INTRODUCTION: BLACKS AND THE RACE QUESTION AT HARVARD

RANDALL KENNED Y

The history of blacks at Harvard mirrors, for better or for worse, the history o f black s i n th e Unite d States . Harvard , too , ha s been in - delibly scarred b y slavery, exclusion, segregation, an d other form s o f racist oppression. A t the same time, the nation's oldest university has also supported an d allowe d itsel f t o b e influence d b y th e variou s reform movements that have dramatically changed the nature of race relations acros s th e nation . Th e stor y o f black s a t Harvar d i s thus inspiring but painful, instructive but ambiguous—a paradoxical episode in the most vexing controversy of American life: "th e race question." The evolution of the race question at Harvard is tellingly displayed by the documents tha t hav e been collecte d her e b y Werner Sollors , Caldwell Titcomb, and Thomas A. Underwood. Tw o salient character- istics distinguis h th e collection . Th e firs t i s th e ric h variet y o f it s sources. Include d in this documentary history are scholarly overviews, poems, short stories , speeches, well-known memoir s b y the famous , previously unpublishe d memoir s b y th e lesse r known , newspape r accounts, letters, officia l paper s o f th e university , an d transcript s o f debates. Th e editors bring to their compilation persons as diverse as Booker T Washington , Monroe Trotter, William Hastie, Malcolm X, and Muriel Snowden to convey the complex and various ways in which Harvard has affected th e thinking of and the ways, in turn, in which African American s have influenced th e traditions of Harvard and Radcliffe. Notabl e among the contributors are significant figures i n African-American letters : Philli s Wheatley , Alai n Locke , Sterling Brown , Counte e Cullen , Marit a Bonner , Jame s Ala n McPherson, and Andrea Lee. Equall y salient are some of the nation's xviii Introduction leading historians : W.E.B . D u Bois , Rayfor d Logan , Joh n Hop e Franklin, an d Nathan I. Huggins. The second noteworth y characteristic of th e collection i s its lack of sentimentality. Th e editors have made no attempt to hide or mini- mize embarrassment s o r conflicts , regardles s o f th e actor s involved . The resul t i s a sourceboo k tha t bring s reader s close—perhap s o n occasion uncomfortabl y close—t o a histor y tha t i s ful l o f painfu l tensions. The documents tha t constitute Blacks at Harvard can usefully be divided into three periods: (1 ) the era during which Harvard excluded virtually al l Africa n American s fro m participatio n i n th e intellectua l life of th e school; (2) the er a during which Harvar d admitted a small number o f blac k students , exclude d blac k teachers , an d generall y relegated "th e rac e question " t o th e margin s o f th e university' s consciousness; an d (3 ) th e er a durin g whic h th e number s o f blac k students a t Harvar d ros e dramatically , blac k scholar s emerge d a s a small bu t discernibl e presenc e o n th e faculty , an d the rac e questio n became no t onl y a centra l an d burnin g issue , bu t als o a n issu e institutionalized t o a considerable degree throug h the creation of a n Afro-American Studie s Department .

I

African Americans affected lif e at Harvard long before they came to the campu s a s students o r professors. A s Emor y J. West notes i n his essay , "Harvar d an d th e Blac k Man , 1636-1850, " th e universit y reaped considerable benefits from the slave trade, which was, through- out much of the seventeenth an d eighteenth centuries , a major pillar of Ne w England' s commerce . Student s an d professor s a t Harvar d owned slave s (includin g a t leas t tw o president s o f th e university , Increase Mathe r an d Benjamin Wadsworth) . An d students an d pro- fessors helpe d t o justify "th e peculiar institution. " I n hi s essay "Th e Black Presenc e a t Harvard, " Caldwel l Titcom b attribute s t o Dea n Henry Eusti s th e statemen t tha t blacks ar e "littl e abov e beasts," and quotes Dean Nathaniel Shaler as declaring that blacks were "unfi t for an independent plac e i n a civilized state. " Yet , i t i s a student wh o earns th e dubiou s distinctio n o f havin g uttered th e mos t memorabl e example of racist , pro-slaver y advocacy in the documents tha t follow . At " A Forensic Disput e o n th e Legalit y o f Enslavin g th e Africans , Introduction xix

Held a t th e Publi c Commencemen t [o f Harvar d College ] i n Cambridge, New-England , (Boston , 1773), " a graduatin g senior , defending slavery , aske d revealingly : "[W]h o I beseec h you , eve r thought the consent of a child, an ideot, or a madman necessary to his subordination? Ever y whi t a s immaterial , i s th e consen t o f thes e miserable Africans, whose real character seems to be a compound o f the thre e las t mentioned . . . . Wha t ca n avai l hi s consent , wh o through ignoranc e of the means necessary to promote his happiness, is rendered altogethe r incapable of choosing for himself? " Although man y member s o f th e Harvar d communit y eithe r defended o r tolerate d slaver y (wit h al l o f th e damagin g intellectua l and mora l implication s flowin g fro m suc h positions) , som e di d pla y outstanding roles in the antislavery campaign. Lati n Professor Charles Beck, for instance, aided runaway slaves, going so far a s to put a trap door o n th e secon d floo r o f hi s residence (no w Warren House , th e home o f the Harvar d Englis h Department) t o help fugitive s movin g north o n th e Undergroun d Railroad . Th e mos t prominen t fact , however, abou t Harvar d an d it s relationshi p wit h blac k American s prior to the Civi l War, is that, by and large, the university firmly shut its door s t o Africa n Americans . Fo r a brie f momen t i n 1850 , i t seemed tha t tha t traditio n woul d change. I n tha t year, the Harvar d Medical School admitted three black students: Danie l Laing, Jr., Isaac H. Snowden, and Martin R. Delany. Ye t this break with tradition was short-lived. Th e Medica l Schoo l administratio n expelle d th e blacks at the end of their first sessio n of classes because of pressure exerted by white student s oppose d t o th e blacks ' presence. Explainin g th e Medical School's action, Dean Olive r Wendell Holmes (the father o f Justice Holmes ) maintaine d tha t "th e intermixin g o f th e whit e an d black races i n their lecture room s i s distasteful t o a large portion o f the class and injuriou s t o the interests of the school." Setting asid e th e Medica l School' s brie f experiment , Harvar d University shu t it s doors t o Africa n American s throughou t th e firs t 229 years of its existence.

