Black Liberation 1969 Archive

Pioneers of Black Studies

Black Studies Oral History Session 3/18/1995

This interview was conducted at the Black Cultural Center, March 18, 1995 on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of that hard fought for and cherished social space. Newly arrived faculty Yvonne Chireau (Religion) and Timothy Burke (History) interviewed senior faculty Kathryn Morgan (History), Charles “Chuck” James (English) two of the first few black faculty to be hired by Swarthmore College and Peter Schmidt (English) who had also worked in service to the Black Studies Program. This wide ranging free and open conversation reveals the origin story of the Black Studies Program and offers important details and insights into faculty members’ ongoing often strenuous efforts to sustain and to grow the program at Swarthmore College.

Pioneers of Black Studies