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EILEEN SOUTHER N Eileen Jackso n Souther n wa s born o n 1 9 February 192 0 in Minneapolis , Minnesota. Sh e attende d publi c school s i n severa l midwester n cities , completing high school in Chicago. Scholarship s enabled her to attend the University of Chicago, where she earned a B.A. in 1940 and M.A i n 1941. Owing to institutional racism and discrimination in northern colleges at that time, she was obliged to seek employment at historically black institutions in th e South , where fro m 194 1 to 195 1 she taugh t a t Prairi e Vie w Stat e College, Southern University, Alcorn College, and Claflin University while also concertizing as a pianist. Decidin g to curtail performing, she moved to New York City in 1951, and embarked on graduate work at New York University , financing her studies by teaching in the public schools. I n 1961 she became the first black recipient of a Ph.D. in musicology from an American institution. Sh e began teaching at Brooklyn College in 1960, transferring in 1968 to York College, where she set up and headed the music program until 1975. Sh e then cam e to Harvard, fro m whic h she retired a s Professor o f Afro-American Studie s and of Music at the end of 1986. She ha s publishe d widel y i n th e area s o f Renaissanc e an d Afro American music. He r Music of BlackAmericans:A History (1971; 1983) and Biographical Dictionary of Afro-Americanand African Musicians (1982) have become standard references. I n 1973 she and her husband Joseph founde d the scholarly journal The Black Perspective in Music,which they edited until it suspended publication in 1990. A Pioneer : Black an d Femal e In 197 5 I becam e th e firs t blac k woma n t o b e appointe d a ful l professor with tenure at Harvard. M y position on the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), a joint-professorship i n the departments of Afro - 500 Eileen Southern American Studies and Music, brought me immediate membership into two highly select, though unorganized groups. Th e first,whic h might be designated the "black presence" on FAS, consisted of four males, one of whom was a member of Afro-American Studies. Th e second group, which migh t b e calle d th e "femal e presence " on FAS , was composed of a dozen or so women, of whom two were in the Music Department. Neithe r group paid much attention tomy presence as a new member; indeed, the attitude of the black men (including two or three administrators) generally was that of indifference, shifting at times t o outrigh t hostility . Considerin g tha t FA S ha d abou t 35 0 tenured professors in 1975-76, it is obvious that Harvard hardly was committed to attracting minorities to its faculties. An d to me, as a newcomer, it seemed that the minorities already at Harvard did not welcome the idea of being joined by others. I t was as if they were reluctant t o lose their status of being "the only one." I t should be observed that while the number of tenured women on Harvard's FAS has increased dramatically during the pas t decade, ther e were only three tenured black professors, all males, when I retired in 1986. It did not help matters thatmy first appointment at Harvard was to chair the highly controversial Afro-American Studies Department. I foun d th e student s an d junior facult y o f th e Departmen t t o b e almost paranoid in their position against "outsiders"—that is, those at Harvard who disapproved of the Afro-American Studies program and were committed to its dissolution. A s a lecturer in the Department in 1974-75 and the Fall term of 1975,1 had been vaguely aware of the controversy, but had not been involved. Th e concentrators and junior faculty fough t m e bitterly fro m th e beginning ; the y wanted Ewart Guinier [33] to continue as chairman, even though his retirement was imminent. M y first hard decision was to defermy appointment until January 1976 , when Guinier would take a sabbatical leave prior to beginning the retirement process, because I felt there would be too much tension in the...

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