II The origins o f a n African-American presenc e amon g students at Harvard dates back to the years immediately following the Civil War. In 1865 , th e Medica l Schoo l reverse d it s polic y prohibitin g blac k XX Introduction students and admitted Edwin C.J.T. Howard. Th e same year, Harvard College admitted Richar d T. Greener. Fou r years later, Howard an d two other African-America n students—Georg e L . Ruffin o f the La w School, an d Rober t Tanne r Freema n o f th e Dental School—becam e the first blacks to graduate from Harvard, an accomplishment attaine d in 187 0 by Greener . These students an d the trickle that followe d the m encountered a complicated se t o f conflictin g response s a t Harvard . I n importan t respects, the y foun d a communit y willin g t o recognize , develop, an d reward thei r talent s an d achievements . W.E.B . Du Bois' s memorie s of his Harvard years are filled with praise (as well as criticism) for th e university:

Harvard University in 1888 was a great institution of learning.... From the beginning my relations with most of the teachers at Harvard were pleasant. They wer e o n th e whol e gla d t o receiv e a seriou s student... . I wa s repeatedly a gues t i n th e hom e o f Willia m James ; h e wa s m y frien d an d guide to clear thinking.... I sat in an upper room and read Kant's Critique with Santayana; Shaler invited a Southerner, who objected t o sitting beside me, to leave his class.... I became one of [Albert Bushnell] Hart's favorit e pupils and was afterwards guide d by him through m y graduate course ...

Other blac k pioneer s a t Harvar d expresse d positiv e sentiments . In a speec h a t th e Harvar d Clu b o f Ne w York , Richar d Greene r recalled hi s undergraduat e year s wit h lavis h fondness , praisin g th e university for what he viewed a s its commitment to equal opportunity. At Harvard , h e contended , ther e i s "bu t on e tes t fo r all . Ability , character, an d merit—thes e ar e th e sol e passport s t o he r favor." 1 Ordinary nostalgi a ma y account , i n part , fo r th e exuberanc e o f Greener's exaggerate d praise . Probabl y more important, however, i s the fac t that , compared t o the open, vicious animu s with which mos t of white American societ y dealt with black Americans i n the centur y following th e Civi l War , Harvard' s treatmen t o f it s blac k students , though deficien t b y today' s standards , constitute d a welcome , an d

Several observer s o f lif e a t Harvar d hav e prematurely announced th e extinction o f th e colo r lin e o n campus ; i n 1960 , th e blac k senio r wh o delivered the Latin oration at the Harvard College graduation declared that "at Harvar d ther e are no difference s betwee n people. " H e seem s to hav e confused wishfu l thinkin g with realistic description. Introduction xxi deeply appreciated , contrast . I n a n er a durin g whic h mos t white s considered Africa n Americans , a s a race, to be mentally an d morally inferior t o Euro-Americans , Harvar d rewarde d blac k student s wh o distinguished themselve s academically . Greene r wo n th e Boylsto n Prize fo r Orator y an d th e Bowdoi n Priz e fo r hi s senio r essay . Clement G . Morgan '9 0 also won the Boylston Prize, edging out D u Bois, who finished second . Monro e Trotter '9 5 and Leslie Pinckney Hill '0 3 were electe d t o Ph i Bet a Kappa . I n 1890 , when reactio n against racia l equalit y wa s reachin g ne w height s o f powe r an d respectability, Du Boi s served a s the commencement speaker a t th e Harvard graduation ceremonies, while Morgan gave an address as class orator. Despite their privileged positions, however, blacks at Harvard did not escape the humiliating stigma of the color bar inside and outside of their famous campus. A s Du Bois put it, "[sjometimes the shadow of insul t fell" : bein g mistaken constantl y for a servant; being turned away from local barbershops on account of color; knowing better than even to as k the white families who rented lodging s to white students whether they would be willing to rent the same lodgings to blacks; suf- fering exclusion from various extracurricular activities because of race. The mos t notoriou s singl e example o f racis m a t Harvar d i n th e years afte r th e admissio n o f blac k me n occurre d i n 192 2 whe n university presiden t Abbot t Lawrenc e Lowel l prohibite d Negr o students from residin g in the Freshman Dormitories, a residence that was required fo r al l white students. Th e social standing of the blacks immediately affected b y this policy highlighted the significance o f the color bar that Lowell imposed. On e was Roscoe Conkling Bruce, Jr., a graduate o f Phillip s Exeter Academy , the grandso n o f Blanch e K . Bruce, the firs t blac k Unite d State s senator , an d th e so n o f a 190 2 Harvard Colleg e graduate who had receive d hi s degree magna cum laude, been electe d t o Ph i Bet a Kappa , an d been selecte d a s clas s orator. Castigatin g Lowell' s action , the New York Amsterdam News observed tha t Harvard' s polic y "shoul d convinc e al l o f u s tha t ou r success i s no t dependen t upo n individua l attainment . . . . [Tj o President Lowel l an d t o thousand s lik e hi m [Bruce's ] distinguishe d ancestry and preparation are as nothing when placed alongside of the fact tha t he is a Negro." Seeking t o justif y hi s decision , Presiden t Lowel l wrot e tha t "i n Freshman Halls, where residence is compulsory, we have felt from the beginning the necessity of not including colored men." "[W] e have not xxii Introduction thought it possible," he maintained, "t o compel men of different race s to reside together. " The response to Lowell's action was an extraordinary outpouring of protes t fro m blacks an d whites within an d outside of th e Harvar d community. Th e elde r Bruce , principa l o f a hig h schoo l i n Wes t Virginia, observed acidly :

