mandate of strengthening health and nutrition in developing countries by improving the
availability and utilization of beans and cowpeas. During the past 20 years, a total of 14
institutions in Latin America, the Caribbean, and in West and East Africa, plus 16 U. S.
institutions have participated in collaborative research and training activities as part of the CRSP
community. To date, approximately 475 students have participated in degree training programs
with full or partial support from the CRSP. When the Bean/Cowpea CRSP completes its current
extension in FY 2002, nearly $60 million will have been obligated to the Bean/Cowpea CRSP by
the U.S. Agency for International Development.

On June 1, 2000, she began her consulting year at MSU, during which time she will be focusing
on writing about the successes and impacts of the Bean/Cowpea CRSP over the past 20 years.
Dr. Barnes-McConnell’s contributions to the success of the Bean/Cowpea CRSP were best
summed up by a CRSP trainee and current HC Principal Investigator. “Dr. Pat BarnesMcConnell is an extremely wonderful person who expertly led this CRSP to new heights each
year of its existence. We all (HC CRSP scientists) loved to work with her. As CRSP graduates,

112

we regarded her as our mother too. We wish her a retirement with many more years of joy to her
family.”

156

156

“Proceeding: Midcourse 2000 Researchers Meeting of the Bean/Cowpea Collaborative
Research Support Program”, April 9-14, 2000. http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACL472.pdf
113

PROFESSOR BARBARA ROSS LEE
Barbara Ross Lee earned a MD degree in 1973 in Osteopathic Medicine from Michigan State
University. In 1983, she joined the Michigan State faculty as Professor and Chair of the
Department of Family Medicine. In 2000, MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine awarded
Professor Ross Lee a Distinguished Alumna Award and a Walter F. Patenge Medal of Public
Service in 2002157 and was honored in 2008 as “one of 37 Great Pioneers in Osteopathic
Medicine” by the American Osteopathic Association.”158

Dr. Barbara Ross Lee, dean of the Ohio University of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-COM), is the
first African-American woman to head a medical college in the United States and the first
woman dean of a college of osteopathic medicine. According to Physician Fitzhugh Mullan,
“Barbara Ross Lee, D.O., has been a one woman civil rights movement, coming from modest
roots in Detroit to become the first African American woman to serve as dean of an American

157

MSUCOM Awards Ceremony, Wednesday, June 14, 2000. Distinguished Alumni/a Award is
“given to a MSUCOM alumnus whose commitment to the osteopathic profession is
exemplified by the practice, leadership, teaching, and research of osteopathic principles.”
http://www.com.msu.edu/pub-rel/awards/Award_ceremony_june2000.html
MSUCOM Awards Ceremony, June 12, 2002. College Awards. The Walter F. Patenge Medal
of Public Service is “awarded to individuals for osteopathic medical practice exemplifying
the best tradition of family medicine, for osteopathic hospital administration exemplifying
the best tradition of humane, concerned administration and public involvement, and for
public policy leadership exemplifying the best tradition of democratic concern for the public
good and public welfare.”
http://www.com.msu.edu/pub-rel/awards/CollegeAwards_june2002.html
158
Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine Alumni News. Class of ’73.
http://www.com.msu.edu/alumni/news/1970s.html
114

medical school.

Along the way she has broken many color and gender barriers.”159

Ross Lee had this to say about an experience at MSU:
I got a call from my alma mater, Michigan State College of Osteopathic Medicine, asking
if I would be interested in being considered for the position of chair of the Department of
Family Medicine. I asked if I would be considered as a serious candidate or did they just
need some affirmative action representation. I was told that I would indeed, be a
competitive candidate, so I went ahead and submitted my application. Ultimately, I was
offered the job, although it was not an easy process. Early in the interview process, the
dean himself, my old mentor, Mike Megan, told me that I was not qualified to be a chair
because I didn’t have research and academic experience and that I was wasting my time.
At that point I had nothing to lose, and so I completed the interviews. Others thought
differently of my credentials, and subsequently the university provost said they couldn't
give the position to anybody else until I turned it down. So I started my academic career
working for a dean who really did not want me to have the position. One of the things I
liked least about my time at Michigan State was the politics of the profession. It truly
was an “old boys” club. It’s changing now, but it’s not all the way there yet…..While I
was learning some lessons about faculty politics, we did wonderful things in the
Department of Family Medicine. I thoroughly enjoyed including students more
effectively in the department, designing a new curriculum, and bringing a more scholarly
160
focus to the department.
She was the first osteopathic physician to participate in the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy
Fellowship, and is a captain in the U.S. Naval Reserve Medical Corps. She has a strong
background in health policy issues and serves as an advisor on primary care, medical education,
minority health, women’s health and rural health care issues on federal and state levels.

Under Ross Lee’s leadership, OU-COM has been instrumental in creating the Centers for
Osteopathic Regional Education statewide education consortium. She directs the OU-

159

Fitzhugh Mullan, M.D., Big Doctoring in America: Profiles in Primary Care (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2002), p. 179.
160
Ibid., p. 200.
115

COM/American Osteopathic Association Health Policy Fellowship and is the executive director
of the Institute for National Osteopathic Medical Association.

In 1997, Ross Lee was selected by the Pew Charitable Trusts to serve on the Americans Discuss
Social Security National Advisory Board. She was a member of the National Advisory
Committee on Rural Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the
American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Board of Governors, the National
Health Services Corps’ Association of Clinicians for the Underserved and the Ohio Corporation
161

for Health Information.

Her awards include the Distinguished Public Service Award, Oklahoma State University College
of Osteopathic Medicine; Honorary Doctor of Science Degree, New York Institute of
Technology, New York College of Osteopathic Medicine; “Magnificent 7”Award, Business and
Professional Women/USA; and the Women’s Health Award, Blackboard African-American
162

National Bestsellers.

She was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 1998 in the

category of Education. Dr. Ross Lee’s reputation stretches far beyond NYCOM and touches
osteopathic physicians throughout the nation. “Barbara Ross Lee is one of the most dynamic
leaders we have in the osteopathic profession today,” says John B. Crosby, J.D., executive
director of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). “If she is able to accomplish in New

161

Jacqueline Jones Royster. Profiles of Ohio Women, 1803-2003. (Athens: Ohio University
Press, 2003), p. 96.
162
Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame
http://www.odjfs.state.oh.us/women/halloffame/bio.asp?ID=262
116

York half of what she achieved in Ohio, I am certain NYCOM will prosper and grow as never
163

before.”

Barbara Ross Lee is Professor of Family Medicine and Vice President for Health Sciences and
Medical Affairs, New York Institute of Technology and Director of the AOA Institute for Health
Policy and Research. Dr. Ross-Lee formerly served as Dean of the New York College of
Osteopathic Medicine and Dean of the School of Health Professions, Behavioral and Life
Science of NYIT, and prior to that she was Dean of Ohio University College of Osteopathic
164

Medicine.

Returning to her alma mata in 2005, Dr. Barbara Ross Lee gave the convocation address for the
College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Wharton Center for Performing Arts. According to the
Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine Communiqué, “Ross Lee gave a
stirring address to the assembled students” declaring, “At no time in history has medicine had to
absorb and respond to so much change. We have to prepare for a future that no one can predict.”

163

Kathi Vieser. “Medical Mentors” in NYIT Magazine, p. 8.
http://www.kathiwrites.com/website_graphics/NYCOM_deansprofile.pdf
164
“Physicians and their Practice under Health Care Reform: A Report to the President and the
Congress”, September 9, 2009, p. 2.
http://www.physiciansfoundation.org/uploadedFiles/Physicians_and_their_Practices.pdf
117

PROFESSOR DARLENE CLARK HINE
Darlene Clark Hine earned a Ph.D. degree in 1975 in History from Kent State University. In
1987, she joined the Michigan State faculty as the John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of
American History. She is a leading historian of the African American experience and a pioneer
of African American women's history. She began her teaching career in 1972 as Coordinator of
Black studies at South Carolina State College in Orangeburg. Between 1974 and 1986, Professor
Hine taught, and served Purdue University in various administrative capacities, including Vice
Provost.
In February 1979, Hine was invited to serve on the steering committee of Black Female
165

Historians United, which would later become the Association for Black Women Historians.
She was the first editor of the newsletter, TRUTH.

Hine serving as Interim Director of Africana Studies and Research Center, convened three of the
most important conferences on Black women and Afro-American Studies at Purdue University:
March 1979 “Conference on the Black Woman: Her Past, Present, and Future” – Keynote
address given by Dick Gregory and one of the most prominent scholars on black feminism,
Patricia Hill Collins, graced the program.

Her first book, Black Victory: The Rise and Fall of the White Primary in Texas, was published
by KTO Press in 1979. According to the promotional brochure:

165

“Letter to Darlene Hine from Eleanor Smith.” Papers of Darlene Clark Hine, January 3, 1979.
118

“In the first in-depth study of the subject, Darlene Clark Hine describes the black attack
on the white primary, critically delineating the role of the NAACP in the struggle and the
relationship of the national organization to conflicting elements within the black
community; her detailed explanation of the constitutional questions involved in each of
the cases that led to the final decision demonstrates the continuity of the legal
166
process.”
Serving as the project director a conference and workshop was held in March 1983 on “Black
Women in the Middle West: The Past of the Future”, this conference was comprised of ordinary
and professional women from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, which was
facilitated by Mrs. Shirley Herd and Mrs. Virtea Downey – these women challenged Hine to take
on the task of telling the histories of women in the mid-west, which would produce Black
Women in the Middle West volume; lastly

while Vice Provost and Associate Professor,

“American Historical Association: Conference on the Study and Teaching of Afro-American
History” in October 1983 – Keynote address given by renowned historian, John Hope Franklin –
out of this conference an edited volume, The State of Afro-American History: Past, Present and
167

Future was produced.

Hine left Purdue University to join the faculty of Michigan State University in 1987. President
John DiBiaggio announced the appointment of Dr. Darlene C. Hine which appears in the
Personnel Actions of the agenda and is particularly pleased that “Michigan State was able to
attract this distinguished scholar who is considered to be one of the brightest, young historians
in the nation. Dr. Hine’s appointment is the first female Hannah Professor, the first appointment
in the Humanities, and one of a few women appointed to endowed professorships anywhere in

166

KTO Press Brochure on Black Victory: The Rise and Fall of the White Primary in Texas.
Papers of Darlene Clark Hine, 1979.
167
“Conference brochures.” Papers of Darlene Clark Hine, 1979 and 1983.
119

168

this nation.”

In the late 1980s, early 1990s Hine developed the Comparative Black History

Ph.D. Program within the History Department, which graduated the highest number of Ph.D.s to
African American students. During a twenty-year period, she trained over thirty students, all of
whom are now professors around the world. In late 1990s, Hine along with Professors Geneva
Smitherman, Dorothy Harper Jones, and Curtis Stokes, began dialog with then- Provost Lou
Anna K. Simon about starting a Ph.D. program in African American and African Studies.
Professors Gloria Smith and Harriette McAdoo came aboard the formation committee at a later
date. The Ph.D. program was successfully launched in 2002.

Hine has been influential in shaping the field of African American women's history and the study
of the black professional class. She is the author and/or co-editor of more than fifteen books.
She co-authored with William C. Hine and Stanley Harrold, The African American Odyssey
(2007). In collaboration with David Barry Gaspar, Hine co-edited, Beyond Bondage: Free
Women of Color in the Americas (2004). She co-edited, with Earnestine Jenkins, A Question of
Manhood: A Reader in Black Men’s History and Masculinity (Vol. I, 1999, and Vol. II, 2001);
and co-edited with Jacqueline McLeod, Crossing Boundaries: Comparative History of Black
People in Diaspora (2000). She won the Dartmouth Medal of the American Library Association
for the reference volumes co-edited with Elsa Barkley Brown and Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, Black
Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia (1993). Hine is editor-in-chief of Black Women
in America, 3 vols. (2005). In 1990, her book Black Women in White: Racial Conflict and
Cooperation in the Nursing Profession, 1890-1950 (1989) was named Outstanding Book by the
Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights, received the Lavinia L. Dock Book
168

Michigan State University Board of Trustees Minutes, June 12, 1987.
120

Award from the American Association for the History of Nursing, and was awarded the Letitia
Woods Brown Book Award from the Association of Black Women Historians.

Darlene Clark Hine, in reviewing black women’s historiography, calls for an examination of the
employment of theories that, rather than centering black women, treat them as “Other.”
Masculinist bias and white women’s complicity in the exploitation of black women need to be
uncovered, and the veil of dissemblance, which black women have historically used for
169

protection, lifted.

According to MSU Board of Trustees Minutes, “Professor Darlene Hine, introduced by President
Guyer at the February Board meeting, has been noted in several national and international papers
170

for her accomplishments. People are aware that she is at MSU.”

In 2001, Hine joined a group

of distinguished honorees to become one of The Detroit News Michiganians of the Year. She
became the third Black president of the Organization of the American Historians (2001-2002)
and in (2002-2003), she served as president of the Southern Historical Association; these are the
two major historical organizations in the United States.

History has its own power, and Black women, more than ever before, need its truths to
challenge hateful assumptions, negative stereotypes, myths, lies, and distortions about our
own role in the progress of time. Black women need to know the contradictions and
ironies that our unique status presents to a country founded on the proposition that all
men are created equal and endowed with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and
169

Christie Anne Farnham. “Beyond the Household: Women's Place in the Early South, 17001835 / Taking Off the White Gloves: Southern Women and Women Historians.” The Journal of
American History 86, no. 3 (December 1, 1999):1317.
170
“MSU Board of Trustees Minutes.” http://spartanhistory.kora.matrix.msu.edu/files/3/15/3-F1E-56-APRIL%2009%201993.pdf April 20, 1993.
121

opportunity to pursue happiness. Yet it is not enough to only know about the injustices
and exploitation Black woman endured. We also owe it to ourselves to experience the
thrill of knowing about the heroism of Harriet Tubman, share in the pride of Madame C.
J. Walker's business acumen, and delight in the tremendous creative artistry of a pantheon
of Black women writers, performers, and thinkers. As we garner the inspiration contained
in the past and present Black women's lives, we acquire the power to take history further
and the will to use the power of history to construct a better future. What Black women
really need today is power. Although there are many kinds of power, I have learned in the
past decade of working with and listening to thousands of Black women from all walks of
171
life that special kinds of power exist in our history.
In 2004, Hine left MSU to become the Board of Trustees Professor of African American Studies
and Professor of History at Northwestern University (NU) in Evanston (2004 to the present).
During her first year, she served as Interim Chair of the Department of African American Studies
and was instrumental in developing the new Ph.D. program in African American Studies. She
was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in October 2006. From 2008
through 2011, Hine served another three years as Chair of NU’s Department of African
American Studies. She is a Fellow at W. E. B. Du Bois Institute of African and African
American Research at Harvard University (2011-2012). Throughout Hine’s career she has been
dedicated to teaching, research and community service.

171

Hine, Darlene Clark. “THE LAST WORD: Black Women Need The Power of History to
Fuel the Future.” Black Issues in Higher Education 16, no. 7 (May 27, 1999): 80.
122

PROFESSOR GENEVA SMITHERMAN
Geneva Smitherman earned a Ph.D. degree in 1969 in English with a specialization in SocioLinguistics and Education from the University of Michigan. In 1989, she joined the Michigan
State faculty as a Professor of English. She became a University Distinguished Professor of
English in 1991; Smitherman is the only African American female faculty member to the present
172

date holding such an esteemed position.

Dr. Smitherman holds the 1999 College on

Conference and Composition Communication (CCCC) Exemplar Award. In 2001, she received
the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) David H. Russell Research Award for her
173

book, Talkin That Talk: Language, Culture and Education in African America.

Research
A MSU’s University Press Release announced in 2001, that “Geneva Smitherman is a scholar of
world-renown in the study of African-American language. She is described by peers as a “doyen
among academics.” Smitherman’s work has been influential in the scholarly world and has also
had political impact on language and social policy in the United States and South Africa.
Moreover, she has mentored scores of students who are now engaged in the same issues that
have consumed her for three decades. She states: “I am honored to be a member of the MSU
174

community. I thank my students and colleagues for this recognition.”

