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A Note from the Editor
Michael J. Galgano Attracting more minorities to the study of history continues to be a major problem in the profession. This issue addresses some of these concerns and offers timely suggestions. In the first essay, Harry W. Morris, Chair of History and Geography at Norfolk State University discusses recent national trends and develops useful strategies for confronting them. He presents a perspective from an historically black institution and points to similar difficulties in recruiting African-American scholars. History departments might be particularly interested in his thoughtful observations about improving the teaching of history at the secondary level and the need for greater activity in securing new financial resources for graduate students. The second article is an informal interview with Edgar Toppin, Dean of the Graduate School at Virginia State University. His broad-ranging remarks cover many topics and provide a valuable perspective on the present situation. He challenges us with his ideas, energy and commitment. Finally, Kermit Hall of the University of Florida reports on a minority conference sponsored by his institution last May. The next two issues will focus on undergraduate research and the History Teaching Alliance. If readers have suggestions for future topics, please forward them to me directly or to the OAH office. Reversing the Declining Numbers Among Afro-American Historians Harry W. Morris The April 25, 1990 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that Afro-Americans ``earned 23.2 percent fewer doctorates in 1989 than they did a decade ago'', underscoring a major crisis currently facing the predominantly black colleges and universities in search of faculty. Although the report did not contain a breakdown by disciplines, the decline in the number of African-Americans earning doctorates in history is even more alarming. Indeed, the dwindling number of African-American historians poses a serious problem not only for the maintenance of the intellectual and cultural identity of historically black institutions, but also for the intellectual health of the historical profession. In the latter case, and most importantly, the newly emerging racial, ethnic, and gender pluralistic mix that had begun to change the profession, which until quite recently was a white male monopoly, would be significantly undermined. All of these factors have serious implications for history departments of historically black colleges. For some time now, history departments in predominantly black institutions have found recruiting black faculty members increasingly more difficult, particularly those departments with members approaching retirement, hence requiring replacement. There is a real risk that these departments will in the near future be deprived of a significant presence of black historians and the intellectual and psychological influences they contribute to sustaining institutional identity, particularly their programs and scholarly contributions to the enrichment of American historiography and the building of racial pride. For some students in predominantly black institutions, African-American historians serve as inspirational symbols that ``legitimize'' and make the study of history more intellectually appealing. Moreover, the experiences and perspectives which these historians bring to the study of history are relevant to insure that a broad mix of historical interpretations and approaches are provided for our students. Clearly then, the academic as well as the cultural ramifications of the problem warrant a serious search for solutions beyond what is currently being done. An overall strategy requires, in my judgment, more concerted action at three principal levels:
While several of these ideas are already being advocated or discussed at various levels, the critical need of the moment is for a comprehensive, coordinated strategy for addressing the problem directly. On the first point, which is for the long term aim of developing more interest in the study of history, a high priority must be given to improving the teaching of history from the elementary grades through the secondary schools. Fortunately, there is a growing recognition of the need, reflected most recently in the Bradley Commission report, Building a History Curriculum: Guidelines for Teaching History in the Schools, and in the report of the Association of American Colleges, among others. These recommendations merit serious consideration by history teachers. But the point needs to be reiterated here that history teachers must be trained to make the study of the subject at all levels more appealing for students, particularly for minorities. Too often history is being taught as boring recitations of names and dates without any meaningful framework of references or insights that might be germane to students' interests or experiences. The result is that many students develop a dislike for the subject. Moreover, for African-American students, I suggest that the often failure to include the study of the African-American historical experience diminishes their desire to cultivate a love and appreciation for history. Admittedly it is not always easy to stimulate student interests; nevertheless, public schools have an obligation to make the study of history a dynamic learning experience with a broad appeal and sensitivity to minority student interests. This necessarily places a critical responsibility on the history teacher whatever his or her racial or ethnic identity. Here the training, or perhaps retraining in some instances, of history teachers is a key consideration. Well trained teachers are more likely to have the analytical, interpretative skills, and the historical insights to be effective, stimulating teachers. Clearly the colleges and universities will have to assume a greater responsibility in monitoring and improving the training of history teachers. The state of Virginia, I think, is taking the lead in the right direction. The recent revisions in Virginia teacher education programs, requiring majors in the discipline rather than in education, will no doubt produce far better trained history teachers teachers more capable, I would think, of nurturing future historians into the stream that leads to academic careers in teaching history. None of this is to suggest that some good teaching does not occur in the school systems. However more needs to be done. As for the role of history departments in predominantly black institutions, there are actions some of