The policy of compulsory residence in the Freshman Halls is costly indeed if i t i s th e thin g tha t constrain s Harvar d t o ente r open-eye d an d brusque upon a polic y o f racia l discrimination . I t il l become s a grea t mothe r o f culture avoidably to accentuate the consciousness of racial differences among Americans—that seedbe d of so man y strifes an d griefs.

James Weldon Johnson, secretary of the National Association for the Advancement o f Colore d Peopl e (NAACP) , maintaine d tha t "b y capitulating t o anti-negr o prejudic e i n th e freshma n dormitorie s o r anywhere else, affirms that prejudice and strength- ens it , an d i s bu t puttin g int o effec t th e progra m proclaime d b y the infamous K u Klu x Kla n an d it s apologists. " Moorfiel d Store y an d several other distinguished white alumni initiated a petition condemn- ing Lowell's action. An d publications such as the Nation an d the New York Evening Post editorialize d agains t Lowell' s decision . Eve n th e Harvard Alumni Bulletin observed that "for Harvard to deny to colored men a privilege it accords to whites appears inevitably as a reversal of policy, i f no t a positiv e disloyalt y t o a principl e fo r whic h th e university has taken a n open an d unshaken stand." The Dormitory Crisi s can be looked upo n a s an ugly provocation that eventuall y mobilize d th e bes t element s i n Harvard' s traditions . Writing in the Crisis, Du Boi s maintained tha t "[d]eep as is the shame and humiliation of Harvard's recent surrender to the Bourbon South, the spirited an d whole-souled respons e tha t i t has evinced i s perhaps the mos t heartenin g sig n o f sanit y o n th e rac e proble m tha t ha s happened i n fift y years. " No t onl y di d Harvar d alumni , blac k an d white, spar k a stron g protes t agains t Lowell ; the y sparke d a stron g protest that , to a n important extent, prevailed . I n 1923 , the Harvar d Board of Overseers resoundingly overruled President Lowell, thereby allowing black students to reside i n the Freshma n Dormitories. On th e othe r hand , despit e th e reversa l o f Lowell' s policy , i t reflected sentiments at Harvard that had deep roots, firm backing, and a lon g future . Lowel l certainl y lost . Bu t black s a t Harvar d di d no t Introduction xxiii wholly triumph. Th e Board o f Overseers decide d tha t "al l members of the freshma n clas s shall reside an d board i n the Freshman Halls" and that no man shall be excluded fro m a dormitory "by reason of his color." Bu t th e Boar d o f Overseer s als o decree d tha t "[i] n th e application of this rule, men of the white and colored races shall not be compelle d t o liv e and ea t together"— a statement a t once crypti c and clear: crypti c in that it did not suggest the situation of compelled interaction tha t th e Overseer s feared , clea r i n tha t i t obviousl y manifested a desire to mollif y i n some way the inflame d sensibilitie s of white supremacists. Between 1865 and 1970, scores of distinguished African Americans contributed to Harvard a s students or guest s of one sort or another . Some thoroughly relished their involvement with Harvard. Recount - ing hi s feeling s whe n th e universit y conferre d a n honorar y degre e upon hi m i n 1896 , Booke r T . Washingto n expresse d a mixtur e o f appreciation an d awe : "T o see ove r a thousand stron g men, repre- senting all that i s best in State, Church, business, and education, with the glow of enthusiasm of college loyalty and college pride—which has, I think, a peculiar Harvard flavour—is a sight that does not easily fade from memory. " Other s experience d mixe d feelings . " I wa s i n Harvard," writes W.E.B . Du Bois , "no t o f it. " Still , others see m t o have trul y suffere d throug h thei r stint s a t th e university . Keenl y attuned t o the myria d ways in which Harvard's caste-ridden practice s routinely belie d it s meritocrati c pretensions , Joh n Hop e Frankli n recalls that when he left Harvar d i n the spring of 1939 , "I knew that I did not wish to be i n Cambridge another day."