172

In 2005, she received

MSU List of University Distinguished Professors.
http://www.ncte.org/college/awards/russell
174
MSU News Release, “Faculty, Staff to be Honored at Convocation; President to Deliver
Eight Annual Address,” 2/9/2001.
123
173

175

the NCTE James R. Squire Award, making her only the tenth person to receive this Award.

The James R. Squire Award was established in l967 to recognize a scholar who has had a
“transforming influence” and has made a “lasting intellectual contribution” to the field of
176

English Studies.

Smitherman was grateful for the honor, she states:

“I am genuinely moved by this recognition, which came as a complete surprise. As a
daughter of the sharecropping South, whose parents were part of that great twentiethcentury migration of Blacks to the urban ‘Promised Land’ of the North, I am honored that
the National Council of Teachers of English is recognizing my work. For nearly three
decades, I have been laboring in the vineyards, holding up the bloodstained banner of
Black Linguistics, language education, and social change. My hope is that a new
generation of scholar-activists will be inspired by my example to ‘keep on keepin’ on’ in
the struggle for linguistic liberation, educational equity, and social justice throughout the
177
global community.”
Smitherman, (aka “Dr. G.”), is best known for her advocacy of Black English. She has written
over 7 books on the history and significance of African-American English and Language. She
has at least 36 chapters and over 41 articles on the subject of Black Americans and the English
language. Some of her key publications include: Talkin That Talk: Language, Culture and
Education in African America (2000); Black Talk: Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen
Corner. Revised Edition (with 300 new entries and new introduction), (2000); Educating African
American Males: Detroit's Malcolm X Academy Solution with Dr. Clifford Watson (1996); and
African American Women Speak Out on Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas, edited with an introduction
and article (1995).

175

http://www.ncte.org/awards/service/squire
Quoted from Geneva Smitherman’s curriculum vitae.
177
“Professor Honored for Her ‘Transforming Influence’ on the Field of English Studies”
November 10, 2005.
124
176

Smitherman most seminal work is Talkin and Testifyin: The Language of Black America.
According to Daniel C. DoBell,
“Talkin and Testifyin grew out of the sociolinguistic theoretical foundations established by
a host of scholars and its publication in 1977 is regarded by many as a milestone in the field
of sociolinguistic scholarship. Smitherman went on to influence an entire generation of
scholars, policymakers and practitioners and her influence is still being felt today. To more
fully understand the impact of Smitherman’s work this author will show how Talkin and
Testifyin was received in general terms as a scholarly work, followed by a closer
178
examination of its effect on a select group of disciplines.”

Talkin and Testifyin has been cited within Google Scholar 1171 times. Keith Gilyard maintains,
“Talkin and Testifyin is arguably the most pivotal statement about African American Language,
the one source to which everyone in the field refers.”179 The book has been cited numerous times
in legal and policy literature, and has been used as a foundation for establishing the legitimacy of
African American English in both case law and policy initiatives; for example in King v. Ann
Arbor (1979), this case included testimony from Geneva Smitherman who served as the principal
consultant for the plaintiffs during the proceedings. With Smitherman’s help, the court ruled in
favor of the plaintiffs and ordered the school board to develop a program that would provide its
teachers with readily available information about Black English, “and to help them use that
knowledge in teaching the plaintiffs to read standard English.”180 The metaphor of the ‘bridge’ is a
useful way to view the impact and influence of Smitherman’s Talkin and Testifyin more than 30
years later. Through her work, Smitherman not only bridged different disciplines, but she also built

178

Daniel C. DoBell “Thirty Years of Influence: A Look Back at Geneva Smitherman’s Talkin
and Testifyin” The Journal of Negro Education, 2008, Vol. 77, No. 2, p. 160.
179
Keith Gilyard “African American Contributions to Composition Studies” College
Composition and Communication, Vol. 50, No. 4, A Usable Past: CCC at 50: Part 2 (Jun., 1999),
p. 639.
180
Daniel C. DoBell “Thirty Years of Influence,” p. 164.
125

a scholarly bridge extending the understanding of Black English beyond the cognitive deficiency
181

models.

Dr. Smitherman has lectured and conducted workshops throughout the U.S. and abroad—
including Germany, England, Ghana, France, (the former) Yugoslavia, the Caribbean, and South
Africa. Her current work focuses on language and politics in South Africa where she has worked
with scholars and activists since 1995.

Smitherman’s research includes a national study of Black student writing over a twenty-year
span (funded by the National Council of Teachers of English [NCTE] Research Foundation), a
language research training program for English faculty at Northwest University-Mafikeng, South
Africa (funded by the Spencer Foundation), and a demonstration project on Black child abuse
and neglect (funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services).

Service
She is founder and Director of Michigan State University’s partnership outreach program, My
Brother’s Keeper, a male mentoring program for middle school students at the Detroit Public
Schools’s Malcolm X Academy. She is Affiliated Faculty of Writing, Rhetoric and American
Cultures and Core Faculty, African Studies Center. She is a co-founder of the doctoral program
in African American and African Studies (one of only eight such programs in the Nation) and
continues to serve on its Executive Committee.

181

Ibid., p. 165.
126

She has an international reputation for her work on African American Language and Culture.
She is nationally recognized as a pioneer in African American Studies, having begun her work in
the vineyards of Black Studies in the early l970’s at Harvard University in what was then called
the “AfroAmerican Studies” Department. She is a former Detroit Public Schools teacher of
English and Latin. She served on the faculty of Wayne State University where she was Director
of Black Studies, Director of Linguistics and Interim Associate Dean of Liberal Arts.

From 1977-79, she was the chief advocate and expert witness for the children in King (known
internationally as the “Black English” Federal court case) and subsequently convened a
Rockefeller Foundation-funded national symposium on King and edited a publication on the
court case (1981).

Universities, school districts and the media often call upon Dr. Smitherman for her expertise.
Recently, these have included the Los Angeles Unified School District, Syracuse University, the
National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems, Emory University, University
of California-Los Angeles, the Detroit Public Schools, and New York Times language columnist,
William Safire. She has appeared on some of the most recognized media venues such as the
Oprah Winfrey Show, Phil Donahue Show, CNN, The Today Show and National Public Radio.

Smitherman is a founding member of the African American and African Studies (AAAS) Ph.D.
program. She served as Interim Director for AAAS in 2009. Dr. G is truly a scholar-activist
who has dedicated her life to the Black Intellectual Tradition and the struggle for language rights.
127

In 2009, Smitherman received the MSU’s Excellence in Diversity Lifetime Achievement Award.
She recently retired from MSU as University Distinguished Professor Emerita in 2011. In 2012,
she received the National Conference for Research on Language and Literacies (NCRLL)
Lifetime Distinguished Researcher Award. The award recognizes Smitherman’s outstanding and
distinguished contributions in research, teaching, and service to the fields of applied linguistics
and African and African American Studies through her analysis of and prolific writing about the
creative genius, and legacies of AAE in American culture and language policies in South African
182

society.

182

College of Arts & Letters “Faculty News” http://www.cal.msu.edu/faculty/faculty-news/
128

PROFESSOR HARRIETTE PIPES MCADOO
Harriette Pipes McAdoo earned a Ph.D. degree in Educational Psychology at the University of
Michigan where she was specialized in Child Development in 1970. In 1991, she joined the
Michigan State University faculty as a Professor in the Department of Family, Child Ecology
after serving as acting Dean and Professor of Social Work at Howard University in Washington,
D.C. In 1995, she received The American Family Therapy Academy Award for Distinguished
Contributions to Family Systems Research. In 1996 she was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi
National Honor Society and was awarded a Distinguished Faculty Award from MSU. Later she
joined the Department of Sociology. She was a founding member of the African American and
African Studies Ph.D. program.

Dr. Harriette McAdoo has written 13 books, most of them focus on Black children and Black
family welfare. Some of her current monographs include: McAdoo, H. P. (Ed.). (2001). Black
children: Social, educational, and parental environments (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage;
McAdoo, H. P. (Ed.). (1999). Family ethnicity: Strength in diversity (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage; McAdoo, H. P. (1998). African-American families: Strengths and realities. (1997, 3rd
edition). Black families. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; Burlew, A. K., Banks, W. C., McAdoo, H. P.,
& Azibo, D. A. (Eds.). (1992). African American psychology: Theory, research and practice.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

She has 44 articles in refereed journals and 46 chapters in books pertaining to the Black family and
health issues. Her research grants are numerous. Dr. McAdoo has been a principal and co-

129

principal investigator in securing over a million dollars for researching Black and African women's
issues and health concerns for children.

She has served as National Advisor to President Carter on the White House Conference on
Families and was President, in 1994, of the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR). Dr.
McAdoo was the first person honored by NCFR with the Marie Peters Award for Outstanding
Scholarship, Leadership, and Service in the Area of Ethnic Minority families in 1984. She was
Director of the Groves Conference on Marriage and the Family, and has been a member of the
Governing Council and Publication Committee of the Society for the Research in Child
Development (SRCD). She was the recipient of the Helms Award from Columbia University
Teachers College.

She served on the Social Science Advisory Board of The Poverty & Race Research Action
Council (PRRAC) which is a civil rights policy organization convened by major civil rights, civil
liberties, and anti-poverty groups in 1989-90.

She was a recipient of the Ernest Burgess Award in 2004, the highest honor given by NCFR.
McAdoo retired after serving 20 years on the faculty of MSU in 2009; she passed away after a
lengthy illness in 2010.

130

PROFESSOR IDA J. STOCKMAN
Ida J. Stockman earned her Ph.D. in Speech Pathology and Audiology from Pennsylvania State
University in 1971. Stockman, who came to MSU in 1983, was cited for her pioneering work on
language and development in African-American English as one of the first honorees, along with
Professor Geneva Smitherman at the New Ways of Analyzing Variation Conference in 2000.
According to Walter Wolfram “Ida’s research,” he said, “provided the empirical groundwork for
establishing developmental norms for African -American English speakers that diagnosticians
could turn to in assessing whether vernacular dialect speakers were developing normally within
183

their community dialect.”

Stockman and her colleague began their seminal research in the late 1970s and early 1980s on
preschoolers learning African-American English in Washington, DC. Their longitudinal study -the first of its kind – allowed them to observe young children interacting with their parents in the
natural home setting. Previous studies had concentrated on older children and then only in
184

comparison to white children using negatively biased standardized tests.

She joined the faculty of Michigan State University in 1983, in the Audiology and Speech
Science Department.

Her work has focused on multicultural issues generally and on speech-

language acquisition and assessment of African American children, specifically. A founding
member of National Black Association for Speech, Language and Hearing (NBASLH), she

183

College of Communications Arts & Sciences: News & Events “Stockman Honored at
Conference” News Date: April 24, 2001.
184
Ibid.
131

created its annual scholar-mentor award and student research scholarship award competition. In
recognition of her research, teaching, and service contributions to the profession, Dr. Stockman
has received the teacher-scholar and professional services awards from NBASLH; Distinguished
Faculty Awards from Michigan State University and the State of Michigan’s Governing Board of
Higher Education and the multicultural award from American Speech-Language-Hearing
Association (ASHA). Dr. Stockman is also an ASHA Fellow and a recipient of the ASHA
185

Honors.

Michael Casby, chair of the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, said that
Stockman is the second MSU faculty member to receive the distinguished honor, the first being
former Dean Herbert Oyer.

Stockman’s distinguished career has interwoven groundbreaking research, teaching and
professional service. She expanded the multicultural frontiers of communication sciences and
disorders, beginning with pioneering work on the language development of black children.
Stockman also has expanded the knowledge base of autism spectrum disorders as a collaborator
with a clinical research team in Switzerland that focuses on the role of tactile-kinesthetic
perception in developmental disorders and intervention.

Stockman has received more than a dozen awards for professional contributions. She is a
distinguished writer with more than 50 publications. An ASHA Fellow, Stockman is a trailblazer
whose distinguished contributions to teaching, research and professional service have had cross185

Brief Biography of Ida Stockman. In author’s possession, 2012.
132

disciplinary impact on speech-language pathology and the fields of education, sociolinguistics
and developmental psychology.

186

She has dedicated her career to the profession of childhood communication disorders, focusing
specifically on typical and atypical spoken language use and acquisition. Her work has focused
on multicultural issues generally and on speech-language acquisition and assessment of African
American children, specifically. A founding member of National Black Association for Speech,
Language and Hearing (NBASLH) she created its scholar-mentor award and student research
scholarship award competition. In recognition of her research, teaching, and service
contributions to the profession, Dr. Stockman has received NBASLH’s teacher-scholar and
professional services awards. She is also a recipient of a Distinguished Alumna award from
Pennsylvania State University - College of Health and Human Services and Distinguished
Faculty Awards from Michigan State University and the State of Michigan’s Governing Board of
Higher Education. Dr. Stockman is a Fellow of the American Speech Language and Hearing
Association, and a recipient of its multicultural award and an Editor’s award. In 2006, she
received the Honors of the Association, the highest award given to its members and she was the
6th African American to be so honored. In 2007, Ida J. Stockman, Ph.D., CCC-SLP became
Professor Emerita at Michigan State University.

186

187

MSU Faculty Bulletin “Professor received highest honor from national association: ASHA
Honors of the Association Award recognizes contributions, service” by Kirsten Khire.
187
Brief Biography of Ida Stockman. In author’s possession, 2012.
133

Table 1.
Academic Life with and without Race and Gender Privilege
With	 Race and Gender Privilege

188

Without Race and Gender Privilege	

1. In an academic life automatically
advantaged with race and gender
privilege, it is difficult for a White
male professor to come up with a
list of what academic life is like
with race and gender privilege.
2. The credentials and merit of White
male professors are mostly taken
at face value when they are
nominated for promotions and
awards; race and gender do not
enter the discussion.
3. White male professors are
considered intellectual and wellsuited for the professoriate.

The credentials and merits of Black women
professors are often questioned when they are
nominated for promotions or awards; race and
gender are implicit factors in the discussion.

4. White male professors are seen as
competent, and it is only their
individual actions that can
disprove their competency.

Black women professors are often viewed as
incompetent, and it is only their individual
actions that can lend them the aura of
competency.

5. White male professors at a
research university are expected to
conduct research, publish, and
teach.

Black women professors at a research
university are expected to conduct research,
publish, teach, and support the university’s
diversity initiative through service.

6. The positive actions of a White
male professor are seen as normal
indicators of excellence.

188

In an academic life without race and gender
privilege, Black women professors are
considered outsiders and are viewed with the
stereotypical societal lens that characterizes
them as hostile, emasculating, and
intimidating.

The positive actions of a Black woman
professor are seen as exceptional
manifestations of excellence, only representing
this unique individual.

Black women professors are not seen as
intellectuals who are well-suited for the
professoriate, and their membership in the
academy is seen as a credit to their gender and
their racial group.

Juanita Johnson-Bailey and Ronald M. Cervero. “Different Worlds and Divergent Paths:
Academic Careers Defined by Race and Gender” in Harvard Educational Review Vol. 78, No. 2,
Summer 2008, p. 321.
134

Chapter 4:

Are We There Yet?:
Hearing What the Black Female Professoriate Has to Say
To tell the flat-footed truth means to offer a story or
statement that is straightforward, unshakable, and
unembellished. This kind of truth-telling, especially by and
about Black women, can be risky business because our
lives are often devalued and our voices periodically
189
silenced. – Patricia Bell-Scott

Tuesday L. Cooper in The Sista’ Network: African-American Faculty Successfully
Negotiating the Road to Tenure declares that “African-American women faculty are overworked
and serve on a multitude of committees. They do more than their share of mentoring and
mothering minority and majority (students). Yet there is still the expectation that they will
conduct research and publish at the same rate as their white colleagues, both male and female,
190

who don’t have the same hypervisibility due to race and gender.”

