Melville J. Herskovits and the Racial Politics of Knowledge

Acknowledgments

xv Acknowledgments I t is a pleasure to thank the women and men who provided assistance in the research and writing of this book. In my research, I had the good fortune to work with archivists at the Northwestern University Archives, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Rockefeller Archive Center, the Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the Ford Foundation Archives, the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, the Library of Congress, and the National Archives. Without exception, these archivists provided expert and gracious assistance. The summer I spent in the Northwestern University Archives was a successful one in large part due to the assistance of University Archivist Patrick Quinn and his sta√. Former curator of the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies Hans Panofsky provided me with important insights into Herskovits’s career. The present curator, David Easterbrook , directed me to some key documents in his own files and other collections at the library. Since my visit to Northwestern, Janet Olson, Assistant University Archivist, has graciously responded to my requests for copies of correspondence from the Herskovits Papers that I had previously overlooked. The Rockefeller Archive Center (rac) granted me a fellowship to conduct research there. Anke Voss-Hubbard of the rac was very helpful in advising me about the procedures for applying for the fellowship. Upon my arrival at the rac, she directed me to numerous collections that related to Herskovits and the foundations’ activities in black studies and African studies. I would like to thank the members of my dissertation committee at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—James Leloudis, Kenneth Janken, Walter Jackson, Reginald Hildebrand, and Joel Williamson—for Acknowledgments xvi their encouragement and support of an earlier version of this work. Walter Jackson suggested the topic and loaned me some of his own research materials, including tape recordings of interviews he conducted with colleagues of Herskovits more than twenty years ago. My adviser, James Leloudis, carefully read numerous drafts of each chapter. His meticulous editing and incisive critique of the style and substance of those drafts immeasurably improved this work. The term ‘‘adviser’’ inadequately describes his role. It was my good fortune that Gary Dunham, acquisitions manager of the University of Nebraska Press, learned of this project, supported it, and helped shepherd it through to completion. Regna Darnell and Stephen Murray, series editors of the Critical Studies in the History of Anthropology Series for the University of Nebraska Press, and an anonymous reader provided extensive comments and suggestions based on their careful readings of the manuscript. Their advice has helped me to strengthen this work in several areas. I have been fortunate to have supportive colleagues at North Carolina Central University (nccu), where I received my M.A. and presently teach in the history department. I thank Freddie Parker, Carlton Wilson, Lydia Lindsey, Lolita Gutiérrez Brockington, J. Ranaldo Lawson, Sylvia Jacobs, and Jim Harper for their interest, their encouragement, and their friendship. Fourteen years ago, Percy Murray welcomed me to the graduate program and, as my master’s thesis adviser and teacher, smoothed my transition to the world of historical research and study after a decade in the business world. His friendship has been one of the great benefits of my decision to embark on a career as a historian. My greatest debt is to my wife, Barbara Barr. She has lived with this work for the past seven years, providing just what I needed along the way. When I needed a sounding board, she listened. When I needed her intellectual input, she provided keen insights. When I needed emotional support, she comforted me. My connection with Barbara has also provided me with another level of support, that of her siblings and her parents, Dorothy and Dave. Without exception, they expressed interest and o√ered encouragement for this project. I am sorry that Dave did not live to see this book, about which he always asked. Barbara’s sister, Nancy Barr, went beyond the call of familial duty by providing her expertise in editing the introduction. My own family also supported and sustained me during the writing of Acknowledgments xvii this book. I thank my brothers, Ira and Alan, for their interest. My sister, Susan, the first member of my family to attain a Ph.D., provided an example of the benefits of discipline and persistence. She also consistently encouraged me. I thank my father...