Ill

A substantia l numbe r o f th e document s feature d i n Blacks at Harvard have to d o with th e blac k presenc e ther e sinc e 1970 . Thi s concentration stem s fro m tw o interrelate d facts . First , durin g thi s period Harvard hosted more black students, professors, administrators, and guests than in all of the previous years combined. Second , during this era th e nation underwen t a profound chang e i n moral, political, and intellectual consciousness because of the Civil Rights Movement, the Blac k Powe r Movement , and , mos t recently , th e Diversit y Movement, al l o f whic h hav e insistentl y focuse d attentio n upo n th e relevance o f race i n all aspects of our culture. xxiv Introduction

Ever since blacks first joined th e Harvard community , the y have engaged in efforts t o fashion within it a suitable place for themselves. Since the early 1960s, these efforts have been marked by an increased emphasis on organized collective action, a rising militance nurtured by larger numbers, and heightened skepticism regarding the legitimacy of certain central Harvard traditions. Various controversies , wel l illustrate d b y th e document s tha t follow, shed light on these developments. On e arose in 196 3 when a group o f student s sough t t o creat e th e Associatio n o f Africa n an d Afro-American Student s (AAAAS), an organization "open to African and Afro-America n students " t o "promot e mutua l understandin g between African an d Afro-American students , to provide ourselves a voice in the community .. . and to develop the leadership capable of effectively copin g wit h th e variou s problem s o f ou r peoples. " Fo r many, th e proble m wa s tha t th e organization' s membershi p claus e appeared implicitl y to exclude non-African s an d non-blacks . Critic s argued that this constituted racia l discrimination an d that, therefore , the University should withhold officia l recognition . Officia l recogni - tion wa s importan t becaus e onl y officiall y recognize d group s wer e authorized t o use Harvard buildings or to solicit new members every year at registration. I n some statements, defenders o f the association suggested tha t it s membershi p claus e di d not constitut e a racia l exclusion. I n others , defender s argue d tha t a raciall y restrictiv e organization o f black students on a predominantly white campus—a t that time blacks constituted abou t one percent of the student body- was justifiable on the grounds that Africans and Afro-Americans share a common heritage of oppression beyond the understanding of whites and that the presence of whites in Association meetings would hinder the efforts o f black members to develop what one spokesman calle d "a greater sense of Negro identity." One defende r o f th e ne w Associatio n wa s Marti n L . Kilson , a lecturer in the Department of Government who subsequently became the firs t tenure d blac k membe r o f th e Harvar d Facult y o f Arts an d Sciences. Anothe r o f the Association's backers was Archie Epps III, a first-year graduat e student who later became the Dean o f Students at Harvard College. On e of the leading undergraduate proponents of the Association was Ayi Kwei Armah, a Ghanaian who subsequently became a n importan t figur e i n Africa n letters , writing amon g other things the novel The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born (1968). Opinion on and off campus was widely divided. A black Harvard Introduction xxv alumnus, Willia m Harriso n '32 , a n edito r o f th e Boston Chronicle, wrote a letter to the editor o f the Harvard Crimson i n which he called the formation o f the Association " a capital idea, " voiced regre t a t th e absence o f suc h a n organizatio n whe n h e attende d th e college , an d recalled th e word s o f Harvard' s famou s philosophe r Georg e Santayana: "Th e Negro, i f he i s not a fool, loves his own inspiration , and expands in the society of his own people." Anothe r commentato r urged th e Universit y t o recogniz e th e Associatio n o n libertaria n grounds: " A discriminatory membership polic y i s part of the ideolog y of thi s group; punishin g i t fo r it s membershi p polic y b y withholdin g the privileges granted other undergraduat e politica l groups would b e punishing i t fo r it s ideology. " On the other hand, Herbert H. Denton Jr., a black member of the Crimson's editoria l boar d wh o wen t o n t o becom e a prize-winnin g journalist wit h th e Washington Post, criticize d th e exclusivit y o f th e African an d Afro-America n Associatio n wit h elegan t harshness . H e challenged ever y aspect o f the asserte d rational e o f the Association' s membership policy , particularly the "ide a that whites and Negroes ar e intrinsically incapable of understanding one another." H e questione d the empirica l soundnes s o f thi s thesis—notin g tha t i t i s "alway s assumed, never demonstrated"—a s well a s its political usefulness :

One thin g i s certain : th e sures t wa y t o preven t equalit y i s t o convinc e everyone o f suc h a thesis. Paranoi d presupposition s rapidl y becom e self - fulfilling prophecies . Th e idea l o f equalit y i s no t refuted , i t i s merel y rendered historically impossible by ideologies which generate racial distrust.

Asserting a point o f view in 196 3 that came under increasing pressur e over the nex t quarter century , Denton maintained :

Negro students coming to the University are likely to be overwhelmed with the idea, promoted b y the only "official" Negro organization on the campus, that eve n th e mos t libera l an d interestin g whit e student s the y ma y mee t cannot possibly understand them, and may even be hypocrites—that the only place they are truly among friend s i s in an all-Negr o organization strongl y influenced b y Black Nationalism. Suc h an outcome drastically curtails their ability t o benefi t fro m th e centra l Harvar d experienc e o f associatio n wit h and exposure to the broadest possible spectrum o f people, ideas and move- ments. On e may seriously ask whether an organization whic h so function s is in anywa y compatible with the educational ideal s of this University. xxvi Introduction