Moreover, the Black female

faculty population at Michigan State University, though silenced for several decades, has in their
own extraordinary way, helped to cultivate, maintain, and strengthen the African American
academic community.
To be sure, several key themes will emerge from this chapter: networking, affirmative
action, tenure and promotion, levels of mentorship and overall feelings of the women’s

189

Patricia Bell-Scott and Juanita Johnson-Bailey. Flat-Footed Truths: Telling Black Women's
Lives. (New York: Henry Holt, 1998), xix.
190
Tuesday L. Cooper, The Sista’ Network: African-American Women Faculty Successfully
Negotiating the Road to Tenure. (Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company, Inc., 2006), 1.
135

experiences at MSU. Now, the methodical approach was straight forward. From previous
research, an eleven question survey was sent to the entire African American female faculty
population, tenured or on the tenure-track. Several of the “Seasoned” faculty members were
191

interviewed.

For the purposes of this research, I have used names of famous African

American female singers who have made national and international milestones, just as these
women have.

Pseudonyms were deemed appropriate because in my original research,

confidentiality was the upmost concern and was upheld to the fullest form. The goal of this
chapter is to “listen” to what the women had to say and see if their responses were synonymous
to each other. It is my hope to show that some of their concerns were documented and to
highlight the fact that the same issues are still so ever pressing on the national academic scene in
the larger US academy. Nevertheless, in order make MSU a better place for the Black female
professoriate, we must start by listening to those who were voiceless. Holla if you hear them!

Networking
MS:

What department or college has the greatest number of black women faculty

members?
Albertina: I don’t know what department or college has the greatest number of Black women
faculty members. I would like to know such information; how do I find this out?
Roberta: Don’t Know.

191

Marshanda Ann Latrice Smith. “Black Women in the Academy: The Experience of Tenured
Black Women Faculty on the Campus of Michigan State University, 1968--1998.” M.A. Thesis.
Michigan State University, 2003, p. 57-115.
136

Willie Mae: I have no ideas of the department or college with the greatest number of black
women, but I suspect it's arts and letters at the college level. But you should know this by your own
research.
Eartha: I don’t know what department has the greatest number.
Inez: The response is a “perceive” answer and not based on actual data. It depends on the year &
personnel - at one time Comm Arts had the most. College of Education (6).
Dorothy: Don’t know.
Jill: ?
Cassandra: I have no idea.
Lena: I don’t know what department has the greatest number of Black women. Tokenism is a
problem, you know.
Diana: I am not sure of the number by academic units, but I have seen more in supportive
services.
Gladys: I really don’t know.
Vickie: Without checking the data, I would assume that there is no one University unit that
stands out as having a critical mass of Black Tenured Women. Family and Child Ecology,
Detroit College of Law at MSU, History and Urban Affairs readily come to mind as disciplines
and contexts that attract many person of color.
Patti: College of Education.
137

CeCe: Arts and Letters.
Aretha: Don’t Know.
Koko: Not answered.
Shirley: Education?
Dionne: Not answered.
Lalah: History.
Whitney: The College of Education has the largest number of Black women faculty members.
Ella: As far as I know five in College of Education.
Tramaine: I do not have specific information/data about this item, but based on historical
numbers and areas in which African American females have typically earned Ph.D.s, I would
guess Arts & Letters or Education.

MS: How many do you know on campus?
Albertina: A few years ago, there were three of us (Black women professors), which was
probably a “first” for the Department. However, now there is only me. One Sista left MSU due to
racial conflicts within the Department at that time, and the other just recently resigned due to a
medical disability. (The racial/racism issues have been resolved.) I know of six other Black
women professors on campus.
Roberta: Most of them, on sight.
138

Willie Mae: I know many black professors and some I do no know.
Eartha: I know about 10 women.
Inez: 30.
Dorothy: If you mean women faculty, About 20.
Jill: Most of them.
Cassandra: Possibly, 10-15.
Lena: Personally I know about 12 women.
Diana: I am aware of most and know many personally.
Gladys: 10.
Vickie: In my position within the . . . . Office, I had the opportunity to convene the Faculty
Women of Color, so that I knew most of them by sight. I also participated in some programs
sponsored by the Women’s Resource Center that addressed concerns of Faculty of Color and I
met many in that venue.
Patti: About 10.
CeCe: Approximately between 10-15.
Aretha: I know at least 2 from Human Ecology, 4 from Human Medicine, 1 from History, 1
from Education, 1 from Vet. Medicine and 3 from Osteopathic Medicine.
Koko: I’ve worked closely with 3 in my college.
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Shirley: 18-20.
Dionne: Approximately 20.
Lalah: 15.
Whitney: I know 10 Black women faculty members on campus.
Ella: I know all in the College of Education, but other than that about four or five around
campus; so about a total of ten Black women.
Tramaine: 8-10.

MS: Is there an organization for Black women professors?
Albertina: There is no organization of Black women professors that I know of.
Roberta: No.
Willie Mae: Not answered.
Eartha: I am not aware of any organization for Black women faculty.
Inez: Not anymore.
Dorothy: No, there used to be, but no time.
Jill: Not really.
Cassandra: I don’t think so. There used to be an organization for Minority women on campus.

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Lena: There is no organization to my knowledge.
Diana: I am not aware of an organization, but have met in small groups with Black women on
and off campus.
Gladys:

If there is an organization for Black women professors, I am unaware of the

organization.
Vickie: None has existed in the past as a formal organization, but informal efforts have occurred
through impetus of the Women’s Resource Center, and some through the Affirmative Action
Office.
Patti: None that I am aware of, but such a group would be beneficial.
CeCe: Organization for Black women professors: Not solely for Black women professors.
Perhaps different interest groups and the administration at MSU would be envious of such an
organization. Also, African American women, perhaps, have been so dispersed that such an
organization has not been discussed amongst us. There is an organization coordinated by WRC
for Women of Color. Usually, a majority of Black women attend, yet the organization is not the
same as if there were one solely for Black women faculty.
Aretha: Organization for black women professors: Black Nursing Faculty in Higher Education.
Koko: I believe so.
Shirley: Multicultural women and BFSAA only.
Dionne: BFSA.
Lalah: No, for women of color academics.
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Whitney: I do not know of any organization for Black women professors on MSU’s campus,
but I am a member of the Association of Black Women . . . . which is a national organization of .
. . . . faculty.
Ella: I was recently made aware of Women’s Resource Center’s Faculty of Color group.
Tramaine: Not formally. There is an informal group through the Women’s Resource Center
known as the “Women of Color” that sponsors various activities. However, this group is not
exclusively for African American professors.
MS: In what ways would you find useful to getting to know them if you are unfamiliar with
Black women professors?
Albertina: Not answered.
Roberta: Would be a good sounding board; would be place to vent, etc. I have been having small
groups of Black faculty over to my house. It has been really a good experience. It has also been
very helpful to younger female faculty who have to go through tenure review. We have vented and
have had a lot of fun.
Willie Mae: Professionally, I am not sure how useful it would be.
Eartha: I don’t see a need to socialize. I give the university 250% of my time. When there is a
need, however, to come together as sisters to help, then that’s when I come in to gather with other
Black women faculty for support.
Inez: Meetings surround conferences held on campus.
Dorothy: Regular planned get-togethers.
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Jill: Focus group and printed biographical sketches.
Cassandra: I don’t think I'd have time for another organization. There is a Black Faculty &
Administrators Organization on campus and a national organization called Minorities in
Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences.
Lena: There would be no other reason than networking to get to know these women. It would
be a mistake to only socialize with just Black women. One should establish links with other
groups as well.

Diana: Establishing greater networking opportunities.

Gladys: It would be great if we could have monthly luncheons for Black women professors to
get to know each other. Or, when a new Black woman professor is hired we could have a
reception for her.

Vickie: On a regular basis, I would attend the formal receptions for new faculty sponsored by
the University. I would also attend the welcoming receptions for the various groups of color,
where many would be present. Informal and social contacts resulted in more awareness than any
organized opportunity.

Patti: Personal contact with black women faculty by telephone or invitations to attend forums,
discussions, etc. that impact their academic survival or just issues in general. The Annual
Women’s Health Forum at MSU is a perfect instrument to use. There is one segment of the
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conference that target health issues of black women. This specifically is another avenue where
black women can get together and develop associateships and/or friendships. Social events, I
think, have the least impact, because they tend to bring about separatism. However, group
activities might be useful where all black women faculty receive notice to participate, such as
organized group travels (in/out of state, organized group attendance to promote black theater
performances, etc.
CeCe: Useful ways in getting to know my sisters: an organizational body, similar to Black
Faculty, where mentoring and monitoring could occur (although such an organization does not
replace or deny the need for a Black faculty association); social events, indubitably;
Christian/religious events, definitely. Of course, Black women have always taught other Black
women how to win, interact, dress, speak, strategize, become empowered, use power effectively,
and so on. This organizational body could be a driving force to insuring the reality of the
“Survive and Thrive” (a la Provost Simon) mechanism operating at MSU. Many aspects related
to MSU and personal life could be addressed within an organization of Black women professors:
MSU appointments, promotion, tenure, committee service, politics (departmental, college and
university); babysitting, shopping, Christian/Religious services; traveling, etc.
Aretha: There are some organizations related to the university that encourage our knowing each
other: Women’s resource center. Also Black Faculty and Administrators Association... I’m not
sure. Would you like to know the purpose? I interact with many of my black colleagues in
campus activities, research activities...maybe some social activities.
Koko: ?????
Shirley: Women, Race & Privilege Workshops, Luncheon Meetings, Research Meetings.
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Dionne: Informal social gatherings.
Lalah: Discussing personal & professional issues; institutional politics.
Whitney: In order to get to know other Black women on campus, it would be useful if some
organization sponsored a social event or informal meeting for people to get acquainted with one
another. The Women’s Resource Center has organized women of color across campus for a
myriad of activities and often, the majority of those who attend are African American.
Ella: It is very important and critical to have a support network. Some of us feel isolated and
need to be reinforced so we won’t feel that we are going crazy. Networks of those who’s been
here for a while to contextualize their experience; there is a need to be connected and validated . .
. it’s so competitive here and it becomes difficult for folks to appreciate you. It’s wonderful to
have a community of scholars.
Tramaine: Various social events.

Affirmative Action
“Michigan State University’s stated policy of non-discrimination was established long
before state and federal actions required such policies by regulation and law. The State Board of
Agriculture governing Michigan State College adopted its first non-discrimination policy in 1935
192

when discrimination based on race or color were prohibited.”

Twenty-nine years later,

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. To put pressure on employers
192

Michigan State University, “Assuring Equity and Non-Discrimination” Brochure. Office of
Affirmative Actions, Compliance and Monitoring, East Lansing, MI.
145

who refused to uphold the laws of the Civil Rights Act, Johnson issued Executive Order 11246 on
September 24, 1965, which ordered government contractors, including educational instutions, to
abide by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, “Equal Employment Opportunity”, that banned
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employment discrimination practices based on race, creed, color, and sexual orientation.
Moreover, Michigan State University has updated their non-discriminatory policies:
The University’s non-discrimination policy has since been revised and
expanded over the years to include protection based on age, gender,
disability, height, marital status, national origin, political persuasion,
religion, sexual orientation, veteran status and weight. Approved by the
Board of Trustees on April 9, 1993, the MSU Anti-Discrimination Policy
also prohibits harassment of any University community member on the
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basis of these characteristics, as well.

Out of twenty-two respondents, only three did not really know of MSU’s Affirmative Action
policy. On the other hand, nineteen had critical responses to Affirmative Action, maintainting that
nothing is really being done to uphold the policy that’s in place. Because of the political climate
within the state of Michigan, MSU changed the name of the Affirmative Action Compliance and
Monitoring Office (AACM) to the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives (I-3).

MS: How is the Affirmative Action mandate on Michigan State’s campus viewed as it
relates to black women faculty -- what are your perceptions on this issue?
Albertina: Sorry, but I don't have the factual knowledge to respond to these questions.
193

Please see title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act in the appendices of the dissertation.
http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm
194
Michigan State University, “Assuring Equity and Non-Discrimination” Brochure. Office of
Affirmative Actions, Compliance and Monitoring, East Lansing, MI.
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Roberta: AA is ignored by most departments. They give lip service and then proceed as usual to
hire white men, mostly. Even when you get Opportunity Hire chances it is a difficult process that
has many pit falls. We had one a couple of years ago and it took all of the efforts of me and my
dean [. . . . ] to get . . . hired. Comments that was made by faculty member that “We have too many
Blacks already.” We had two at that time, one male and one female [me]; now it is three. I had to
be sure to go to every meeting and casual conversation, if it was public, to avoid further more
comments of that type. You could tell that they felt restrained by my presence. We now have three
Black professors.
Willie Mae: What is the affirmative action mandate? I have no idea, thus no response.
Eartha: Affirmative Action mandate, not very good (probably). MSU is no more racist than as
any other place. Black women have to be better to get a job. Retention is a problem -- get here,
stay here.
Inez: Many department state they are supportive but are really not.
Dorothy: Don’t know what the mandate is.
Jill: Ineffective – so many characteristics are “potential.” Black women don’t usually even
show up in the pool of candidates.
Cassandra:

MSU says it is committed to recruiting minorities and this includes women.

Affirmative Action is to give equal hiring opportunities to groups who have been and are still
denied equal access. It is extremely positive and necessary.
Lena: I just take the Affirmative Action mandate as the way it is presented. It’s the idea of
inclusion.

Some of the concerns are no different for Black women than other women.
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Affirmative Action was put in place to break up the patterns of hiring people; INCLUSION is
what the policy produce. It’s also a form of tokenism. You may be the only “Black” in your
department, and that is considered to be good (you are here as a number to say that we have at
least one.) Affirmative Action is a game. You’re on a list because they need to have one. It
serves as a wakeup call and it should be in place.
Diana: From my view, Affirmative Action at Michigan State is implemented in a contingency
manner depending on the situation. Sometimes it is implemented in a favorable manner, other
times it is not favorable, nor implemented at all.
Gladys: I believe strongly in Affirmative Action. Everyone should be given the opportunity to
seek employment and not be judged by their ethnicity, religious beliefs or sexual orientation, etc.
Vickie: There are mixed impressions. Some see it as a requirement to get around, e.g. some
units would advertise in the “tried & true” publications for persons of color, and when no
qualified applicants were identified, and they could then focus on applicants of majority
backgrounds.
Patti:

I am not in a central location where I am exposed to the viewpoints of MSU

faculty/students relative to Affirmative Action and black women faculty.

In my college,

faculty/students have not had a stage where their viewpoints can be expressed. There are so few
black women faculty (2), that we are not a threat to anyone. However, I believe that if the
numbers increased, there would be some negative dialog to AA. There is an alarming number
of women completing advanced degree programs and therefore they will be in a position for
recruitment into major universities. Although these women are qualified, a support platform is
also needed to channel them into and success through a majority university.
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CeCe: Affirmative Action at MSU relative to Black women faculty is dead! A pretense, I
believe, is put forward, yet the full importance and essence of AA and the need for Black women
professors is not comprehended. Perhaps the university and departments hide behind a cloak
instead of boldly upholding AA policy. Hopefully, we will see AA more firmly upheld with our
new advisor to the provost & AA officer. As I written earlier, many MSU departments seem to
skirt following AA policies. Whether they like this statement or not, I believe that it is true;
people are not honest.
Aretha: Not sure. In my college, there is specific activity directed toward recruiting minority
faculty.
Koko: None.
Shirley: Many try to not focus on this. Many hope that other women and men of color continue
to have opportunities. Others may wonder about campus continuing commitments if the courts
rule against it.
Dionne: Not taken seriously. The Affirmative Action mandate needs to provide more structure
and accountability from the various units.
Lalah: Don’t really know much. It does not come up much in my department.
Whitney:

I know nothing about the Affirmative Action mandate at MSU because I am

relatively new to the university. I do however, have the impression that some members of the
MSU faculty believe that the ONLY reason Black faculty are on this campus is BECAUSE OF
Affirmative Action.

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Ella: I came here first as a visiting professor for two years through Affirmative Action monies.
I only had a two year temporary contract, but I later was offered a tenure-track position. I
believe this was the result of my level of PRODUCTIVITY; so my work allowed me to remain
at MSU.
Tramaine: I am not aware of any specific university-wide goals/mandates relative to the hiring
of black women faculty.

