While President Emerita Johnnetta B. Cole is credited with propelling Spelman College (the oldest historically Black womens' college) to national prominence, little is generally known about the strong academic foundation and legacy she inherited. Contrary to popular belief, the first four presidents of Spelman (including its two co-founders) were White women who led the early development of the College, armed with the belief that former slaves and free Black women should and could receive a college-level education. This book presents the history of Spelman's foundation through the tenure of its fourth president, Florence M. Read, which ended in 1953. This compelling story is brought up to date by the contributions of Spelman's current president, Beverly Daniel Tatum, and by Johnnetta B. Cole.The book chronicles how the vision each of these women presidents, and their response to changing social forces, both profoundly shaped Spelman's curriculum and influenced the lives and minds of thousands of young Black women. The authors trace the evolution of Spelman from its beginning-when the founders, aware of the limited occupations open to its graduates, strove to uplift the Black race by providing an academic education to disenfranchised Black women while also providing training for available careers--to the fifties when the college became an exemplar of liberal arts education in the South.This book fills a void in the history of Black women in higher education. It will appeal to a wide readership interested in women's studies, Black history and the history of higher education in general.

After the pioneers, the second generation of African American anthropologists trained in the late 1950s and 1960s. Expected to study their own or similar cultures, these scholars often focused on the African diaspora but in some cases they also ranged further afield both geographically and intellectually. Yet their work remains largely unknown to colleagues and students. This volume collects intellectual biographies of fifteen accomplished African American anthropologists of the era. The authors explore the scholars' diverse backgrounds and interests and look at their groundbreaking methodologies, ethnographies, and theories. They also place their subjects within their tumultuous times, when antiracism and anticolonialism transformed the field and the emergence of ideas around racial vindication brought forth new worldviews. Scholars profiled: George Clement Bond, Johnnetta B. Cole, James Lowell Gibbs Jr., Vera Mae Green, John Langston Gwaltney, Ira E. Harrison, Delmos Jones, Diane K. Lewis, Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, Oliver Osborne, Anselme Remy, William Alfred Shack, Audrey Smedley, Niara Sudarkasa, and Charles Preston Warren II

After the pioneers, the second generation of African American anthropologists trained in the late 1950s and 1960s. Expected to study their own or similar cultures, these scholars often focused on the African diaspora but in some cases they also ranged further afield both geographically and intellectually. Yet their work remains largely unknown to colleagues and students. This volume collects intellectual biographies of fifteen accomplished African American anthropologists of the era. The authors explore the scholars' diverse backgrounds and interests and look at their groundbreaking methodologies, ethnographies, and theories. They also place their subjects within their tumultuous times, when antiracism and anticolonialism transformed the field and the emergence of ideas around racial vindication brought forth new worldviews. Scholars profiled: George Clement Bond, Johnnetta B. Cole, James Lowell Gibbs Jr., Vera Mae Green, John Langston Gwaltney, Ira E. Harrison, Delmos Jones, Diane K. Lewis, Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, Oliver Osborne, Anselme Remy, William Alfred Shack, Audrey Smedley, Niara Sudarkasa, and Charles Preston Warren II

Dr. Cole speaks directly to her younger sisters--America's Black women--and calls out to them to take or active role, as she is doing, to help make their world a better place.