Harvard's Studen t Counci l o n Undergraduat e Activitie s denie d recognition to the Association, condemning it s membership clause as "discriminatory." Th e relevan t Facult y committee concurred , statin g that i t wa s "unwillin g ... t o pu t th e weigh t o f Harvard' s approva l behind the principle of racial separatism and exclusion." Thi s rebuke, however, did not extinguish the sentiments that prompted the Associ- ation's founding and the defiant defense of a membership clause that, in retrospect, appear s only to have served a purely symbolic purpose. Those sentiment s gre w stronge r i n th e year s t o com e an d were undoubtedly nourished by three appearances that Malcolm X made on Harvard's campu s between 196 1 an d 1964 . O n th e second o f thes e appearances, a talk given on Marc h 18 , 1964 , to the Leverett Hous e Forum, Malcolm X made a statement that continues to reverberate on Harvard's campu s an d throughou t th e natio n a s a whole. "Wha t i s logical t o th e oppressor, " Malcol m X asserted , "isn' t logica l t o th e oppressed. And wha t i s reason t o th e oppresso r isn' t reaso n t o th e oppressed.... Ther e just has to be a new system of reason and logic devised b y us who ar e on the bottom, i f we want to get some result s in this struggle tha t i s called 'th e Negro revolution.' " The radicalis m o f Malcol m X seepe d int o th e rhetori c o f blac k students who expressed a profound sense of alienation from Harvard. Their very presence, however, a t the nation's premier "white" univer- sity indicated, by and large, a desire to "make it" within the established framework o f America n institution s while simultaneousl y seekin g t o reform thes e institution s a s muc h a s possibl e fo r th e benefi t o f th e African-American community . Reformis t aim s a t Harvard have cen- tered primaril y upon enlarging the numbers of blacks associated with the university a s students, teachers, and administrators and, relatedly, with institutionalizing a black presence. Eac h of these aims was impli- cated in the struggle to create an Afro-American Studies Department. A revealin g reflectio n o n th e extraordinar y circumstance s sur - rounding tha t struggl e i s tha t man y blac k student s boycotte d th e official memoria l service that mourned the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Whil e Harvard president Nathan Pusey led services inside Memoria l Church , th e larges t sit e o f religiou s activit y o n campus, eight y blac k student s stoo d outsid e o n th e steps . "I f the y come out of [Memorial Church] with tears in their eyes," the president of the AAAAS i s reported to have said, "W e want it to be plain that we don' t want thei r tears. W e want blac k people t o have a place a t Harvard." Blac k students ' successfu l effort s t o creat e a n Afro - Introduction xxvii

American Studies Department embodied that search for a place. In 1968-69 , agains t the backdro p of increasingl y radica l studen t protests against the draft, the war in Vietnam, college restrictions on personal (primaril y sexual ) conduct , universit y tie s wit h th e Centra l Intelligence Agenc y an d companies doin g business i n Sout h Africa , government repressio n o f th e Blac k Panther s an d othe r similarl y incendiary groups—in short, against the backdrop of the most tumultu- ous phase of "th e sixties"—black students a t Harvard demanded that the Universit y creat e a structur e fo r th e stud y o f Afro-America n affairs. A committee chaired by Professor Henry Rosovsky addressed these demands by recommending, among other things, the building of "a social an d cultura l cente r fo r blac k students, " the creatio n o f a major i n Afro-America n Studies , th e establishmen t o f a Center fo r Afro-American Studies , an d th e settin g asid e o f fifteen t o twent y graduate fellowship s a yea r fo r blac k student s "wh o posses s th e potential t o becom e scholar s o f th e firs t rank. " T o underlin e th e committee's commitmen t t o fas t an d concret e actio n i t wrot e tha t while its "report—as all university committee reports—necessarily uses many unspecific term s and qualifiers typica l of institutional language, it would b e tragi c i f thi s obscure d th e sens e o f urgenc y fel t b y the Committee." The repor t o f th e Rosovsk y Committe e an d it s adoption b y the University indicate d a leve l o f solicitud e fo r African-America n students that was unprecedented in Harvard's history. Ye t it encoun- tered resistance from a substantial part of the organized, activist sector of the black student community. Thes e critics articulated two princi- pal complaints . On e wa s tha t th e Rosovsk y Committe e repor t envisioned Afro-American Studie s as a program instead of a depart- ment. Thi s was viewed as important because programs typically have less institutiona l autonom y an d prestig e tha n departments . A s envisioned b y the Rosovsky Committee a student or professor would be affiliated with Afro-American Studies along with some other, more established discipline . Som e critic s viewe d thi s a s a n insultin g subordination o f Afro-America n scholarshi p studie s t o traditional , "white" sectors of the community. Th e second objection was that the Rosovsky Committee did not provide for student participation in the selection o f facult y fo r th e planne d Afro-American Studie s Depart - ment. Thi s was in keeping with tradition. Bu t the AAAAS activists wanted to upset tradition. The y wanted students to be able to play a significant rol e i n choosin g facult y member s s o tha t Afro-America n xxviii Introduction