these departments might take or expand within the limits of their resources to recruit, encourage, and prepare increased numbers of their majors for graduate study. Unfortunately, the climate for recruiting history majors is still not as favorable as one would wish. My experiences with African-American students and their choices of a major reveal one rather pervasive difficulty, among others, confronting history departments: Far too many high school counselors, it seems, do not view a history degree as a marketable skill. These counselors are apparently oblivious of the applicability of the skills acquired in history for any number of jobs in both the private and public sectors. Consequently, students are more often advised to pursue majors in political science or sociology rather than history. This suggests that history has an image problem that needs to be addressed by history departments. One possible solution, I believe, would be establishing a closer working relationship between history depart- ments, high school counselors and history teachers. University professors more conversant with history job opportunities for minorities in higher education might serve as resource persons to receptive high school counselors and teachers in encouraging more African-Americans to the discipline. At Norfolk State University, the History Department has several on-going activities and programs designed to increase the number of majors. The Department works closely with University Admissions in contacting by letter those students whom that office has identified as being interested in pursuing a major in history. Another is the History Department's two-plus-two agreements with the community colleges whereby students complete their first two years at the community college and the last two at Norfolk State. While the program is open to all students, the arrangement is also a means of attracting more African-Americans into the History Department. There are similar activities that we see as having recruiting benefits to the extent that they serve to heighten student interest in historical studies. Faculty members, for example, who participate in National History Day contests develop contacts with local high school students and faculties. Periodically, the History Department sponsors colloquiums or panel discussions on timely issues or topics which, in addition to exposing students to scholarly, informed discussions, may for the more perceptive increase their appreciation for the relevance of historical studies to the contemporary world. The annual Black History Month observances are no doubt the most historically oriented event on our campus and generally elicit the most enthusiastic student response. And more often than not, African-American historians are usually the most prominent role model participants for our students. Obviously, there is no way of knowing how many majors we attract as a result of these programs, but we do believe that such programs help to create a more favorable appreciation for the study of history. Since for many students history does not conjure up an image of generating jobs, it has to be dramatized and promoted sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly, to our students as an endeavor worthy of their undertaking: That in addition to being intellectually rewarding, it provides career opportunities as well. Academically, the department has a rather traditional program of study in history, with students being given the option of selecting a program or sequence of study according to his or her interests and professional plans. Each program is designed to provide the majors with a balanced foundation in historical studies along with the necessary writing, research, and analytical skills. Students planning to do graduate studies are strongly advised to select the history-liberal arts program with its somewhat stronger emphasis on preparation for advanced study. Although the Department has a history-social sciences sequence for the preparation of teachers, and a pre-law sequence for those interested in a legal education, these students are also majors in history and are adequately prepared for graduate study in history should they desire to do so. Nor does the Department and its faculty neglect opportunities to enrich the students' experiences beyond their formal classroom studies. In 1988 when Norfolk State University was one of the host institutions for the Southern Historical Association's meeting in Norfolk, several history majors participated in the proceedings. The department has also developed an excellent working relationship with the General Douglas McArthur Foundation in Norfolk where several of our students participate in some of their research projects. Yet there is a limit to what history departments can do to increase the pool of undergraduate majors for graduate study. Unlike the natural sciences, history departments are generally not the recipients of scholarship funds, federal grants, or any other kind of financial aid. Without scholarships to attract highly competent students, history departments will remain at a disadvantage in the competition for the more talented students. Perhaps foundations and corporations which support predominantly black institutions are not aware of the seriousness of the declining numbers among African-American historians as they are of the need to train more black scientists or doctors. But in the future such friends of black institutions would do well to give serious consideration to the problem when allocating funds to those colleges and universities. As for the role of graduate history departments in addressing the crisis, there are to my knowledge a few with scholarships for minorities, but we are no longer flooded with announcements of history scholarships for African-Americans as we were in the 1960s. While by no means the only factor, the decline in the availability of scholarships is in some measure a contributing factor to the present crisis. And given the cost of higher education, unless more financial aid is forthcoming, the problem will be difficult to resolve. Recently, I wrote some twenty or more graduate history departments inquiring about the availability of African-Americans being awarded doctorates or at least candidates for the terminal degree; the response was more disappointing than I had anticipated. The one or two departments who responded either had none, or if they had any recently, they had already secured positions. What then can graduate history departments do to reverse this alarming trend? Several steps might be pursued: