Professor Emeritus Eugene Terry Passes On
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SPRING 2008 THE NEWSLETTER OF THE W.E.B. DU BOIS DEPARTMENT OF AFRO-AMERICAN STUDIES AT UMASS AMHERST PROFESSOR EMERITUS EUGENE TERRY PASSES ON Drawing by Nelson Stevens At both u institu- D Bois tions, he INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Department was co-founder inspired MESSAGE FROM THE 2 Eugene by his CHAIR Terry died students on Jan. 9 at no less FACULTY NEWS 3 his home than in Amherst, they where he were AN EVENING WITH THE 4 was sus- inspired DU BOIS DEPARTMENT tained over by him; the long pe- Front Row (l-r): Professors Eugene Terry and his wife Esther, Chester Davis, and and he SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 5 riod of his Bill Strickland. Back Row (l-r): Professors Nelson Stevens and John Bracey. came to illness accept that by Esther Terry, his wife of 41 years; their son, teaching was his special calling. Over the years, ALUMNI LINES 5 Jules Michael; and other family members and many of his students have credited his patience, his friends. gentleness, and his honest criticism with having He taught writing and Afro-American Lit- contributed to their various successes. “THE WAR ON TERROR,” 6 erature in the Du Bois Department from 1978 In 1964, on the advice of his mentor and friend, BY BILL STRICKLAND through 1989, when his declining health led to Sterling Brown, Eugene enrolled in the English his retirement. Department at the University of Massachusetts, He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1928, the Amherst, to prepare for a Ph.D. in English under GRADUATE STUDENT 7 only child of Lulu B. and Floyd Terry. With the guidance of Professor Sidney Kaplan. During NEWS AND VIEWS Floyd Terry having died some months before that period, Professor Brown also encouraged sev- his son's birth, Lulu raised Eugene as a single eral others of his students to study with Sidney parent. She greatly influenced his lifelong com- Kaplan, whom Professor Brown held in highest mitment to education, his love of music, and regard as a scholar on the subject of Afro- his insistence on social justice and equality. American life and letters. Among those others Art led to the creation of his own award- were Bernard Bell, Michael Thelwell, and Esther winning puppets and apple dolls. His talent Alexander, who later became Eugene’s wife. was noted and praised by Leonard Baskin, with Encouraged by Professors Kaplan and his col- whom he enjoyed a long and warm friendship. league, Jules Chametzky, Eugene was among that Always an avid reader, Eugene discovered group of graduate students who established an the work of Sterling A. Brown, the African Afro-American Studies Program within the Eng- American poet and social critic, while he was lish Department. In 1970, that program became the in high school and determined that he would W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American attend Howard University in Washington, Studies that today is one of the oldest and most D.C., where Professor Brown was a member of respected such departments in the country. Prior to We’re on the Web at the faculty of the English Department. joining the faculty of the Afro-American Studies www.umass.edu/afroam At Howard, Eugene was awarded both a department, Eugene had taught at Hampshire Col- B.A. and a Master's degree, with his thesis, lege, where he was a member of the Five-College Phone: 413-545-2751 “Four Major American Folk Heroes,” directed Black Studies Committee. by Professor Brown. His unwavering love of family and his endur- Fax: 413-545-0628 Upon graduating from Howard, Eugene ing relationships with former students throughout taught for a brief period at Southern University the United States and beyond will remain an im- Volume 1, Number 2 in Baton Rouge, L.A., before accepting a post portant part of his legacy. A private funeral and in the English Department at Johnson C. burial took place in Warrenton, N.C., but a memo- Smith University in Charlotte, N.C., which rial service is planned for the UMass campus in the lasted for seven years. spring. PAGE 2 DU BOIS LINES MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR —by Amilcar Shabazz Never do we ask “who are we really?” it is dog eat dog. We are encouraged to he white man is very clever…. He has put a knife on the things hate foreigners with their alien languages that held us together and we and ways who illegally enter the country T have fallen apart. —Chinua to take our jobs and ruin the supposedly Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. united state of the culture of the USA. Never do we ask “who are we really?” African people from Chad to Haiti to Colombia to the U.S.A. are