Studies would be more than merely another scholastic enterprise; they wanted i t to embody a commitment t o the empowerment o f the black community. Recognizin g tha t the y viewed th e purpos e o f th e Afro - American Studie s initiativ e i n a differen t wa y tha n di d th e uppe r reaches o f the Universit y hierarchy,, the activist s als o recognized tha t they would evaluat e candidate s fo r facult y position s differentl y tha n did th e Universit y administration . T o hav e som e influenc e o n th e constitution o f Afro-America n Studie s faculty , th e student s sought a place i n the choosin g o f their professors . In April 1969 , after anguishe d debate, the facult y o f the Harvar d College of Arts and Sciences acquiesced to the critics of the Rosovsky report. I t voted to recognize Afro-American Studie s as a department and to seat six students (including three chosen by Afro) a s full, voting members o f th e bod y chosen t o selec t facult y member s fo r th e ne w department. Thi s vote, broadcast live on the student-run radio station, was take n soo n afte r th e traumati c "bust " i n whic h Presiden t Puse y called o n Cambridg e polic e t o remov e leftis t student s (th e grea t majority o f who m wer e white ) fro m Universit y building s the y ha d occupied to protest the Vietnam Wa r and express dissatisfaction wit h various policie s o f th e University . Th e vot e wa s als o take n a t a moment whe n substantia l number s o f professor s an d administrators , taking seriousl y eve n th e mos t heate d rhetori c o f campu s militants , feared tha t a t leas t som e blac k students migh t physicall y damage th e campus i n the event o f a negative vote on the part o f the faculty . Some observer s hai l th e event s o f Apri l 196 9 a s a significan t advance i n th e fortune s o f black s a t Harvar d an d beyond . Lookin g back wit h prid e o n th e action s tha t h e an d other s took , Ernes t J . Wilson III, one o f Harvard's leading student activists , puts the matte r this way:

We had a lot of gall even to attempt such changes; we were just wet-behind- the-ears undergraduates. Par t o f the hubris came from ou r feeling that , at last, history was going our way . W e knew that w e were riding the crest of a wave. Wit h Nin a Simon e singing that all of u s were "young , gifted, an d black," we felt our newly assertive blackness was not just an extra burden, as it wa s fo r man y o f ou r predecessors , bu t als o a t time s a decide d socia l benefit. An d after all, cities were literally burning over the question of black equality, and the real heroes of the black revolt, courageous black students in th e Deep South , were engage d i n fa r les s genteel an d mor e dangerou s battles at OP Miss and Texas Southern. Fo r us, pressing for Afro-America n Studies in Cambridge seemed the least we could do. An d the excitement of Introduction xxix creating something new , scholarly, and socially relevant was exhilarating.

Others are more skeptical. Marti n Kilson , the only black profes - sor on the Rosovsky Committee, voted against the students* demands. Recalling the episode he writes:

The militant student s wanted lot s o f politica l activism i n the operation o f the Afro-America n Studie s Departmen t an d wer e disdainfu l o f rigorou s intellectual and scholarly values ("Whitey values," some called them). I , on the othe r hand , favore d n o ethnocentri c militanc y i n th e characte r o f th e Afro-American Studie s Departmen t an d stoo d fir m fo r th e highes t intellectual an d scholarly criteria. I lost out... .

Similarly critical is Nathan Huggins, a distinguished African-America n historian who did his graduate work a t Harvard an d later returned a s a professo r an d directo r o f th e W.E.B . D u Boi s Institute , a direc t offshoot o f the struggl e fo r Afro-America n Studies . Notin g that th e birth of Afro-American Studie s stemmed i n large part fro m a sense of "perceived threat, " he writes that the department suffere d "durin g it s first ten years, from the lingering doubts and resentments harbored b y faculty neve r full y convince d o f Afro-America a s a legitimate field o f study . . . an d suspiciou s o f wha t ofte n appeare d t o b e separatis t tendencies o n the par t o f it s advocates." For al l th e criticism s levele d a t th e wa y i n whic h th e Harvar d Afro-American Studie s Department wa s founded, however , one thin g is irrefutable : fo r ove r tw o decade s i t ha s provide d a sourc e o f support fo r a broa d rang e o f scholar s explorin g African-America n culture an d establishe d itsel f a s a permanen t par t o f th e universit y community. I t is worth considering whether this could ever have been accomplished without the pushing and shoving, the excesses and errors that struggle s fo r socia l change alway s entail.

IV

African American s hav e encountered , a s w e hav e seen , a wid e range o f reaction s a t Harvard . Thei r response s hav e varie d greatly . Some, like Richard Greener , hav e expressed a n unalloye d happines s with th e University . Fo r others , however , considerabl e pai n accom - panies the recollection of their experience with Harvard. Herber t W . XXX Introduction

Nickens remembers :

Being blac k exacerbate d th e alread y difficul t freshma n adjustmen t i n addition t o raisin g question s al l it s own . W e no t onl y ha d t o liv e wit h strangers, but wit h white stranger s whos e attitude s towar d u s were rarel y indifferent t o our color . W e often bor e the burden o f being cultural an d anthropological curiosities : inspected , sometime s devaluated , frequentl y overvalued, but neve r regarde d i n absenc e o f the black factor . W e foun d ourselves spread-eagled between black and white.