Making more scholarships or fellowships available for African-Americans would obviously be one. A second would be exploring the possibility of establishing summer study programs in history for African-American students, sponsored by a consortium of university history departments; possibly on a regional basis. These programs might be structured similar to the Virginia Council for Higher Education program for encouraging more African-Americans to enter graduate studies; however, they should focus these programs specifically for students contemplating graduate studies in history. The funding of such programs would have to be worked out by the universities involved. The National Endowment for the Humanities, the Ford Foundation, as well as others, might be receptive to the idea. The seriousness of the crisis, in my judgment, warrants exploring any number of possibilities. Finally, given the scope of the problem, which, to be sure, in part lies deep in the economic and social conditions of contemporary society, and not just with current problems in American education, it seems evident that a collective effort is required to deal with this crisis. However, history departments from the undergraduate to the graduate levels must assume the major responsibility of recruiting and training more African-Americans to take their places in the profession. Recruiting Minorities to the History Profession: An Informal Interview with Dr. Edgar A. Toppin, Dean of the Graduate School, Virginia State University Michael J. Galgano, Editor Dr. Edgar A. Toppin, Dean of the Graduate School and Professor of History at Virginia State University, has written and lectured extensively on various aspects of the historical profession. A distinguished scholar, his leadership on various boards, including Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and the National Park Service, has helped expand our historical vision and increase opportunities for minority historians. Dr. Toppin holds the B.A. from Howard University and completed the Ph.D. at Northwestern University in 1955. In addition to numerous publications in intellectual, business, and African-American history, he has taught and lectured across the country. His insights as a student, faculty member, and administrator are particularly useful as the profession explores new strategies to attract and retain minorities. Dr. Toppin, how do you attract students to your graduate programs? As Dean of a small graduate school with limited resources, our recruiting activities are somewhat constrained; however, each year, as my schedule permits, I visit a variety of neighboring and regional schools, speak before career fairs, and maintain close contact with faculty at many institutions. Since I am the only graduate recruiter for Virginia State, I am not able to visit as many schools as I would wish. Virginia State does recruit actively at both historically black and white institutions and has been successful over the years in drawing qualified students of every race to our programs. I also participate in two pioneering programs sponsored annually by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. The first, a graduate information conference, hosted in alternate years by Virginia State and Norfolk State Universities respectively, has attracted substantial numbers of students over the past decade. Juniors and seniors (and some sophomores) from the various state colleges and universities meet with graduate deans and faculty to discuss graduate programs, scholarship and fellowship opportunities, and the application process. The students are selected by their home institution. The two-day conference encourages a good deal of personal dialogue and allows students to allay their concerns about what might be expected of them in gradu- ate school and what its environment might be like. Although it is primarily designed to attract minorities to graduate programs in Virginia, it has helped many students to think seriously about graduate work more broadly. Because many students do not think about career options until relatively late, the conference is an excellent motivator. Speakers exude their personal excitement about the academic profession and their enthusiasm is contagious. The other program sponsored by the State Council has also been valuable in recruiting potential graduate students. For six weeks each summer, a select group of students enroll in a funded workshop to familiarize them with graduate school. Seminars in subject areas form the core of the program which alternates annually between Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia for African-American and other minority students, and Norfolk State and Virginia State primarily for white students. Though both programs seek to expose students to a different racial atmosphere from the one they are accustomed to, both have been integrated over the years. The campus experience gives students a taste of graduate life and helps them set goals. For most, it boosts their confidence and motivates them. They also bring word of the summer program back to their own schools and have become the program's best recruiters. These two state activities supplement our own recruiting efforts nicely and have helped augment the pool of graduate applicants in recent years. I would emphasize the critical importance of personal contact in encouraging students to seek graduate education. Once students are enrolled in graduate programs at Virginia State, what is your involvement with them? Once a student has matriculated at Virginia State University, my personal involvement increases. My main efforts are in keeping up with their progress, corresponding with them and counseling them individually. These activities obviously supplement those of the academic departments and advisors. Sometimes a student may not have selected the program most appropriate to his abilities or interests and by maintaining close contact with individuals, I can recommend changes. I am also highly visible on campus, speaking to student groups, addressing the student body, and teaching classes. Students know me and my research. During the course of individual conversations, I try to emphasize our shared heritage. Neither of my parents was well educated. Like many of our students, I grew up in a home where there were few books, though my parents certainly encouraged my progress and did not throw roadblocks in my way. Our students can readily relate to these experiences. I think it is important that they understand faculty struggles as well as successes. If we are to be mentors, the