experienc- Alvin Poussaint & UMass alum Bill ing hard times. “Structural adjust- Cosby came to campus and talked about ments ,” the sub-prime market crisis, their new book Come On People: On the the gross funneling of wealth into the Path from Victims to Victors. Some of our hands of the already super-rich, wars students charged them up for the way and rumors of war form the knife that their work silences a critique of poverty The Honorable Chinua Achebe on his 77th severs the things that have held us to- and injustice in favor of the old blame birthday in New York City at the National gether. More & more than ever before the victim rhetoric. Arts Club’s Tilden Mansion A fascinating exploration of the history of the UMass Amherst W.E.B. Du Bois De- partment of Afro-American Studies. En- tertaining and insightful interviews and archival footage bring to life the debates, achievements and inner life of a depart- ment that has included such public intel- lectuals as Shirley Graham Du Bois, Chinua Achebe, and James Baldwin, and world-class musicians and cultural icons such as Archie Shepp and Max Roach. Co-sponsored by the W.E.B. Du Bois De- partment of Afro-American Studies, UMass Amherst. Ernest Allen, Jr., introduced this world premiere. THE NEWSLETTER OF THE W.E.B. DU BOIS DEPARTMENT OF AFRO-AMERICAN STUDIES AT UMASS AMHERST PAGE 3 FACULTY NEWS has published Professor Tracy’s lengthy contextual- rofessor Steven Tracy gave a two-hour ized chronology of Langston Hughes on its website at P presentation on Harlem Renaissance “http://www2.ku.edu/~lhcaas/”. The chronology music and literature at a Black History month places events of Hughe’s life in the context of other program on January 23rd at the UMass Am- important events taking place in the world at the herst campus featuring music and literature on same time. video and recordings and in live performance. He has been selected as a plenary speaker for a Professor James Smethurst participated on a panel conference entitled August Wilson: The Second at the “Women in the Black Revolt Mini- Half of the Cycle to be held on April 11-12th. Conference,” Brooklyn College, March 5-6th. Also, The paper will subsequently be published in he delivered a paper entitled, “Women in Atlanta’s Black Arts Movement,” at the Modern Language August Wilson—Completing the Cycle, edited Association Annual Convention, Winter 2007. by Alan Nadel for the University of Iowa Press. Professor Strickland gave a public lecture at Florida Professor Ekwueme Michael Thel- Atlantic University in Boca Raton on “Black History well with his children Mikiko and Professor Tracy will be delivering a paper and and Black Politics: Past, Present, and Future.” Later Chinua at the National Arts Club performing on harmonica at the International that month, on February 11th, he was awarded a Conference on Richard Wright in Paris, France plaque by Virginia for State University (VSU) in on June 18-20th. He will also be performing recognition of his support for VSU’s Jim Crow Ex- Charles de Kay, the literary and art critic for in July at the Behringer-Crawford Museum: hibit, Hateful Things, a two week traveling art exhibit the New York Times for eighteen years, founded the National Arts Club in 1898. The History In Motion in Covington, KY, with his “of pictures, signs and items from the late nineteenth century to the present that embody the terrible effects Club’s mission is to stimulate, foster and pro- Cincinnati band, Steve Tracy and the Crawling of Jim Crow. Professor Strickland also gave the mote public interest in the arts and educate the Kingsnakes, and continues to play a couple of keynote address at the opening ceremony. American people in the fine arts. times monthly with the King Bees in the Am- herst area. Professor Thelwell was invited to speak at the Na- Professor Thelwell gave a lecture at Connecti- tional Arts Club at its Black Tie affair on November cut College in New London entitled, “James The Langston Hughes Center for African 16th, where the eminent writer, scholar, and former Baldwin: A Prophet Without Honor? The American Studies at the University of Kansas Du Bois Department faculty member Chinua Achebe Black Writer and the Politics of Literature in received its Gold Medal of Honor for Literature. American Culture,” on April 7th, 2008. lead a discussion of his book The Years. Drawing on the knowledge sponse to an initiative by Tanya P rofessor John Bracey and Sacred Revolt: The Muskogee’s gained as co-editor of the Papers of Mears (Alumnus ‘05) now an assis- Joyce Vincent were invited to Struggle for a New World which is the NAACP, John Bracey partici- tant professor in their History Depart- Brown University to address Pro- one of the required readings.