If such an initiative does exist, then its effectiveness and how

individuals perceive it will be based on how the mandate is communicated and implemented.

Promotion, Tenure, and Salary
MS: How do you view the promotion and tenure process at MSU as it relates to black
women faculty?
Albertina: Sorry, but I don't have the factual knowledge to respond to these questions.
Roberta: It is almost impossible to get tenure here. The problem is not at the Provost level, but at
the department level. The Provost level has worked with faculty members who did not get tenure,
sure as moving to another department.
Willie Mae: This question depends on departments and concrete evidence. I have none.
Eartha: Tenure is HARD, because so many more expectations placed on you. You have to be
every Black student’s advisor, serve on every committee as a token person. Activities are more
scrutinizing (“let me see your stuff” kind of attitude). An example, if a white woman professor,

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said she got great reviews of her works, compared to what you have said about your work, people
want you to prove yourself to them by showing your stuff.
Inez: Not Answered.
Dorothy: Somewhat sluggish.
Jill: Every department is different but in many, research types of interest (to)? Black women are
out (rejected)?
Cassandra: I’m only aware of my own experience. There are, I believe, on two African
American women in the tenure stream in my College. As far as I know, it has been positive for
both of us. I think there are only three African American males in tenure stream in my College.
Lena: Some issues affect all people. Our legacy is that our people get through the system. It’s
like a double-headed sword. Black faculty may not have mentors and for gaining tenure, it’s
essential to have one. Black faculty members are no different, they need good mentors. Maybe
the scholars of today, their children will thrive in the academy. Some scholars stop fighting and
playing the game because they are tired. Many go as far as ABD (All but dissertation) and stop;
they don’t strive to finish their goal. Research and scholarship hangs people up. Mentoring
makes connections. People mature very slowly and unless you are a person that thrives, you will
not survive in the academy nor gain tenure.
Diana:

The Promotion and Tenure process can be most complex for people of

color. Sometimes it depends on the academic unit. African American women and men needs
advocates and mentors to work with them throughout the tenure stream process to provide
guidance.
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Gladys: I guess I am not clear about what you are looking for in this answer. When I went up
for promotion and tenure I didn’t view the process as being different for Black women faculty. I
was evaluated in terms of my research, service, and teaching.
Vickie: The history has shown that it is difficult if you do not have an extensive portfolio of
funded research with publications in referred journals. The clock starts ticking as soon as you
arrive on campus. Technically, it is the same for all incoming faculty, but others frequently have
better support systems in place.
Patti: The promotion and tenure process at MSU is a system that all faculty members must
struggle through to become successful and achieve the award. This system does not make any
exceptions to black women faculty nor any other race or ethnic group, and I don't think that the
process should be less for black women faculty. What I do think, is that a support group should
be available for guidance as the black women faculty member goes through the process.
CeCe: The promotion and tenure process here relative to Black women faculty appears to be
divide and conquer. For people of color, especially those who do not network, the promotion
and tenure process can be very tenuous. Mentorship from 2 or 3 knowledgeable, experienced,
tenured full professors can make the process less tenuous – But! One critical need at MSU is a
system of insuring that new & untenured Black faculty, especially Black women [including
women color], receive mentoring for academic success [beginning from day one] in the three
designated university areas: scholarship, teaching, service.
Aretha: Black women faculty is sorely represented in the tenure system. My observations have
been that black women tend to be in the Specialist category.

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Koko: We are held to the strictest of guidelines whereas white peers are not. We must have
more publications, in referred journals with stronger professional reputations, more presentations
at national conferences, etc.

Our narrative must be organized more comprehensively and

creatively with every “I” dotted and “t” crossed. Any student’s negative evaluations in teaching
or advisement carries greater weight than that of white peers. This not what should be, but is
what I expected.
Shirley: Difficult to be supported with few tenured African American or other supportive
faculty and administrators in departments and colleges during these times.
Dionne: I cannot speak for all black women faculty. My experience was not positive.
Lalah: Not too different than others. Not a problem for me personally, but may be in other
fields.
Whitney: I am learning about the promotion and tenure process at MSU, but do not know
enough about the history of promotion and tenure as it relates to Black women on this campus.
From my short time here, I can say that this university discourages people from going up for
promotion and tenure early. This is a message that has been made very clear to me over the last
two years, and I find it disturbing. I would think that universities would welcome their faculty
members advancing at accelerated rates because it adds to the notoriety and prestige of their
home institutions.
Ella: I was hired as a visiting (non-tenure track) faculty member. The department has never had
a tenured person that’s black.

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Tramaine: I have no direct knowledge or insight that would allow me to effectively evaluate
this question. In my department, I strongly believe that I will be evaluated based on the same
criteria as any other junior faculty member submitting materials for promotion and tenure.

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP), defines Tenure in the “1940
Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure” as a “means to certain ends;
specifically: (1) freedom of teaching and research and of extramural activities, and (2) a sufficient degree
of economic security to make the profession attractive to men and women of ability. Freedom and
economic security, hence, tenure, are indispensable to the success of an institution in fulfilling its
195

obligations to its students and to society.”

The majority of the respondents resolved that getting

tenure for them was “Hard” or tenuous process.”
In A Broken Silence: Voices of African American Women in the Academy by Lena Wright
Myers, a question is posed. “Are they making the rules as they go along, depending on the
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person who is up for tenure and promotion?”

One of the professors shares her testimony

about her struggles through her tenure and promotion process.
My tenure experience perhaps most clearly crystallizes the complex interaction of race
and gender on my campus. I was the first. In 1995, my fourth year there, I submitted a
case that had unqualified backing from the department and the dean. The campus ad hoc
committee, in its wisdom, felt that tenure could not be granted right away. The latter,
which was retained, indicated that my case was excellent and worthy of tenure. No
additional documentation was required. However, the rank of associate and the actual
status of tenure would be deferred for a year. No reason was given for the decision to
195

AAUP Policy Documents and Reports (American Association of University Professors), 10th
edition, (American Association of University Professors, 2006), p. 3.
http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/policydocs/contents/1940statement.htm
196
Lena Wright Myers, A Broken Silence: Voices of African American Women in the Academy
(Westport, Connecticut: Bergin & Garvey, 2002), p. 91.
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defer, and when my dean made inquiries through channels, he was told that it was “too
soon” for me to receive tenure. I should mention that my publication record exceeded
197
that of some full professors (white males) and many associate professors (males).

MS: What is tenure based on in you your opinion?
Albertina: In a research university, such as MSU, publication and research count strongly in
tenure and promotion deliberations. Teaching is purported to be important, but I have the distinct
impression that publication and research are valued more than teaching.
Roberta: Publications, the politics of the department, and good luck. Knowing what I now know,
I would never advise someone to come here without a full professorship.
Willie Mae: This depends on department criteria. I do not think there is a universal. Unless under
extraordinary conditions it is usually research and publications as the top criteria- no matter what is
spoken.
Eartha: Tenure is based on a lot of things. PUBLICATIONS. It is also based on ‘belonging in
the group’. If you must goto faculty meetings outside of the normal settings do it. If it means
going to some silly parties, that you care less about do it. Tenure is also based on professional
performance and working well within a group of people.
Inez: Research, Teaching and how the department perceive you as a professional.
Dorothy: Performance and production (merit).

197

Lena Wright Myers, A Broken Silence, p. 91.
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Jill: Being different is not an asset in tenure process. Mainstream research and whether you are
seen as “like” or similar to other faculty.
Cassandra: I'm not sure what your mean, but I'll respond with regard to what I think you mean.
Tenure is based upon the Department's, College, and University perception of one's scholarly
contributions to the institution. Of course, this means that others are using their judgment,
reference, biases, etc. to evaluate what you're doing.
Lena: Tenure is based on RESEARCH. Tenure is also based on ‘Club Membership’ – you have
to bring something to the table in order to gain the status deserved.
Diana: Flexible and privileged criteria.
Gladys: Teaching, research, and service as well as having a national reputation and visibility in
your chosen field of study.
Vickie: Tenure is basically reflective of external funded research and publications in referred
journals. Teaching is weighted but not as high as research. Public service in the modern
university environment is lauded, but not awarded in most tenure instances.
Patti: Tenure is based on different criteria depending on the college/department. Generally,
tenure is a long-term commitment to an academic institution where the faculty member shows
steady proof of scholarly achievements over a six-year period of time.

The scholarly

achievements are those that are beneficial to the department/college and ultimately increases the
worth or value of the faculty member.
CeCe: Tenure is based on publications--bottom line. Teaching and service, unfortunately, at
MSU have NOT been given equal weight to publications.
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Aretha: Tenure is based on funded research and publications, not teaching and service.
Koko: Scholarship in referred journals and national reputation/exposure in field of study and of
course some degree of likability.
Shirley: A network of ideological agreement among dominant representatives in departments
and colleges; and or publications in the “right” journals, research support and productivity that is
acknowledged and valued.
Dionne: Tenure is primarily based on numbers of publications in top refereed journals.
Lalah: Politics, research, grant money.
Whitney: I think tenure is based on scholarship more than it is on teaching, but that this
university is serious about teaching and it weighs student evaluations heavily.
Ella: The challenge of tenure: there are rules written but there are also the unwritten rules.
There are rules on how people do things, which are more important like publishing. I have
currently 14 articles, with 4 more in the works, some of which will be published soon. I also
have three books published. So you are told to publish, but the culture is somewhat different.
Service is important. Collegiality is important too! Do they like you??? — that’s what it boils
down to. If people are not comfortable with you, then there could be problems. . . . the
intangible problems.
Tramaine: Very heavy weighted toward research productivity in my department.

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MS: Do you feel that your salary is equal to white faculty members at the same rank and
experience?
Eight out of twenty two maintained that their salaries were “Equal” or “Higher”, while
twelve resolved that “No” theirs were lower than their white colleagues.
Albertina: Yes. However, throughout Academe, the doctors and lawyers in the professional
schools generally make quite a bit more than those of us in other areas of Academe. This tends to
be true regardless of the doctor's or lawyer's gender and race.
Roberta: Mine is higher than most white faculty. This is a real issue of difficulty for the
whites. This was done because I was offered an endowed chair at another university and the
Dean and Provost gave me what I was offered there. So I stayed. . . . . I was selected as a --------- Faculty in 19- -. I received the award only because of overtime actions of two faculty
members after there were attempts to sabotage my nomination within the department! My typed
papers disappeared for three days. No one knew where they were! They reappeared at the last
minute. Then the many copies that were required were deliberately put together in random order.
It was only because the two faculty members caught it and they stayed to reassemble it late into
the night. . . . I did not know that the last things were going on. They did not tell me until later.
There are whites here who are really good, so they should be given credit. It is just the majority
of the people who have been here for a long time that cannot deal with me.
I have also been one of the few persons who has been able to get a large Federal grant, a
five year grant for $---, --- . . . So I only hired people of color. The department chair went to the
Dean twice and complained that I was not hiring whites! There is jealousy, along with blatant
racism. There is no person to do research with here, so I work alone. This is only an example of
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the racism that is so apparent within my department. This is something that has caused friction
for them. . . . I just have to ignore them; know what is behind their behavior; and be able to write
and do research mainly with myself. I frankly would prefer them being honest. But this is too
much to expect!
Another example: My course had to be taught as a Topics class for three years. No
professor's name is placed in the course book. Then people across campus called me and
complained that they could not find my class. I went to the Graduate Committee twice asking
that it be taught as a regular class, with my name on it. It was denied. They said things like this
was not a mission of our department, etc. . . . [We are ---------- Department]. So I ran for the
committee, won, and the next year when the request was resubmitted [surprise, surprise] it was
approved without a word. It is always oversubscribed and this class has more persons from all
over class than any other graduate course in the department.
Willie Mae: In general, I think my faculty is equal (and perhaps even higher) than faculty at the
same rank and experience IN MY DEPARTMENT. Beyond that I have no idea. Salaries vary by
departments and colleges.
Eartha: Salary, I don’t care. Greed is a problem. I don’t need to be greedy. Salaries are based
on percentages 2%, 3% and so on.

Faculty get raises about every year based on their

performances.
Inez: No.
Dorothy: No.
Jill: No.
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Cassandra: It is probably a little lower. Part of that is because I do a lot of teaching, service,
and student-related activities and those types of activities are not valued as much as research.
Lena: Salaries are not equal.
Diana: I am sure that it is not. After being an administrator for years, my salary was decreased
substantially and I have been discriminated against by most chairs since returning back to the
faculty. White administrators most times their salaries are not decreased when returning to the
faculty. I can assure you that this issue has been a nightmare of injustices for me.
Gladys: Yes, my department chair has been fair and equitable in terms of making sure that I
have received salary increases annually.
Vickie: My early salary was not at the same level as others within the unit at the beginning. I
believe it was influenced by the lower allocation to the School and I was willing to work less
than full time. It continues to be one of the units which does not have extensive and externally
funded grants.
Patti: Yes.
CeCe: Salary equal to white faculty of the same rank and experience: Absolutely not! Thanks
to a pro-active chair, my salary falls within a reasonable range, yet disparities have entered into
the dynamics.
Aretha: Yes, based on the information in the university publication on salaries.
Koko: No, lower.
Shirley: Some yes and no.
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Dionne: I do not know the salary of other faculty members outside of my department.
Lalah: Yes.
Whitney: I have no idea how much my white colleagues or any other colleagues in my
department make for their annual salary.
Ella: My salary is comparable. Other Black women’s are not comparable. Black faculty are not
numerated. I had an offer at UCLA so I used it to bargain. I had options and that helped.
Marketability and competition is very important.
Tramaine: I am aware of a slight difference in my salary and that of a white faculty member
that started in my department at the same time and rank as me. The department chairman
provided me with the same option selected by my colleague during his salary negotiation
process. (My starting salary level and the 3rd summer of support at 22% or $2000-$2500 more in
starting base salary and the 3rd summer of support at $10,000) I chose the 1st option and my
colleague elected the 2nd option.

MS: Do you find yourself being challenged by your students (both white and black) in your
classes you teach?
Thirteen of the professors found themselves being challenged at various stages in their academic
carriers, while others “Demanded Respect.”

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Albertina: Occasionally, I find myself being challenged by some of my students, but this
probably has little to do with my race, and gender. Rather, the challenge is due to my politics-perceived as “radical” and “left-leaning” and therefore “problematic” for some students. For
example, when I teach about African American ........ in (so-called) “Sub-Saharan” Africa, my
approach promotes African and Africanized languages and challenges the hegemony of “EnglishOnly.”
Roberta: Sometimes in undergraduate classes. The bigoted ones will wait until SIRS to put in
negative comments. . . such as: You must be an Opportunity Hire; You do not know anything
about families, etc. . . The graduate students are much better. They really seem to look up to me,
Black, white and foreign.
Willie Mae: Yes I am challenged. It depends on the subject matter. This is not a question I can
answer without specifics and I do not have the time. As a senior faculty member, I am not bothered
by it. That's part of the work of being a professor.
Eartha: I don’t teach, so I’m not challenged by students. I have done guest lecturing and wasn’t
challenged. I am not challenged by white students.
Inez: No - but I think it has to do with the fact that I have a history of being fair with students.
Dorothy: Yes.
Jill: Not applicable – primary administration now.
Cassandra: That occurred when I began here at MSU, but over the years I have communicated
to students that I don't tolerate such things. I am approachable and caring, but I have no qualms
in letting people --students and others- know what I will and will not tolerate.
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Lena: Overall, my experiences have been positive. Only 2 or 3 instances, where I have
disrespected by students.
Diana: Sometimes there are challenges with undergraduates.
Gladys: Do you mean have students negatively challenged me because they don’t view me as
competent? Or, do you mean that my students make the assumption that because I am a Black
female and that gives them the right to challenge me? If that’s what you mean, I have not had
that experience. I came to MSU in 1989 as an associate professor with national visibility and
numerous publications. Two years later, I was promoted to full professor. Consequently, I
receive a great deal of respect from both my Black and White students as well as international
students.
Vickie: The challenge is often more apparent in small classes where students know that they can
ask questions, differ with the Instructor and feel that they are learning. The resulting discussion
can make all involved move to a different level of knowing. In large classes, the challenge is to
try to connect and have each student get something of value from the class.
Patti: No, I don't have that problem in my college.
CeCe: This question is one of my “pet peeves” because I have been challenged by whites
students, particularly (though some African American students have surprised me due to the lack
of home training [= disrespect] they have displayed in my classes).
Aretha: Yes, I find myself being challenged by young students in my classes.
Koko: Yes. Some members from groups.