Ambivalence i s the word that best captures the way in which most African-American students , professors , administrators , guests , an d alumni seem to have perceived, and reacted to, Harvard. Man y of the documents tha t follo w giv e voic e t o Africa n American s wh o feel , simultaneously, admiratio n fo r Harvard' s tradition s an d desir e t o reform the institution, a sense of accomplishment derived from associ - ation wit h Harvar d an d a sens e o f sorro w o r eve n guil t tha t thi s privilege i s beyon d th e circumstance s o f th e grea t mas s o f blac k Americans, a yearning fo r acceptanc e an d a desir e t o remai n rebel - lious outsiders , recognitio n tha t Harvar d ha s sough t t o mak e itsel f more hospitabl e t o Africa n American s an d ange r tha t th e nation' s leading university has failed t o do more. W.E.B. Du Bois' s "A Negro Student a t Harvard a t the End o f the Nineteenth Century " i s one o f severa l memoir s tha t vividl y captur e these tensions . H e admire d th e intellectua l potentialitie s tha t th e University offered, bu t consciously embraced hi s status as an outsider. "I was very happy a t Harvard, " he recalled , "bu t fo r unusua l reasons . One o f these was m y acceptance o f racia l segregation." D u Boi s did not se e racia l segregatio n a s a "fina l solution. " T o th e contrary , h e welcomed th e "prospec t o f ultimat e ful l huma n intercourse , withou t reservations an d annoyin g distinctions. " Bu t i n ligh t o f th e racis t humiliations tha t black s constantl y face d i n socia l interaction s wit h whites, D u Boi s conclude d that , fo r him , th e bes t thin g t o d o a t Harvard was "to consort with m y own and to disdain and forget a s fa r as possible that outer , whiter world" :

I asked nothing of Harvard but the tutelage of teachers and the freedom o f the laboratory and library. I was quite voluntarily and willingly outside its social life. . . . Thi s cutting of myself off from m y white fellows, or being cut off, di d not mean unhappiness or resentment.... I thoroughly enjoyed life . I was conscious of understanding an d power , and conceited enoug h still to Introduction xxxi imagine ... tha t the y who did not kno w me were the losers, not I .

Du Bois suggests that he was "exceptional among Negroes at Harvar d in m y idea s o n voluntar y rac e segregation. " Hi s fello w blacks , h e remarks with a trace o f disdain , "sa w salvation onl y i n integration a t the earliest possibl e moment and on almost any terms . ..; I was fir m in m y criticis m o f whit e fol k an d i n m y drea m o f a self-sufficien t Negro culture even i n America. " "Harvard an d the Small-Towner" (1986 ) i s a more recent memoi r of universit y lif e tha t als o articulate s th e complicated , conflictin g emotions o f an African-American intellectua l seeking to subvert con - ventions of racial dominance. I n it, Martin Luther Kilson (mentione d earlier a s the first tenured black professor o n the Harvard Facult y of Arts an d Sciences) , reflects upo n hi s long (an d ongoing ) associatio n with th e University . Fro m hi s year s a s a graduat e studen t i n th e 1950s, whe n h e helpe d t o foun d th e Harvar d Societ y fo r Minorit y Rights, to his years i n the 1980 s and 1990 s as the senior black facult y member withi n Arts an d Sciences , Kilson ha s been involve d i n al l o f the man y racial controversies tha t hav e surfaced o n campus . A s was noted above , he helped to form the Harvard Afro-American Student s Association an d backe d i t durin g it s confrontatio n wit h critic s wh o attacked the Association's racially exclusionary membership policy. I n "Harvard and the Small-Towner" Kilson continues to defend thi s early "bid to giv e vigorous intellectua l formatio n t o students' Black-ethni c awareness," contending tha t th e Associatio n wa s "Black-skewed " bu t "not ethno-centrically-Black-skewed." Kilso n give s no hint a s to ho w he justifie s hi s conclusion ; afte r all , insofa r a s th e studen t grou p a t issue did limit its membership on a racial basis, it seems that the group could appropriatel y b e labelle d a s "ethnocentric. " Bu t th e mor e significant poin t fo r presen t purpose s i s not Kilson' s early defense o f the Association, but rather hi s condemnation o f i t after 196 8 when i t was, i n hi s words, "shanghaied " b y studen t proponent s o f th e Blac k Power Movemen t who , amon g othe r things , insiste d upo n th e formation of an Afro-American Studie s Department independent fro m other Universit y program s an d one i n which students would hav e a n important han d i n governance. Accordin g to Kilson, these students— "the new Black solidarity militants"—indulged i n a "dead-end catharti c ethnocentrism" that ha d a lingering destructive influence :

During th e lat e 1960 s t o earl y 1970 s era , somethin g happene d t o th e xxxii Introduction willingness o f Blac k student s t o tak e academi c an d intellectua l pursuit s seriously. . . . Wha t happened wa s in large part o f Blacks' own making, or rather [the ] making of Black ethnocentrists who convinced themselve s and other Blacks that the catharsis associated with mau-mauing "Whitey's values" was preferable t o a pragmatic employment o f ethnic militancy.

