Black Studies in the University

“A testament to the triumph of reason—of the open, honest, thoughtful exchange of beliefs and ideas—even in the face of fraught challenges arising from the most strident and urgent political forces.”—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., from the Foreword“A reminder of the power and importance of students and faculty, who together forwarded the university’s mission to better the world through the very best research, scholarship, and teaching for the benefit of future generations.”—Farah Jasmine Griffin, from the Introduction

Armstead L. Robinson (1947–1995) was a distinguished scholar of slavery and the collapse of the confederacy. In 1981 he founded the Carter G. Woodson Institute for Afro-American and African Studies at the University of Virginia, which he directed until his death.

Craig C. Foster is a Yale Class of 1969 graduate. He is a member of the Ogilvie, Robinson, and DeChabert Advisory Board at Yale’s Afro-American Cultural Center.

Donald H. Ogilvie (d. 2003) was a Yale Class of 1968 graduate and a community leader in New Haven, remembered for his part in establishing Yale’s Black Studies Department and founding the Afro-American Cultural Center.

Ralph C. Dawson, a member of the Yale Class of 1971, was a student activist and campus leader instrumental in the establishment of Yale’s African-American Studies Major and its Afro-American Cultural Center. He was a leader of the Black Student Alliance at Yale.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. He is a Yale Class of 1973 graduate and was a leader in Yale’s Black Student Alliance.

Farah Jasmine Griffin is the William B. Ransford Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University.