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Shirley: Probably more by white students. But I generally do not tolerate this behavior in class.
White students who are predominantly represented can increase negative evaluations due to their
numbers and biases.
Dionne: Not answered.
Lalah: No.
Whitney: Both Black and white students constantly challenge me in my classes.
Ella: I only have graduate students. I have earned a reputation of being hard and I have fairly
high standards. I dress professionally, not like some other professors . . . . I am more formal
with my students. I don’t get challenged. Maybe the first year, people tried to push my buttons.
Tramaine: No.

MS: In what ways they are similar and different?
Roberta: Not answered.
Willie Mae: Sometimes black students are harder on black professors than white students. I have
experienced all in the course of my teaching career.
Eartha: Not answered.
Inez: Not answered.
Dorothy: Expectations are for excellence.
Jill: Not answered.
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Cassandra: Basically, all people are quite similar. We have the same basic needs for love,
food, shelter, self-confidence, etc. Many people might disagree, but I think people are more
alike than different.
Lena: Not answered.
Diana: The criteria that I have for my courses are often different from what the students
expect. However, they have the choice to meet them with my assistance or drop the course.
Gladys: Not answered.
Vickie: The students differentiate themselves by their level of enthusiasm, the desire to learn,
and preparation for the class work. I have not focused on the students’ racial identification and
expect readiness for learning. For the most of the students, this has worked well, with a few
exceptions where the readiness for college level work was in question.
Patti: Not answered.
CeCe: White students challenge the course content and my approach to teaching, sometimes
even grades. They assume, until shown otherwise, that I do not have the knowledge base to
teach . . . . . It’s unreal! As mentioned above, the African American students--and I have
encountered few instances of this one–show disrespect for me as an “elder” or they lack a sense
of community and have not learned about giving other African American professionals some
“props.”
Aretha: The black students tend not to develop linkages that can facilitate success in the
classes, i.e. they tend to use available resources, even when they see the white students taking
advantage. Tend to ask fewer questions. However, when I initiate interaction with them, they
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may accept suggestions. On the other hand, white students will acquire about my teaching,
research interests. Often they will come back and ask for independent studies, ask me to serve on
their research committee.
Koko: Both expect special accommodations and challenge my expectations in way white male
colleagues do not experience. However, these are often for very different reasons. (You asked
about experiences with students, but you must also not the issues with colleagues which impact
job satisfaction a great deal. This at times can certainly be a point of contention and stress in
such highly competitive settings).
Shirley: Students of color are more thoughtful and respectful, appreciative.
Dionne: I enjoy teaching. I structure my classes to encourage active participation and critical
thinking of all students.
Lalah: Don’t understand question.
Whitney: However, my age plays a significant role in these interactions. I’ve had the most
trouble with white males and older Black females. Both seem to question whether or not I am
qualified to be a professor. I've had some rather unpleasant exchanges with people on this
campus that I do not believe would have occurred if I were a white male.
Ella: Not answered.
Tramaine: Not answered.

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Levels of Mentorship
MS: Do you think having a faculty mentor or sponsor is important? Explain.

Roberta: Yes. Only one who has gone through the mess can be of help.
Willie Mae: Depends on the individual, but it cannot hurt.
Eartha: Yes, one should have a faculty mentor. I had one. He was a white male who was very
helpful when I was dealing with personal issues in my life (divorce and raising my children).
Inez: Yes. A mentor can help to identify opportunities as well of barriers to success in the
academy.
Dorothy: Your mentor looks out for you, guides and assists with navigating the system as well as
organizing future directions.
Jill: Yes- will help to avoid pitfalls of particular departments & for encouragement and support.
Cassandra: Are you asking from the student or faculty standpoint. For a faculty member, it is
good to have someone you trust and to whom you can ask questions about how things work at an
institution, discuss your frustrations, be a sounding board for your ideas, and lobby on your
behalf.
Lena: Faculty mentors are extremely important. I had one.
Diana: Yes, a faculty mentor or sponsor can be invaluable, especially if they are knowledgeable
of the system. This type of support can assist a new career faculty member to stay on target with
the process and interpret how the process actually works.
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Gladys: Yes, definitely. A faculty member can acquaint new faculty with new department
politics, assist with publishing opportunities, etc.
Vickie: Yes. One must understand how the system functions, and it could take two years or
more to understand, thus delaying the understanding of the realities of tenure beyond the written
expectations. Two years is too much time to not be on the reality tenure clock. It also is helpful
to have an ear to help one deal with such a large university. A mentor or sponsor is getting to be
a necessity.
Patti: Having an effective faculty mentor or sponsor is critical for success in an academic
institution. One of the factors that influence academic success is interaction and collaboration
with other faculty members/researchers, or other scholars whether local, national or international.
An effective mentor is very helpful as a faculty member move through each level of the tenure
system. Most faculty members need some kind of guidance, not hand-holding, but supportive
guidance as that person proceed to the next level. The process is made much easier and there is
less trial and error. Therefore the product is better packaged and the faculty member is more
productive.
CeCe: Having a faculty mentor/sponsor is CRUCIAL to survival of African American women
faculty! Particularly, new faculty Black women require a senior faculty Black woman professor
and one who is supportive of the new faculty member and sensitive to departmental issues in
order that necessary and appropriate steps for acquiring tenure are mapped and followed from
day one. Without a mentor to advise and direct, especially during a research sabbatical or
summer, new faculty could easily pursue "unproductive" activities.

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Aretha: Yes, a faculty mentor is important. The mentor must be savvy in research and the
politics of research, i.e. Research priorities for funding, from your college’s perspective, funding
sources, and how to write a fundable proposal. How to help the new faculty manage time. Too
often new faculty get too drawn into meetings, task forces, etc. that may be worthy but provide
little in terms of tenure and promotion. New faculty must be helped to bring a balance.
Koko: Helpful. It makes career goal attainment easier but not essential.
Shirley: Yes. Particularly if the mentor has power and status and will support and advocate for
faculty of color.
Dionne: I think a mentor is very important. A mentor is able to provide guidance in navigating
an unfamiliar environment. A mentor also enables the mentee to focus efforts

in the most

important areas.
Lalah: Yes. But it has to be of your choosing & doesn’t have to be Black or a woman.
Whitney: I think it is extremely important to have a faculty mentor because mentors can assist in
an individual's professional development. This year, as a member of the . . . . . Department
Advisory Committee, I developed a mentor statement for the department, which will appear on
the web to encourage potential faculty to attend MSU. Mentoring programs and mentoring in
general indicate that a university unit or colleague is interested in your success. Mentors can
provide advice about the particulars of your field, make recommendations on publishing
decisions, and help you make contact with more senior scholars. I believe that mentoring is
beneficial to all parties involved.

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Ella: I haven’t had a mentor at MSU. I have had support and mentorship outside of MSU. I
have professional links, eight mentors outside of MSU. I came here with a clear agenda and
having a good background from graduate school has been very helpful. I have published many
articles in refereed journals in my field. I had one good example of how to do things – it’s all it
takes, this is how my mentor helped me.
Tramaine: Having a sponsor in the department can be important in meeting of senior level
professors when that person can speak to my efforts that may not show up in formal annual
review materials. Faculty mentors outside my department/college can be useful in helping to
develop strategies for dealing with “office politics”, impression management, time management,
etc.

MS: Do you see yourself as a role-model?
Albertina: Hmm. ..well, this is what students and younger scholars tell me. So I guess I must be.
Roberta: Yes.
Willie Mae: Others define me as role-model. Does that make me one? Not necessarily. It is
always helpful to have individuals to look up to.
Eartha: Yes.
Inez: Yes!
Dorothy: Yes.
Jill: Yes.
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Cassandra: Yes.
Lena: Yes.
Diana: I have been told that I am a role model for African Americans on campus and in my
profession.
Gladys: Yes.
Vickie: Yes to first part of the question, not just what I did as a direct line faculty members, but
also others opportunities that I have had. It meant being in the right place at the right time, and
also being willing to try new things...
Patti: Yes.
CeCe: Yes.
Aretha: Yes, I am a role model. And mentor. The 2 roles have different components, in my
view.
Koko: Yes.
Shirley: Yes!
Dionne: Not answered.
Lalah: Yes.
Whitney: I see myself as a role model primarily because when I grew up, I only had two
African American teachers/professors. I remember thinking during high school assemblies that
“it would be nice to see someone who looks like me” up on stage. As a child/adolescent, seeing
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people "who look like you" in careers and fields that you aspire to enter provides additional
motivation to pursue that career.
Ella: I really do in some ways.
Tramaine: Not answered.

MS: Do you think it is important for Black female scholars to act as mentors to young Black
scholars, especially young women in your field of study or profession?
Albertina:

Yes, it’s important for Black women scholars to serve as mentors to young,

developing Black scholars in the field. They can benefit from our experiences and mistakes; there’s
no point in re-inventing the wheel, as the saying goes.
Roberta: Yes.
Willie Mae: Yes, most young scholars can benefit from guidance and help from a more senior
scholar.
Eartha: Not answered.
Inez: Because there are a limited number of faculty in our department willing to mentor students
of color and/or students who are not considered “super stars”.
Dorothy: Yes.
Jill: Absolutely.
Cassandra: Not answered.
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Lena: Not answered.
Diana: Not answered.
Gladys: Yes, but I must say in the College of . . . . . the untenured Black females have not
sought my advice and guidance even though I have extended my services. This has puzzled me.
Perhaps, they feel that they don’t need any assistance. However, Black females from other
departments on campus have sought my assistance.
Vickie: Yes, I do think it is important to mentor young Black scholars, and especially young
women new in academia. The mentor should be objective about the process and to not think that
the experiences of the new person will be exactly as was the case for the mentor. Objectively
and reality should organize the factual nature of the advice/counsel.
Patti: Not answered.
CeCe: Mentorship is vital to the survival of scholars, regardless of race or gender. This is
probably one of the reasons that the College of Arts & Letters requires that each new faculty
member be assigned a mentor. Mentoring is one of the best vehicles available for new people,
especially women, especially women of color [who are traditionally given less insights], to be
successful in academia (publishing, teaching, serving on committees, being reappointed,
receiving tenure).
Aretha: It is absolutely imperative for black female scholars to serve as mentors in my field.
Koko: Yes, however only to those who are willing to be mentored. This is true regardless of
race.

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Shirley: Yes! But they must not allow this important role to keep them from being productive if
they want tenure, promotion and cost of living wage increases.
Dionne: I think becoming a mentor/role model for young women is very important.
Lalah: Yes, but also to young people in the field with similar interests, regardless of race or
gender.
Whitney: I think it is extremely important for Black women faculty members to mentor young
Black females in their profession. By doing so, you are bringing someone else along through a
process that is familiar to you. Because of your experience, you can provide advice along the
way and help them avoid some of the obstacles you faced in your academic Journey.
Ella: Yes. I always being and work with scholars of color – young groups of scholars to bring
them into the fold. I try to do one panel and then grouped panels. I have an informal get
together at my house to discuss rules of the game. I try to reciprocate.
Tramaine:

Yes.

However, I do not feel that mentor relationships should be forced. If

individuals do not share research as well as more general interests and are not compatible in
terms of work ethics as well as personality traits, then mentoring relationships based primary on
common ethnic background may not be effective.

Representation
Out of twenty-two respondents, all of them agreed that the black women faculty are not well
represented at all.
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MS: Do you think that black women faculty are represented at an appropriate number at
MSU?
Albertina: I don’t have the factual knowledge necessary to respond to this question. That is, I
don’t know how many Black women professors there are at MSU. One thing I just recently
learned, though, is that the number of Black faculty has declined since I first came here back in
1989. That is cause for grave concern.
Roberta: No!
Willie Mae: Of course not.
Eartha: No. I don’t think Black women are represented equally. In fact, I’m the only one in my
department.
Inez: No!
Dorothy: No.
Jill: No.
Cassandra: NO.
Lena: Yes, Black women are under-represented. If you are not proportionately ranked, stigmas
are placed on you. The Black culture does not promote the academy. Life will change when
people change. People play special roles in the academy.

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Diana: In general, Blacks are not well represented on campus. The numbers may not show
reality.
Gladys: Since I don’t know exactly how many Black women on the faculty at MSU, I don’t
know whether Black women faculty are under-represented.
Vickie: No. However it is important to analyze the reasons such inequalities exist. Giving the
choice of opportunities, Black women faculty may believe that the challenges outweigh the
potential benefits.
Patti: I am going to assume not, since I can only come up with 10 faculty members that I know.
I would need to know the total number of female faculty and the number of black female faulty
for a percentage.
CeCe:

No, I do not think that African American women faculty are appropriately (or

proportionately) represented at MSU.
Aretha: No, black women faculty...in the tenure system, are poorly represented.
Koko: No.
Shirley: No and declining due to future retirements and tenure decisions.
Dionne: I do not know the exact numbers.
Lalah: No.
Whitney: I do not think Black women faculty are represented at an appropriate number at MSU,
but I do not know that exact number of Black women on campus.
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Ella: Under-represented! It’s not enough.
Tramaine: No – I am the only black female faculty member in my college that has more than
125 faculty members.

Overall Experience
MS: How do you feel about your overall experience as a black tenured professor who is
female at MSU?
Albertina: Over the years at MSU, there have been occasions where racism and sexism have
reared their ugly heads, not only at me but also at colleagues and students. MSU is not alone in this
respect; I have also encountered these evil “ism’s” at other universities. One thing that is important
is to know what one’s rights are and the institutional procedures and processes for redress. It hasn't
been easy. To paraphrase Langston Hughes,“life for me in Academe ain’t been no crystal stair.”
But I’ve learned how to deal with racialized and genderized conflicts--and almost always, I have
come out the winner .
Roberta: I am pissed off at the amount of racism I found here. But this is the situation all across
the country. MSU is not special. But I am also very impressed with the number of whites who are
sincere and helpful. Having a . . . . Dean has been a real blessing.
Willie Mae: I have had ups and down over the course of my career. It has not been easy to reach
the point where I am now- doing the work that most interest me and that I define. Now I enjoy my
work and find that I enjoy it. This is all too brief, but I have many example of the good and the
bad: early, mid, and late career.
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Eartha: My overall experience – very positive. There are some problems here at MSU. I’ve
learned a lot, met some nice folks. I am burned out, but that’s good. I’m getting ready to retire
soon, I’ve been here almost 30 years.
Inez: I have enjoyed working with students because they make it all worth while. Also, I’ve
enjoyed being part of the struggle for women and African Americans.
Dorothy: Difficult at times, as the only one in my college.
Jill: Overall it’s been positive because I was in a supportive department.
Cassandra: I don't have any feelings about it. I’m proud that I’m African American and proud
of the great heritage of strength, accomplishment, and like than different. Almost all of my
students come from different ethnic and racial backgrounds; however, I try to always be myself.
I believe in mutual respect and I try to follow my beliefs. American and proud of the great
heritage of strength, accomplishment, and perseverance that African Americans and our African
ancestors have shown. I think that we can and must do much more. I know that God is always
there to guide us. I look to him for strength and pray that I follow the job that he has for me to
do. I know He has a job for each of us, but often people do not do it. My goal is to get on and
stay on God’s plan. If I do that, I don't have to worry about anything else. No matter what
happens, if God is on our side, we are in the majority.
Lena: I’m a true academician. I’m not caught up in the “things” --- fashions, hairstyles, etc……
I feel that if people embrace the academy they may not have a problem surviving in it. By
showing that I could play the game of the academy, I have added a lot to the scholarship of being
at MSU. You could call it being confident!
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Diana: I have made my experience work for me. There have been many trying and good times;
however, I have taken advantages of the positive experiences and regardless of what has
happened negatively, I refuse to take an attitude of defeat. On another note during my early
years at MSU there was a different administration. I along with many faculty of color receive
support to be successful. Changes in university administration can really make a difference.
Gladys: I have experienced some racism especially as it relates to me being considered for
university awards (i.e., Teacher Scholar Award and Distinguished Faculty Award). I am proud to
say that I won the Teacher Scholar Award in 19- - and the Distinguished Faculty Award in - - - -.
Despite the racist treatment I received from my Dean and the College of . . . . . Award’s
Committee; I was able to express my dissatisfaction to Dr. Bob Bank’s office about the unfair
evaluation of my materials. I was pleased that I received an objective response to the issues I
raised about my Dean and the College of . . . . Award’s Committee. The way this matter was
handled communicated to me that there are people here at MSU that recognize unfairness and are
able to respond appropriately. Consequently, I feel that my overall experience as a black tenured
professor has been good.
Vickie: Overall, I feel that I have been supported by those who knew of my commitment to the
academic success of students. If there were those who were not supportive, I distanced myself
from them whenever possible. I think that it will not be as positive for some coming through
system at this time, as there is no real mentoring system that helps in the negotiation of juggling
service, research and teaching.
Patti: I have had a super experience here at MSU. I enjoy teaching and have benefitted from
students, other faculty as well as staff members.
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I enjoy coming to work, meeting new