For historian s o f ideas , the tas k o f the futur e wil l be t o identif y th e line separating what Kilson defends a s pragmatic "ethnic militancy" on Harvard's campu s fro m wha t he condemns a s "ethnocentrism. " Another memoir by an African-American professo r i s "A Pioneer: Black and Female" by Eileen Southern , who in 197 1 became the firs t black woman appointed t o a tenured facult y position . Th e firs t blac k American recipien t o f a Ph.D . i n musicology , Souther n wa s a professor i n th e Musi c Department , a chai r o f th e Afro-America n Studies Department, an d the author o f numerous book s an d article s including The Music of Black Americans: A History and a Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians. Lik e Kilson' s account, Southern' s i s distinguished b y the opennes s wit h which sh e criticizes othe r Africa n American s a t Harvard . Recallin g he r earl y years on campus , Southern writes , fo r instance , tha t "i t seemed tha t the minoritie s alread y a t Harvar d di d no t welcome the ide a o f bein g joined b y others. I t wa s as i f they were reluctan t t o lose their statu s of being 'the only one.'" Unlik e Kilson's account, Southern's explicitly criticizes th e Universit y itsel f fo r racis m an d sexism , which , i n he r view, wer e a n "ever-present " realit y tha t sh e "graduall y learne d t o endure." A t th e sam e time , echoin g D u Bois , whom sh e expressl y cites as her role model, Southern lavishl y praises Harvard's influenc e on her intellectual life . "I n its role as nurturer o f scholars," Southern observes, "Harvar d neve r le t m e down ! I coul d fee l mysel f growin g from yea r t o year, almos t mont h t o month . . . ." Sh e even concede s that her minorit y status "a t time s brought specia l dividends" :

Some honors cam e ... no t onl y because I was qualified, bu t also because, as a black woman, I was highly visible... my husband and I were invited to glamorous dinner parties and receptions, where we met the great leaders of our time, the celebrated an d the obscure.

Yet anothe r memoi r tha t poignantl y capture s th e characteristi c duality wit h whic h man y Africa n American s experienc e Harvar d i s "The Refor m o f Tradition , th e Traditio n o f Reform " b y Ernes t J . Wilson III , th e studen t dissiden t cite d above . H e i s currentl y a Introduction xxxiii professor o f politic s a t th e Universit y o f Michigan . Whe n Wilso n came to Harvard i n 1966 he was no stranger to its traditions. Severa l of hi s olde r relative s ha d attende d Harvard , includin g hi s materna l grandfather, T. Montgomery Gregory , who graduated alongsid e John Reed an d Walte r Lippman n i n th e illustriou s clas s of 1910 . Wilso n freely confesse s hi s indebtednes s t o Harvard , notin g that , "howeve r imperfectly, [it ] showed m e tha t th e intellectua l lif e an d th e lif e o f [political] commitment can, with effort an d imagination, be combined." Moreover, i t i s clea r fro m Wilson' s memoi r tha t h e indulge d i n th e most mainstrea m an d even elite activitie s of Harvar d undergraduat e life. Withou t embarrassment , Wilso n recall s tha t h e "joine d th e Harvard Lampoon, wrot e fo r th e Crimson, at e a t th e Signet , wa s elected Clas s Marshal , an d joined one o f Harvard' s fina l clubs , well- known locall y for it s splendid garden parties. " I t should come a s no surprise, then, tha t Wilson experience d muc h of hi s time a t Harvar d as "sheer delight." On th e othe r hand , Wilso n di d perceive tha t "mor e tha n a whiff of condescension [wa s aimed] toward black students":

Some whites acted as if we were a black tabula ras a ready to be filled with New England education and high culture. Other s caricatured us only as the carriers of the culture of James Brown; any interest i n the written word or in Beethoven wa s somehow disappointing an d inauthentic.

More important , Wilso n encountere d a t Harvar d a n oppressiv e absence: "th e invisibilit y o f th e thing s tha t I too k fo r grante d a t home—the disciplined and serious and sustained study of black culture, politics, an d life." Redressin g thi s problem became, a s we have seen, a foca l poin t o f Wilson' s collegiat e caree r an d th e career s o f man y African-American students . H e speaks fo r several generation s when he asserts with pride: "[W] e changed Harvard as Harvard changed us."

V

Blacks at Harvard wil l certainly nourish scholarly inquir y into the social an d intellectual histor y o f Africa n American s i n elite nationa l institutions. On e hopes that it will also spur further efforts t o answer the scores of open questions : Wha t have the quiet majorit y of black students though t an d fel t abou t thei r tim e a t Harvard ? Wha t hav e xxxiv Introduction been th e caree r trajectorie s o f African-America n alumni ? T o wha t degree hav e the y remaine d i n touc h wit h th e University ? I n al l o f these respects , ho w doe s th e experienc e o f Africa n American s compare wit h tha t o f peopl e o f othe r racia l backgrounds ? Furthe r exploration o f thes e subject s wil l undoubtedl y lea d scholar s t o undertake a comprehensive review of the student press and to compile oral histories. Thi s anthology is an important and impressive first step towards documenting a fascinating aspect of African-American cultur e that warrants close r attention .

RANDALL KENNEDY

Randall Lero y Kennedy was born i n Columbia , , on 1 0 September 1954 . H e attended St . Albans School in Washington, D.C., and won th e Freema n Histor y Prize . Upo n hi s graduatio n fro m Princeto n University, where he was Historical Studies Editor o f the Princeton Journal of the Arts and Sciences, he studied fo r tw o years at Oxfor d Universit y as a Rhodes Scholar. I n 197 9 he entered Yal e Law School, and served a s Note and Topics Editor o f the Yale Law Journal. He spent th e 1982-8 3 academic year in Washington, D.C., as to Judge J. Skell y Wright o f the U.S. Court o f Appeals, and the followin g year as law clerk for Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1984 he joined the faculty, becoming a full professo r in 1989 . H e ha s written widel y on civi l right s an d race-relation s law . I n 1990 he became the founding editor of the quarterly journal Reconstruction, devoted to African-American politics , society, and culture. MS IT Mil