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MARTIN KELSO N Martin Luther Kilson Jr. was born on 14 February 1931 in East Rutherford, New Jersey an d educate d i n a smal l tow n i n Pennsylvania . H e entere d Lincoln University (Pennsylvania ) in 1949, and became class valedictorian, receiving his B.A. magna cum laude in 1953. At Harvard he earned an M.A. in 195 8 and a Ph.D. in political science the next year. H e started teachin g at Harvar d a s lecture r i n governmen t i n 1962 , was assistant professo r o f government, 1964-68 , and was appointed professor o f government in 1969. He was named t o th e Frank G . Thomson chai r i n 1988 . I n 197 0 he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Black Academ y o f Ar t an d Letters , an d ha s serve d a s consultan t t o th e Fulbright exchange program and the Ford Foundation. Hi s writings cover the fields of political development, American urban politics, Black African politics, and Afro-American intellectua l patterns. H e is without doubt th e Harvard faculty's champion writer of letters-to-the-editor . Harvard an d th e Small-Towne r I cam e t o Harvar d firs t a s a graduate studen t (1953-1959) , returne d in 1961—afte r a yea r an d a hal f researchin g i n Wes t Africa—a s a Research Fello w a t th e Cente r fo r Internationa l Affairs , starte d teaching in 196 2 as a Lecturer i n Government an d later (1964-1968 ) as Assistant Professor o f Government, an d became tenured professo r in 196 9 (the first Afro-American t o teach a s full professor i n Harvar d College). Durin g th e 1950 s an d wel l int o th e 1960 s th e numbe r o f Afro-American student s her e wa s neve r enoug h t o constitut e a critical-mass—a self-conscious stratum capable of generating claims of 492 Martin Kilson its ow n withi n th e wide r Harvar d community . Bu t thi s woul d al l change with a vengeance by the late 1960 s and early 1970s. B y 1970 some 10 % of th e 11,17 6 freshme n offere d admissio n t o th e fifteen elite college s i n th e Eas t wer e Black . Yale' s freshma n class , fo r example, was 12% Black; Princeton's 16%; Barnard's 22%; Radcliffe's 17%; and Harvard's 10%. Thi s enormous infusion of Blacks into the White world of elite WAS P colleges occurred, moreover, simultane ously wit h th e politica l an d ideologica l upheava l i n th e civi l right s movement tha t eventuall y brok e th e bac k o f legalize d racis m i n American life , Sout h an d North , an d lai d th e basi s fo r th e mor e protracted struggl e t o smas h behavioral racis m i n American institu tions (in firms, schools, colleges, government, etc.) and in individuals' actions. This then is the raw boundary-of-fact tha t delineates my entry to Harvard i n th e earl y 1950 s an d m y professiona l caree r her e since . What shaped my character and thus much of my professional identit y and ethni c identit y prio r t o m y lon g Harvar d sojour n i s m y small towner background—a background that clearly influenced so much of how I have conducte d m y Harvard journey. I n general , America n small-towners differ fro m American big-towners, especially in regard to bein g les s give n t o fashio n an d mor e circumspec t towar d establishment-pretenders, whether old ones like Harvard or new ones like th e neo-conservativ e o r Reaganit e intellectual s an d elites . O f course, small-towners hav e no monopoly on this attribute; some bigtowners posses s i t too—thoug h les s frequently—an d thos e wh o...

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