challenges, and being productive. This is because of the supportive environment that I have at
this point in time. My tenure process was stressful, but I don’t feel that it was any more than the
other persons coming up for tenure in my department. I would like to see additional faculty in
my section which would allow me to decrease the overwhelming number of work hours.
CeCe: It’s very difficult and time-consuming work! Yet, this is the career I have selected, so
"on with the show; this is it!
Aretha: My overall experience as a tenured professor has been essentially positive.
Koko: Satisfied overall, however, quite stressful at times.
Shirley: I feel good and respected. I serve as a mentor for women and men of color as well as
international & domestic students. I feel valued. I am committed to helping students and faculty
be successful.
Dionne: The experience has been very challenging - but not impossible.
Lalah: Don’t have tenure. On the tenure track.
Whitney: Although I am not a tenured faculty member, my experiences at MSU have been
good. Despite problems with a few students, this is an excellent environment for my particular
field of research and I have the privilege of interacting with an impressive group of graduate
students.
Ella: So far I have survived. It hasn’t been a horrendous experience, but not a glaring one. But
if I wasn’t a go getter, then I wouldn’t survive. It seems like hazing. The department wants you
to fail.
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Tramaine: Question as phased is not applicable as I am not tenured. However, in general, I
sometimes feel lonely and isolated as an African American female professor at MSU, especially
within my college and department environment. To deal with this issue, I have friends from
graduate school in similar work environments that I talk with on a regular basis.

Team MSU
MS: Do you think that your presence at MSU as a black woman professor has made a difference?
Please Explain.
Albertina: I like to think that my being here at MSU has made a difference in campus climate, for
example, in helping to carve out a space for non-mainstream ideas and politics. I also think that my
presence has made a difference in students' perceptions about the role and responsibility of
academic intellectuals on and off campus. Further, students have told me that they value my
presence here because they know that there is at least one faculty person who understands their
perspectives and concerns and is willing to go to bat for them if/when necessary.
Roberta: I think that the comments above should answer this question.
Willie Mae: Yes. It has made a difference for the students with whom I have had the pleasure to
work and I am pleased about that. It has made a difference to students in the many classes I have
taught - if for no other reason that to expose them to different ways of approaching subject matter
given my training, but also given whom I am as a black woman. I have given much to MSU, over
the years in service and outreach, theoretically/conceptually and in practice - it has made a

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difference to many individuals in terms of their own ways of thinking and doing. Can I quantify it?
No. The footpaths, however, are present.
Eartha: My presence has been significant. I pushed scholarship. I pushed on the need to open up
the dialog to include other ways of thinking and knowing. International work broadens the
experience beyond. I encourage African American women that they are more than average. I
teach people to understand the diversities and to encourage them to feel their roots ( if you feel
yourself grounded) it’s like a paradox. We talk about our ancestors – people you will never know,
if you have a religious base, then people look a lot for you as a source of inspiration.
Inez: Yes, I facilitated the first Black Female, Hispanic Female & Native American to obtain a
doctorate in our department. These students served to open the doors in our department.
Dorothy: Yes, to all my students. They see me as a role model, a mentor, an advocate and a
strong individual capable of high achievements.
Jill: To students possibly. But too many other Black women professors and administrators must
continually prove their worth and are constantly put down in subtle ways. Many students don’t
truly believe that they belong here.
Cassandra: Yes.
Lena: Yes. I have tried to make a difference in the lives of the students that I teach.
Diana: Sometimes I wonder! Nevertheless, I have tried to be engaged in initiatives on and off
campus that make a difference. 

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Gladys: I think my presence has made a significant difference to my students and colleagues.
However, I am not in an administrative or leadership position so I would venture to say that my
presence has not made a difference on MSU as a university. If I have made a difference, I guess
it has been through the university awards I have received and through the national visibility I
bring to MSU via my research and service.
Vickie: I do believe that my presence has made a difference. Many persons have sought me out
for support, information and direction. My knowledge of the system and tenure did make a
difference in what I could experience and accomplish.
Patti: I am not clear on this question! Scholarship - meaning that my scholarly contributions
have made a difference? I believe that what I do daily has not only made a difference in my
department, but I have proved to others that the quality of my scholarship has added to the
quality/distinction of my department. I continue to set a daily example of excellence.
CeCe: Yes. Most of my impact has been on students and through committee service. A good
number of students have enjoyed taking my classes, as they typically share with me, especially
African American students. I believe my ethics and commitment to teaching have been taken
note of by them and they take parts of my teaching style and course content with them. One
African American female student in one of my previous . . . . . course shared that she was proud
to see a Black person standing in front of the class to teach. With committee service, I aim to do
the best job and present the voice(s) and experiences of African Americans.
Aretha: I believe so, based on what some of the students have said to me; i.e. they feel more
comfortable to see black faculty. Also I have served as a mentor to freshmen who are interested
in my profession and they tell me that this was helpful.
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Koko: Within my program, yes. At least I hope so.
Shirley: Yes! It has made other administrators, students and faculty understand that there are
alternative views and perspectives on issues. It has been very helpful for students and faculty
who reach out and receive my support; it is helpful for the University to have competent,
dedicated and thoughtful scholars/persons such as myself in various research, faculty and
administrative roles. The Strength of MSU lies in the Diversity of its Faculty and Students,
Research Reputation & Program Excellence.
Dionne: Through mentoring, I have had a positive influence on several African American and
international students at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
Lalah: Yes. I bring up issues that might otherwise not come up. I also bring a different
perspective to certain discussions.
Whitney: I hope that my presence as a Black women professor at MSU has made a difference,
but it is difficult to tell at this stage in my career.
Ella: I think I have made important presence for Black women students, if I can touch one or
two then I have succeeded.

If I can help with proposals, conference papers, guidance of

professional and scholarly development, then I have been effective in a positive way.
Tramaine: Some students, especially those of African descent, have mentioned the fact that I
was the only African American professor they had while at MSU. My presence at least lets
African American students know that academia is a valid career option. In terms of making a
tremendous difference in the lives of undergraduate students regardless of ethnic background, I
typically meet them in their last semester or two which makes relationship building a challenge
184

as many are focused on finding a job or already have a job offer and are concerned with finishing
the degree so that they can start to make money. Also, I must admit that based on the tenure
process/requirements in my department, I have not actively sought opportunities to advise
students and engage in other activities that would allow me to make a difference in their lives
outside the classroom experience.

185

FIGURE 40.
According to Sheila T. Gregory, there are several ways to draw and keep successful Black
women scholars; the quality of life at the institution and within the department should be
properly assessed.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7

198

New faculty should be given clear guidelines, both oral and written regarding the
expectations and requirements for tenure and promotion.
New faculty should be given supportive mentors of both genders inside and outside of the
department.
Regular performances reviews should include input from mentors, and persons (minority
and majority) who are familiar with the faculty members’ research.
Accountability should be allocated on the parts of the department chairs, deans, and
provosts to ensure active participation in the recruitment, support, and retention of faculty
members.
Departments should consider providing supportive arrangements for faculty with families
with regard to time and tenure.
Institutions should reassess how teaching, research, and service are defined and create
new standards for research and pedagogy.
Colleges should offer faculty greater opportunity to become involved in their academic
departments and institutions, as well as working with other African American, Ethnic,
198
and women colleagues.

Sheila T. Gregory. Black Women in the Academy: The Secrets to Success and Achievement
(Lanham, University Press of America, Inc., Revised and Updated Edition, 1999), p. 138-139.
186

Conclusion
Retention, Recruitment and Re-evaluating:
Larger Implications for Continued Success at Team MSU
Black women professors at Michigan State University shared similar experiences as reflected in
the answers to the survey questions. 1. These women consider themselves role models. 2. Many
acknowledge that getting tenure was difficult. They said getting tenure at MSU is hard. 3. Some
of them felt that Affirmative Action was not what it should be and that they really didn't know
what it actually did for them. 4. Most of them agreed that they were not challenged by the Black
students and some of them had been questioned maybe at some point in their careers by white
students. 5. Many of them said that they really did not know other Black women faculty outside
of their own disciplines and they wished there was some type of organization implemented by the
university to bring them all together, especially to network with one another. Lastly, all of the
women felt that they have touched the lives of many students while teaching at MSU and they
were satisfied with the choice they made to come to MSU to teach.
The Hannah, Wharton, DiBiaggio, McPherson and Simon years witnessed more hirings of
African American women. The climate improved. More cultural activities and black performers
were brought to campus. Many of the black women professors wrote books on the historical,
social, cultural, and educational experiences of black people. The fact that they focused on black
subject matter may have been a function of the Black Studies educational reform movement in the
early 1970s. Why did it take so long for Black women to start writing about experiences in the
academy? What have the officials in the academy done to improve the climate for Black women to
be recruited to very isolated cities? New questions need to be answered as to why there are so few
Black women faculty memebers at not only predominately white universities, but also in the
187

United States higher educational system period. This study of the history of Black women faculty
at Michigan State University illuminates the issues and challenges they confronted and overcame.
It also expands our understanding of the efforts that various higher level administrators initated to
recruit and to retain black women professsors in the aftermath of the modern Civil Rights
Movement. The many contributions of black women faculty in the area of research, teaching, and
service demonstrate their value to the enrichment of the educational mission of Michigan State
University and the advancement of academic excellence.

188

Appendices

189

Appendix 1.
Approved questionnaire
1. What department or college has the greatest number of black women faculty members? How
many do you know on campus? Is there an organization for Black women professors? In what
ways would you find useful to getting to know them if you are unfamiliar with Black Women
professors?
2. How is the Affirmative Action mandate on Michigan State's campus viewed as it relates to
black women faculty -- what are your perceptions on this issue?
3. How do you view the promotion and tenure process at MSU as it relates to black women
faculty?
4. Do you feel that your salary is equal to white faculty members at the same rank and
experience?
5. What is tenure based on in your opinion?
6. Do you think having a faculty mentor or sponsor is important? Explain.
7. Do you see yourself as a role-model? Do you think it is important for Black female scholars
to act as mentors to young Black scholars, especially young women in your field of study or
profession?
8. Do you think that black women faculty are represented at an appropriate number at MSU?
9. Do you find yourself being challenged by your students (both white and black) in your classes
you teach? In what ways they are similar and different?
10. How do you feel about your overall experience as a black tenured professor who is female at
MSU?
11. Do you think that your presence at MSU as a black woman professor has made a difference?
Please explain.

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Appendix 2.

The First Annual Report of the Oberlin Collegiate Institute, published in November, 1834,
contains the following paragraphs:
SYSTEM OF EDUCATION
This is comprehensive, including physical as well as intellectual and moral culture, adapted to
both sexes, and all ages and attainments from the common school through a liberal education,
inclusive, ultimately of a theological course. Infant and Primary Schools will be sustained by the
Oberlin Colony in the neighborhood of the Institute. The several departments of instruction in
the Institute are thus arranged: Preparatory or Academic School; Female Department; Teacher’s
Seminary; Collegiate Department, and Theological Department. The Preparatory School is
designed, as its name denotes, to prepare pupils for the higher departments; or for business which
does not require a more extended education.
The Female Department, under the supervision of a lady, will furnish instruction in the useful
branches taught in the best Female Seminaries; and its higher classes will be permitted to enjoy
the privileges of such professorships in the Teacher’s, Collegiate, and Theological Departments
as shall best suit their sex, and prospective employment.…
The Collegiate Department will afford as extensive and thorough a course of instruction as other
colleges; varying from some, by substituting Hebrew and sacred Classics for the most
objectionable pagan authors.…

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The first Catalogue of the Institute, issued in the summer of 1835, contains the following brief
account of the Female Department:
Young ladies of good minds, unblemished morals, and respectable attainments, are received into
this department, and placed under the superintendence of a judicious lady, whose duty it is to
correct their habits and mould the female character. They board at the public table, and perform
the labor of the Stewards Department, together with the washing, ironing, and much of the
sewing for the students. They attend recitations with young gentlemen in all the departments.
Their rooms are entirely separate from those of the other sex, and no calls or visits in their
respective apartments are at all permitted.
The first detailed statement of the content of the course of study followed in the Female
Department appears in the Catalogue of 1838. This statement is reprinted below as Appendix I.
Despite the fact that the Female Department was not of college grade, the opening of that
department in Oberlin marked an innovation in the education of women in that this was the first
instance in which a ladies’ seminary had been established as part of an institution in which the
central department was a regular college.
A second innovation appeared in 1834 or by the following year at the latest: some of the young
women in the Female Department attended classes in the Collegiate Department—the first
instance of the attendance of women in college classes. The fact of this attendance is indicated
by the statement quoted above from the First Annual Report to the effect that the higher classes
of the Female Department will be permitted to enjoy the privileges of such professorships in the

192

Teacher’s, Collegiate, and Theological Departments as shall best suit their sex, and prospective
employment, and by the statement quoted above from the Catalogue of 1835:
They attend recitations with young gentlemen in all the departments.
The first young woman to graduate from the Female Department was Zeruiah Porter, who
finished the course in 1838. She did not receive a degree, and the work she had completed was
not that of a college course: but she was the first woman to graduate from a course carried on in a
ladies’ seminary associated with a college; and she was the first woman to graduate from a
course as part of which she had attended college classes with men.
Meanwhile, a far more significant innovation had taken place.
The Collegiate Department, as has been said, was opened in October, 1834, its students being
men only. Statements of the content of the course of study followed in this department appear in
each of the early catalogues. The first such statement, which appeared in the Catalogue of 1835,
is reprinted below as Appendix II. The corresponding statements in the next two catalogues are
more elaborate. The fourth catalogue, published in September, 1839, ends with a detailed
“Comparative View of the Oberlin and Yale College Courses of Study,” which gives the content
of the Oberlin course in great detail, and establishes its equivalence to the Yale course. This
“Comparative View” is reprinted in full as Appendix III.
On or immediately after Commencement Day, September 6, 1837, four young women—Mary
Hosford, Mary Fletcher Kellogg, Elizabeth Smith Prall, and Caroline Mary Rudd—presented
themselves and were accepted for entrance into the regular course of the Collegiate Department.
They were the first women to matriculate for a regular college course. Their matriculation in
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September, 1837, was the beginning of actual college education for women; and it was, as well,
the beginning of coeducation on the college level. College education for women thus began as
coeducation.

194

Appendix 3.
Executive Order11246 that President Lyndon B. Johnson presented to the United States concerning
Affirmative Action, on Friday, September 24, 1965.

Executive Order 11246
Equal Employment Opportunity

Under and by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the
Constitution and statutes of the United States, it is ordered as follows:

PART I--NONDISCRIMINATION IN GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT
SECTION 101. It is the policy of the Government of the United States to provide equal
opportunity in Federal employment for all qualified persons, to prohibit discrimination in
employment because or race, creed, color, or national origin, and to promote the full realization of
equal employment opportunity through a positive, continuing program in each executive
department and agency. The policy of equal opportunity applies to every aspect of Federal
employment policy and practice.
SEC. 102. The head of each executive department and agency shall establish and maintain a
positive program of equal employment opportunity for all civilian employees and applicants for
employment within his jurisdiction in accordance with the policy set forth in Section 101.

195

SEC. 103. The Civil Service Commission shall supervise and provide leadership and guidance in
the conduct of equal employment opportunity programs for the civilian employees of and
applications for employment within the executive departments and agencies and shall review
agency program accomplishments periodically. In order to facilitate the achievement of a model
program for equal employment opportunity in the Federal service, the Commission may consult
from time to time with such individuals, groups, or organizations as may be of assistance in
improving the Federal program and realizing the objectives of this Part.
SEC. 104. The Civil Service Commission shall provide for the prompt, fair, and impartial
consideration of all complaints of discrimination in Federal employment on the basis of race,
creed, color, or national origin. Procedures for the consideration of complaints shall include at least
one impartial review within the executive department or agency and shall provide for appeal to the
Civil Service Commission.
SEC. 105. The Civil Service Commission shall issue such regulations, orders, and instructions as it
deems necessary and appropriate to carry out its responsibilities under this Part, and the head of
each executive department and agency shall comply with the regulations, orders, and instructions
issued by the Commission under this Part.
PART

II--NONDISCRIMINATION

IN

EMPLOYMENT

BY

GOVERNMENT

CONTRACTORS AND SUBCONTRACTORS
SUBPART A--DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY OF LABOR
SEC. 201. The Secretary of Labor shall be responsible for the administration of Parts II and III of
this Order and shall adopt such rules and regulations and issue such orders as he deems necessary
and appropriate to achieve the purposes thereof.
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SUBPART B--CONTRACTORS' AGREEMENTS
SEC. 202. Except in contracts exempted in accordance with Section 204 of this Order, all
Government contracting agencies shall include in every Government contract hereafter entered into
the following provisions:
"During the performance of this contract, the contractor agrees as follows:
(1) The contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because
of race, creed, color, or national origin. The contractor will take affirmative action to ensure that
applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to
their race, creed, color, or national origin. Such action shall include, but not be limited to the
following: employment, upgrading, demotion, or transfer; recruitment or recruitment advertising;
layoff or termination; rates of pay or other forms of compensation; and selection for training,
including apprenticeship. The contractor agrees to post in conspicuous places, available to
employees and applicants for employment, notices to be provided by the contracting officer setting
forth the provisions of this nondiscrimination clause.
(2) The contractor will, in all solicitations or advertisements for employees placed by or on behalf
of the contractor, state that all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment
without regard to race, creed, color, or national origin.
(3) The contractor will send to each labor union or representative of workers with which he has a
collective bargaining agreement or other contract or understanding, a notice, to be provided by the
agency contracting officer, advising the labor union or workers' representative of the contractor's
commitments under

197

Section 202 of Executive Order No. 11246 of September 24, 1965, and shall post copies of the
notice in conspicuous places available to employees and applicants for employment.
(4) The contractor will comply with all provisions of Executive Order No. 11246 of Sept. 24, 1965,
and of the rules, regulations, and relevant orders of the Secretary of Labor.
(5) The contractor will furnish all information and reports required by Executive Order No. 11246
of September 24, 1965, and by the rules, regulations, and orders of the Secretary of Labor, or
pursuant thereto, and will permit access to his books, records, and accounts by the contracting
agency and the Secretary of Labor for purposes of investigation to ascertain compliance with such
rules, regulations, and orders.
(6) In the event of the contractor's noncompliance with the nondiscrimination clauses of this
contract or with any of such rules, regulations, or orders, this contract may be cancelled, terminated
or suspended in whole or in part and the contractor may be declared ineligible for further
Government contracts in accordance with procedures authorized in Executive Order No. 11246 of
Sept. 24, 1965, and such other sanctions may be imposed and remedies invoked as provided in
Executive Order No. 11246 of September 24, 1965, or by rule, regulation, or order of the Secretary
of Labor, or as otherwise provided by law. (7) The contractor will include the provisions of
Paragraphs (1) through (7) in every subcontract or purchase order unless exempted by rules,
regulations, or orders of the Secretary of Labor issued pursuant to Section 204 of Executive Order
No. 11246 of Sept. 24, 1965, so that such provisions will be binding upon each subcontractor or
vendor. The contractor will take such action with respect to any subcontract or purchase order as
the contracting agency may direct as a means of enforcing such provisions including sanctions for
noncompliance: Provided, however, That in the event the contractor becomes involved in, or is
198

threatened with, litigation with a subcontractor or vendor as a result of such direction by the
contracting agency, the contractor may request the United States to enter into such litigation to
protect the interests of the United States."
SEC. 203. (a) Each contractor having a contract containing the provisions prescribed in Section
202 shall file, and shall cause each of his subcontractors to file, Compliance Reports with the
contracting agency or the Secretary of Labor as may be directed. Compliance Reports shall be filed
within such times and shall contain such information as to the practices, policies, programs, and
employment policies, programs, and employment statistics of the contractor and each
subcontractor, and shall be in such form, as the Secretary of Labor may prescribe.
(b) Bidders or prospective contractors or subcontractors may be required to state whether they have
participated in any previous contract subject to the provisions of this Order, or any preceding
similar Executive order, and in that event to submit, on behalf of themselves and their proposed
subcontractors, Compliance Reports prior to or as an initial part of their bid or negotiation of a
contract.
(c) Whenever the contractor or subcontractor has a collective bargaining agreement or other
contract or understanding with a labor union or an agency referring workers or providing or
supervising apprenticeship or training for such workers, the Compliance Report shall include such
information as to such labor union's or agency's practices and policies affecting compliance as the
Secretary of Labor may prescribe: Provided, That to the extent such information is within the
exclusive possession of a labor union or an agency referring workers or providing or supervising
apprenticeship or training and such labor union or agency shall refuse to furnish such information
to the contractor, the contractor shall so certify to the contracting agency as part of its Compliance
Report and shall set forth what efforts he has made to obtain such information.
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(d) The contracting agency or the Secretary of Labor may direct that any bidder or prospective
contractor or subcontractor shall submit, as part of his Compliance Report, a statement in writing,
signed by an authorized officer or agent on behalf of any labor union or any agency referring
workers or providing or supervising apprenticeship or other training, with which the bidder or
prospective contractor deals, with supporting information, to the effect that the signer's practices
and policies do not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, creed, or national origin, and that the
signer either will affirmatively cooperate in the implementation of the policy and provisions of this
Order or that it consents and agrees that recruitment, employment, and the terms and conditions of
employment under the proposed contract shall be in accordance with the purposes and provisions
of the Order. In the event that the union, or the agency shall refuse to execute such a statement, the
Compliance Report shall so certify and set forth what efforts have been made to secure such a
statement and such additional factual material as the contracting agency or the Secretary of Labor
may require.
SEC. 204. The Secretary of Labor may, when he deems that special circumstances in the national
interest so require, exempt a contracting agency from the requirement of including any or all of the
provisions of Section 202 of this Order in any specific contract, subcontract, or purchase order. The
Secretary of Labor may, by rule or regulation, also exempt certain classes of contracts,
subcontracts, or purchase orders (1) whenever work is to be or has been performed outside the
United States and no recruitment of workers within the limits of the United States is involved; (2)
for standard commercial supplies or raw materials; (3) involving less than specified amounts of
money or specified numbers of workers; or (4) to the extent that they involve subcontracts below a
specified tier. The Secretary of Labor may also provide, by rule, regulation, or order, for the
exemption of facilities of a contractor which are in all respects separate and distinct from activities
200

of the contractor related to the performance of the contract: Provided, That such an exemption will
not interfere with or impede the effectuation of the purposes of this Order: And provided further,
That in the absence of such an exemption all facilities shall be covered by the provisions of this
Order.
SUBPART C--POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY OF LABOR AND THE
CONTRACTING AGENCIES
SEC. 205. Each contracting agency shall be primarily responsible for obtaining compliance with
the rules, regulations, and orders of the Secretary of Labor with respect to contracts entered into by
such agency or its contractors. All contracting agencies shall comply with the rules of the Secretary
of Labor in discharging their primary responsibility for securing compliance with the provisions of
contracts and otherwise with the terms of this Order and of the rules, regulations, and orders of the
Secretary of Labor issued pursuant to this Order. They are directed to cooperate with the Secretary
of Labor and to furnish the Secretary of Labor such information and assistance as he may require
in the performance of his functions under this Order. They are further directed to appoint or
designate, from among the agency's personnel, compliance officers. It shall be the duty of such
officers to seek compliance with the objectives of this Order by conference, conciliation,
mediation, or persuasion.
Sec. 206. (a) The Secretary of Labor may investigate the employment practices of any Government
contractor or subcontractor, or initiate such investigation by the appropriate contracting agency, to
determine whether or not the contractual provisions specified in Section 202 of this Order have
been violated. Such investigation shall be conducted in accordance with the procedures established
by the Secretary of Labor and the investigating agency shall report to the Secretary of Labor any
action taken or recommended.
201

(b) The Secretary of Labor may receive and investigate or cause to be investigated complaints by
employees or prospective employees of a Government contractor or subcontractor which allege
discrimination contrary to the contractual provisions specified in Section 202 of this Order. If this
investigation is conducted for the Secretary of Labor by a contracting agency, that agency shall
report to the Secretary what action has been taken or is recommended with regard to such
complaints.
Sec. 207. The Secretary of Labor shall use his best efforts, directly and through contracting
agencies, other interested Federal, State, and local agencies, contractors, and all other available
instrumentalities to cause any labor union engaged in work under Government contracts or any
agency referring workers or providing or supervising apprenticeship or training for or in the course
of such work to cooperate in the implementation of the purposes of this Order. The Secretary of
Labor shall, in appropriate cases, notify the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the
Department of Justice, or other appropriate Federal agencies whenever it has reason to believe that
the practices of any such labor organization or agency violate Title VI or Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 or other provision of Federal law.
Sec. 208. (a) The Secretary of Labor, or any agency, officer, or employee in the executive branch
of the Government designated by rule, regulation, or order of the Secretary, may hold such
hearings, public or private, as the Secretary may deem advisable for compliance, enforcement, or
educational purposes.
(b) The Secretary of Labor may hold, or cause to be held, hearings in accordance with Subsection
(a) of this Section prior to imposing, ordering, or recommending the imposition of penalties and
sanctions under this Order. No order for debarment of any contractor from further Government

202

contracts under Section 209(a)(6) shall be made without affording the contractor an opportunity for
a hearing.
SUBPART D--SANCTIONS AND PENALTIES
Sec. 209. (a) In accordance with such rules, regulations, or orders as the Secretary of Labor may
issue or adopt, the Secretary or the appropriate contracting agency may:
(1) Publish, or cause to be published, the names of contractors or unions which it has concluded
have complied or have failed to comply with the provisions of this Order or of the rules,
regulations, and orders of the Secretary of Labor.
(2) Recommend to the Department of Justice that, in cases in which there is substantial or material
violation or the threat of substantial or material violation of the contractual provisions set forth in
Section 202 of this Order, appropriate proceedings be brought to enforce those provisions,
including the enjoining, within the limitations of applicable law, of organizations, individuals, or
groups who prevent directly or indirectly, or seek to prevent directly or indirectly, compliance with
the provisions of this Order.
(3) Recommend to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Department of Justice
that appropriate proceedings be instituted under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
(4) Recommend to the Department of Justice that criminal proceedings be brought for the
furnishing of false information to any contracting agency or to the Secretary of Labor as the case
may be.
(5) Cancel, terminate, suspend, or cause to be cancelled, terminated, or suspended, any contract, or
any portion or portions thereof, for failure of the contractor or subcontractor to comply with the

203

non-discrimination provisions of the contract. Contracts may be cancelled, be conditioned upon a
program for future compliance approved by the contracting agency.
(6) Provide that any contracting agency shall refrain from entering into further contracts, or
extensions or other modifications of existing contracts, with any noncomplying contractor, until
such contractor has satisfied the Secretary of Labor that such contractor has established and will
carry out personnel and employment policies in compliance with the provisions of this Order.
(b) Under rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Labor, each contracting agency shall
make reasonable efforts within a reasonable time limitation to secure compliance with the contract
provisions of this Order by methods of conference, conciliation, mediation, and persuasion before
proceedings shall be instituted under Subsection (a)(2) of this Section, or before a contract shall be
cancelled or terminated in whole or in part under Subsection (a)(5) of this Section for failure of a
contractor or subcontractor to comply with the contract provisions of this Order.
Sec. 210. Any contracting agency taking any action authorized by this Subpart, whether on its own
motion, or as directed by the Secretary of Labor, or under the rules and regulations of the
Secretary, shall promptly notify the Secretary of such action. Whenever the Secretary of Labor
makes a determination under this Section, he shall promptly notify the appropriate contracting
agency of the action recommended. The agency shall take such action and shall report the results
thereof to the Secretary of Labor within such time as the Secretary shall specify.
Sec. 211. If the Secretary shall so direct, contracting agencies shall not enter into contracts with
any bidder or prospective contractor unless the bidder or prospective contractor has satisfactorily
complied with the provisions of this Order or submits a program for compliance acceptable to the
Secretary of Labor or, if the Secretary so authorizes, to the contracting agency.
204

Sec. 212. Whenever a contracting agency cancels or terminates a contract, or whenever a
contractor has been debarred from further Government contracts, under Section 209(a)(6) because
of noncompliance with the contract provisions with regard to nondiscrimination, the Secretary of
Labor, or the contracting agency involved, shall promptly notify the Comptroller General of the
United States. Any such debarment may be rescinded by the Secretary of Labor or by the
contracting agency which imposed the sanction.
SUBPART E--CERTIFICATES OF MERIT
Sec. 213. The Secretary of Labor may provide for issuance of a United States Government
Certificate of Merit to employers or labor unions, or other agencies which are or may hereafter be
engaged in work under Government contracts, if the Secretary is satisfied that the personnel and
employment practices of the employer, or that the personnel, training, apprenticeship, membership,
grievance and representation, upgrading, and other practices and policies of the labor union or
other agency conform to the purposes and provisions of this Order.
Sec. 214. Any Certificate of Merit may at any time be suspended or revoked by the Secretary of
Labor if the holder thereof, in the judgment of the Secretary, has failed to comply with the
provisions of this Order.
Sec. 215. The Secretary of Labor may provide for the exemption of any employer, labor union, or
other agency from any reporting requirements imposed under or pursuant to this Order if such
employer, labor union, or other agency has been awarded a Certificate of Merit which has not been
suspended or revoked.
Part III--Nondiscrimination Provisions in Federally Assisted Construction Contracts Sec. 301.
Each executive department and agency which administers a program involving Federal financial
205

assistance shall require as a condition for the approval of any grant, contract, loan, insurance, or
guarantee thereunder, which may involve a construction contract, that the applicant for Federal
assistance undertake and agree to incorporate, or cause to be incorporated, into all construction
contracts paid for in whole or in part with funds obtained from the Federal Government or
borrowed on the credit of the Federal Government pursuant to such grant, contract, loan, insurance,
or guarantee, or undertaken pursuant to any Federal program involving such grant, contract, loan,
insurance, or guarantee, the provisions prescribed for Government contracts by Section 202 of this
Order or such modification thereof, preserving in substance the contractor's obligations thereunder,
as may be approved by the Secretary of Labor, together with such additional provisions as the
Secretary deems appropriate to establish and protect the interest of the United States in the
enforcement of those obligations. Each such applicant shall also undertake and agree (1) to assist
and cooperate actively with the administering department or agency and the Secretary of Labor in
obtaining the compliance of contractors and subcontractors with those contract provisions and with
the rules, regulations, and relevant orders of the Secretary, (2) to obtain and to furnish to the
administering department or agency and to the Secretary of Labor such information as they may
require for the supervision of such compliance, (3) to carry out sanctions and penalties for violation
of such obligations imposed upon contractors and subcontractors by the Secretary of Labor or the
administering department or agency pursuant to Part II, Subpart D, of this Order, and (4) to refrain
from entering into any contract subject to this Order, or extension or other modification of such a
contract with a contractor debarred from Government contracts under Part II, Subpart D, of this
Order.

206

Sec. 302. (a) "Construction contract" as used in this Order means any contract for the construction,
rehabilitation, alteration, conversion, extension, or repair of buildings, highways, or other
improvements to real property.
(b) The provisions of Part II of this Order shall apply to such construction contracts, and for
purposes of such application the administering department or agency shall be considered the
contracting agency referred to therein.
(c) The term "applicant" as used in this Order means an applicant for Federal assistance or, as
determined by agency regulation, other program participant, with respect to whom an application
for any grant, contract, loan, insurance, or guarantee is not finally acted upon prior to the effective
date of this Part, and it includes such an applicant after he becomes a recipient of such Federal
assistance.
Sec. 303. (a) Each administering department and agency shall be responsible for obtaining the
compliance of such applicants with their undertakings under this Order. Each administering
department and agency is directed to cooperate with the Secretary of Labor, and to furnish the
Secretary such information and assistance as he may require in the performance of his functions
under this Order.
(b) In the event an applicant fails and refuses to comply with his undertakings, the administering
department or agency may take any or all of the following actions: (1) cancel, terminate, or
suspend in whole or in part the agreement, contract, or other arrangement with such applicant with
respect to which the failure and refusal occurred; (2) refrain from extending any further assistance
to the applicant under the program with respect to which the failure or refusal occurred until
satisfactory assurance of future compliance has been received from such applicant; and (3) refer
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the case to the Department of Justice for appropriate legal proceedings. (c) Any action with respect
to an applicant pursuant to Subsection (b) shall be taken in conformity with Section 602 of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (and the regulations of the administering department or agency issued
thereunder), to the extent applicable. In no case shall action be taken with respect to an applicant
pursuant to Clause (1) or (2) of Subsection (b) without notice and opportunity for hearing before
the administering department or agency.
Sec. 304. Any executive department or agency which imposes by rule, regulation, or order
requirements of nondiscrimination in employment, other than requirements imposed pursuant to
this Order, may delegate to the Secretary of Labor by agreement such responsibilities with respect
to compliance standards, reports, and procedures as would tend to bring the administration of such
requirements into conformity with the administration of requirements imposed under this Order:
Provided, That actions to effect compliance by recipients of Federal financial assistance with
requirements imposed pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 shall be taken in
conformity with the procedures and limitations prescribed in Section 602 thereof and the
regulations of the administering department or agency issued thereunder.
Part IV--Miscellaneous
Sec. 401. The Secretary of Labor may delegate to any officer, agency, or employee in the
Executive branch of the Government, any function or duty of the Secretary under Parts II and III of
this Order, except authority to promulgate rules and regulations of a general nature.
Sec. 402. The Secretary of Labor shall provide administrative support for the execution of the
program known as the "Plans for Progress."

208

Sec. 403. (a) Executive Orders Nos. 10590 (January 19, 1955), 10722 (August 5, 1957), 10925
(March 6, 1961), 11114 (June 22, 1963), and 11162 (July 28, 1964), are hereby superseded and the
President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity established by Executive Order No.
10925 is hereby abolished. All records and property in the custody of the Committee shall be
transferred to the Civil Service Commission and the Secretary of Labor, as appropriate.
(b) Nothing in this Order shall be deemed to relieve any person of any obligation assumed or
imposed under or pursuant to any Executive Order superseded by this Order. All rules, regulations,
orders, instructions, designations, and other directives issued by the President's Committee on
Equal Employment Opportunity and those issued by the heads of various departments or agencies
under or pursuant to any of the Executive orders superseded by this Order, shall, to the extent that
they are not inconsistent with this Order, remain in full force and effect unless and until revoked or
superseded by appropriate authority. References in such directives to provisions of the superseded
orders shall be deemed to be references to the comparable provisions of this Order.
Sec. 404. The General Services Administration shall take appropriate action to revise the standard
Government contract forms to accord with the provisions of this Order and of the rules and
regulations of the Secretary of Labor.
Sec. 405. This Order shall become effective thirty days after the date of this Order.
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
THE WHITE HOUSE,
September 24, 1965.

209

Appendix 4.
PRESENTATION TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN
PERTAINING TO
EMPLOYMENT OF BLACK WOMEN AT MICHGIAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Presented by Josephine Wharton
February 25, 1972
President Clifton R. Wharton and Members of the Board of Trustees:
At the last Board of Trustees' meeting on November 18, 1971, black women presented a
statement regarding the status of black women employees, which included Inequities in
employment of faculty, administrative-professional and clericaltechnical personnel of Michigan
State University.
You will recall I that of the seven (7) black females who have attained faculty status, the
highest ranking female is an associate professor. With regard to the administrative-professional
employees, which include ten (10) levels of appointment, all black females are employed at Levels
I to 4. In the clericaltechnical staff, which includes twelve (12) levels of employment, no black
female is employed in any of the three highest levels. Eighty-five (85) percent of these women are
at the lower half of the scale.
The Board was charged to rectify these inequities at all levels of employment by;
1. The promotion of black females to positions of authority, i.e., administrative, academic and
supervisory;
2. The recruitment of black women in all colleges and units of the University , not limited to the
traditional areas of female employment;
3. The advancement of more black women into the tenure system;
4. The conferring of tenure to black women. Following that meeting, additional research has
disclosed a history of inequities involving black women at this University since Its foundation.
210

This research has Involved careful review, related conferences, and many personal interviews with
present and former employees of the University .
The Black Women Employees Association of Michigan State University, expanding its
base to include all black women, submits the following information:
Historically.
1. Although the Michigan Legislature established the State Agricultural School on February 12,
1855, and operations of that school began May 13, 1657, it was not until 1923 --66 years later -that
the first black woman was hired at this state-supported institution, and then as a housekeeper.
2. A black woman attained academic status 91 years later In 1948 when appointed as a technician.
However, it took 110 years for a black woman to attain faculty or academic status as assistant
instructor in 1967.
3. In 1956, this institution's name was changed to Michigan State University of Agriculture and
Applied Science. That year, the first clerical black woman employee was hired --99 years after
operations began.
4. Two years later, Michigan State University's first black stenographer began her duties. Under
the supervision of this employee, three black female students were hired on a part-time basis as typists in 1959.
5. The first black woman administrative-professional employee of Michigan State University
received her appointment in 1968 as a result of-the establishment of a program for minorities. Prior
to that time, there is no record of a black woman either having been considered or recommended
for such employment within any unit of the University.

211

6. In September of 1969, black women began appearing in higher rank than instructor. Michigan
State University appointed a black woman physician as its first black female assistant professor
that year.
7. An associate professor was hired in August of 1970 and, today, is yet the only black female
associate professor. Also in that year, a black woman was named an assistant director in the
Financial Aids Office but was later declassified to financial aids counselor. A black woman with a
Master's degree in Counseling was also employed in 1970 as an academic advisor but on a parttime temporary basis, and without fringe benefits.
8. In 1971 two black women librarians were hired by the University , one of whom is classified as
a bibliographer. Also that year, Michigan State upgraded one of its black women to the position of
food service manager In one of the 22 cafeterias on campus.
9. By August of 1971, there was a total of 4,013 female employees on campus; however, only 279
of that total were black women. Black women represented 13 percent of the female labor payroll
employees, 4.2 percent of the clerical-technical females, 3.8 percent of the administrativeprofessional women, and only 1.9 percent of the female faculty and academic staff. It is noted that
the higher the rank of the employees, the lower the percentage of representation by black women at
Michigan State University .
10. To date, February 25, 1972, the total number of black women Identified as employees of this
University Is 329. Twenty-one (21) are holding rank above the clerical-technical level, i.e., seven
are faculty, seven are academic staff members, and seven are adrninistrative-professionals. The
clerical -technical salary payroll Includes 91 black women; the labor payroll, 217. In the labor

212

payroll category which has the largest number of black female employees -only six (6) of these
black women are In supervisory positions.
11. Also noted Is the fact that out of approximately 220 employment units at the University, only
60 of these units employ black women, or approximately one-fourth of the units. The total number
of food and building units on campus is 86, with only 30, or approximately one-third, employing
black women.
Mobility of b lack women in the labor force of Michigan State University , as far as
changes in job classifications and salary promotions within the classifications, is at a very low rate,
as indicated by the records of black women employees presently employed and those who have
already retired.
Our research has revealed some very questionable employment and promotional practices
at this land-grant, state-supported institution. Why is it that a capable. qualified black woman with
a background in business training was hired in 1943 as a housekeeper in one of the dormitories and
retired in 1970, 27 years later, still employed at that same level? Why is it that a black woman
with a Bachelor of Science degree in Police Administration could only get a part-time position as a
clerk in the library? How much education or qualifications must a black woman have?
Black women are tired of being overqualified, underemployed, underpaid and excluded
from positions with promotional opportunities. All forms of discrimination at this University
against black women must cease!
The Black Women Employees of Michigan State University ,--- examples of a group
oppressed by racial discrimination as well as sex discrimination --hereby present to you the
213

indisputable facts as they pertain to University employment to date. There is absolutely no reason
for this University to maintain this status quo. The only alternative is to correct these inequities and
effect progressive change for the benefit of the entire University .When the minority is benefited,
the majority also becomes a beneficiary .
The creation of a system of inequities involves carefully-calculated, deliberate and
contributory efforts on the part of those in positions of decision making and policy implementation.
Therefore, the establishment of an effective and Stable system to provide and maintain a climate of
equity in employment throughtout the University is the responsibility of you, the Goverming Board
of Michigan State University.

Furthermore, to safeguard the present and future rights of black women employees and to promote
equal employment of black women at Michigan State University, we submit the following
additional recommendations:

1.

Create within the total personnel unit of the University an administrative position with
adequate supportive staff and sufficient budget. This position should be filled by a black
woman with responsibility for the establishment and implementation of policies involving
recruitment, upgrading and promotion of black personnel at all levels of employment.
Priority and special attention should be given to providing top level positions, i.e.,
administrative, managerial and supervisory

214

2.

Provide a staff position to be filled by a black woman equipped to confer with other
black women employees and respond to their specific needs and problems,

3.

Establish key administrative positions for black females in the academic units and
central administration of the University.

4.

Appoint a black woman as an associate or assistant dean In the office of the Vice President
for Student Affairs to provide access to the central decision-making process by minority
students. Also, employ black females in areas of administration,student governance,
judiciaries, residence halls and graduate programs of that office.

5.

Provide black women employee representation in residence halls.

6.

Expand the present format for distribution of Information regarding job openings

and

promotional opportunities at Michigan State University to include all levels of
employment, with such information distributed to all departments, units and organizations
within the University .
7.

Establish in-service training opportunities for black women of the University at all levels
of employment under the auspices of a black coordinator to capitalize on personal
qualifications not being utilized; and to develop skills to enhance the economic life styles
of these employees and their families. These in-service training programs, which ultimately
would be beneficial to the University itself, should be developed and provided for
employees by appropriate departments and units of the University. Such in-service training
programs provide that:

215

a.

The employee be promoted first and then be given on-the-job training, rather than
I in-service training for some future job which may never materialize.

b.

Neither the prospective position nor on-the-job training be restricted by age.

c.

Employees being trained for new on-the-job positions be paid the regular rate of pay for that position.

8.

Provide programs for supervisors and managers of the University employment units for
the purpose of sensitivity and the creation of better human relations throughout the
University as it particularly pertains to the employment of black women.

At this time we again charge you, Members of the Board of Trustees of this State institution of
higher learning, to specifically designate the necessary percentile of new positions to black women
to effectively increase the overall percentage of black women to a minimum of 12 percent at all
levels of employment.

Respectfully
BLACK WOMEN EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION
OF MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

attachment

216

Table 2.
Black Women Faculty 1968 - 2009
Nwando Achebe
Debreena L. Agbenyiga
Margaret I. Aguwa
Brenda Alston-Mills
Patricia Barnes-McConnell
Linda S. Beard
Alfiee M. Breland
Frankie J. Brown
Nicole Buchanan
Renee B. Canady
Dorinda J. Carter
Marquita Chamblee
Norma J. Champion
Lisa D. Cook
Bonita Pope Curry
Jualynne E. Dodson
Lachandra M. Donnell
Dorinda J. Carter
Marquita Chamblee
Norma J. Champion

Lachandra M. Donnell
Kristie L. Dotson
Francesca Dwamena
Rita K. Edozie
Patricia A. Edwards
Kimberly M. Ellis
Ihuoma U. Eneli
Eunice F. Foster
Margaret Gamble
Jeanette Gassaway
Joyce M. Grant
Sonya Gunnings-Moton
Ruth Simms Hamilton
Zaje Alem-Tsige Harrell
Stephanie L. Heard
Patricia Jackson Herring
Darlene Clark Hine
Margo S. Holland
Carrie B. Jackson
Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore

Teresa C. Jones
Karen D. King
Wilma King
Linda C. Lane
Rhea E. Lathan
Dorothy Lawshe
Barbara Ross Lee
Wanda D. Lipscomb
Reitumetse O. Mabokela
Lynn N. Makau
Elaine Mason
Harriette P. McAdoo
Laura R. McNeal
Julia R. Miller
Robin L. Miller
Alesia F. Montgomery
Beronda L. Montgomery-Kaguri
Khadidatou Ndiaye
Ethel M. Nettles
Adesuwa Olomu

Coretta C. Patterson
Ruby L. Perry
L. Eudora Pettigrew
Daina Ramey Berry
Gloria T. Randle
Elna N. Saah
Clarissa Shavers
Isis H. Settles
Gloria Smith
Yevonne R. Smith
Geneva Smitherman
Robbie J. Stewart
Ida J. Stockman
Costellia Hayes Talley
Gladys M. Thomas
June M. Thomas
Denise E. Troutman
Lorraine Weatherspoon
Jennifer D. Williams
Karen P. Williams

Lisa D. Cook

Deborah J. Johnson

Rene Stewart O’Neal

Michelle Williams

Bonita Pope Curry

Georgia A. Johnson

Lynette Y. Overby

Susan M. Williams

Jualynne E. Dodson

Dorothy Harper Jones

Georgia Padonu

Lauren S. Young

217

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Alfred, Mary Vianna. “Outsiders-within: The Professional Development History of Black
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Stone, Carolyn Diane. “A Study of Black Women Professors and the Multiple Factors That
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Ph.D. Dissertation: Indiana University, 2003. 195 p.

Newspapers
Emery, Sarah M. “‘U’ Lands Portion of Grant for African American Studies.”The State News, 22
October 2000.
Gaines, Craig. “’U’ Faces Race Issues Throughout History.” The State News, 1 December 1999.
Harbison, Sarah. “Group’s First Black Leader From MSU.” The State News, 30 January 2007.
Jarman, Josh. “Awards Recognize Grad Students, Late MSU Prof.” The State News, 1 February
2006.
May, Tara. “Program to Study Black Experience.” The State News, 27 August 2002.
May, Tara.“‘U’ joined nation in civil rights activism.” The State News, 18 January 2002.
Mcevilly, Sarah. “300 Gather to Remember Professor.”The State News, 27 April 2004.
Planas, Antonio. “History Professor Wins Statewide Honor.” The State News, 30 May 2002.
Terlep, Sharon. “Minority Report: After A Decade, Black Faculty Numbers Remain
Unchanged.” Lansing State Journal, 3 August 2003.
Vanhulle, Lindsay. “MSU ‘Family’ Gathers to Celebrate Past, Progress.” The State News, 14
February 2005.

Internet
229

“Office of Affirmative Action, Compliance and Monitoring: 2004-2005 Annual Data Report”
http://www.inclusion.msu.edu/files_diversity/2005_Data_Report1.pdf. Accessed 2008.
“Office of Affirmative Action, Compliance and Monitoring: 2005-2006 Annual Report”
http://www.inclusion.msu.edu/files_diversity/2006_Data_report.pdf. Accessed 2008.
The African-American Presence at MSU: Pioneers, Groundbreakers, and Leaders, 1900-1970,
http://www.archives.msu.edu/africanpresence.htm. Accessed 2006.

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