goal we help students set for themselves must be one they recognize as achievable. The environment you describe at Virginia State University is a nurturing one. How do you prepare students for the transition to a more impersonal atmosphere of a larger graduate school? When advising students preparing for further graduate work, I describe the impersonal nature of larger institutions as a fact and not a personal insult. I encourage them to see themselves fitting in to smaller groupings within the larger institution and to use this perception to establish and maintain their identity. For example, students might see themselves as historians first, then American historians, then African-American historians, etc. If they identify with students and faculty according to these smaller groupings, the size and coldness of a vast institution is less formidable. I also stress that students should assume they are part of these groups from the very outset of their studies instead of hanging back and using race as a chip on their shoulder. Many years ago, when I was employed as the first black faculty member at a small university in Ohio, I remember meeting with the president who expressed concern about what would happen if either I didn't like the school or they didn't like me. What he meant, of course, was what would happen if my race was perceived as a problem? How would I respond? In answering his question, I said the fact of my race never occurred to me. I asked only to be evaluated in the same way as other faculty on the basis of my classroom teaching and scholarship. My students are urged to approach graduate school in a like manner. This is especially important when going to a school or an area where there are few blacks. Our students are well prepared and should be able to compete scholastically. What is your involvement with Virginia State graduates who wish to continue their studies? Through a fairly extensive network of informal academic contacts built up over many years, I am able to recommend students to a number of graduate schools. Colleagues and friends from many institutions contact me regularly to discuss our current students and seek my assistance in pointing them to their programs. Virginia State has enjoyed an excellent track record. Our graduates have succeeded at many prestigious institutions, including Columbia, California, Purdue, and Cincinnati. Two July 1990 graduates were admitted to strong Ph.D. programs this fall. In both instances, the students elected to postpone their acceptances and acquire some teaching experience. One was hired by a community college in Oklahoma and the other by a four-year school here in Virginia. Both have received assurances of leaves to complete their degrees and continued employment once they finish. These institutions operate programs comparable to the old Southern Fellowships Fund. It used to award grants to faculty at historically black institutions allowing them to return to Ph.D. programs and complete their degrees. Inherent in the program, which no longer exists, was the idea that the faculty member would resume teaching at his former college. The Fund allowed many financially strapped faculty to finish the Ph.D. While there are some comparable funding organizations, much more could be done in this area. To what extent do you recommend a break in education after the M.A.? I went straight through to the Ph.D. and generally advocate that line when possible. In some cases however, students have accumulated significant debt and need an opportunity to repay some money before increasing it again in graduate school. Of course, if they are bright enough, they will be able to compete for financial assistance; although fellowships, scholarships and assistantships seldom cover the full costs. For some students, it is equally important that they do some teaching along the way because they question whether or not they are making the right decision. Being in front of a classroom often provides that spark. Shifting directions, what do you see as some of the problems and opportunities associated with an aging faculty and minority recruitment? Recently, I have received a number of calls and letters from community college faculty. Their institutions are beginning to lose some of their more experienced people to senior colleges where they are replacing retiring faculty. On the one hand, this situation is creating havoc for the community colleges. At the same time, it offers an opportunity for young people particularly those with the M.A., to acquire some teaching experience. Since these institutions are so plentiful as Lincoln said of the poor people, ``God must have loved them to have made so many'' they offer many teaching slots to students. Small colleges also seldom have summer sessions; therefore, it is more possible for faculty there to use summers to begin doctoral studies. The small colleges and community colleges may well be a new avenue for recruiting and staffing to replace an aging faculty. Has your institution seen much ``raiding'' of its faculty by other schools seeking either to fill retirement slots or increase the number of minority faculty? There has not been much raiding at Virginia State. We are a typical historically black university and, like our sister institutions, have had an integrated faculty for as long as our governing body permitted us. At the present time, between twenty and twenty-five percent of the faculty is white and another ten to fifteen percent Asian. In the history department, there are five white faculty and seven black. Ever since 1964 when the Board first allowed an integrated faculty at Virginia State, the institution hired irrespective of race, although I certainly do not envision a time when we would have either an all white or all black faculty. I have received a number of offers and was a Visiting Professor at William and Mary. That experience was particularly valuable because I had a chance to finish a book as well as experience another environment. I plan to pursue other visiting professorships once I reach retirement, but not before. What suggestions would you offer to history departments seeking to increase the pool of minority faculty? I am not certain any of my thoughts on this subject are unique; however, I would recommend that departments first try to ``grow their own,'' encouraging the intellectual development of their own undergraduates. Faculty might establish a departmental network to identify good students, nurture them in the major, advise them to seek suitable graduate programs, and then hire them back at the end of their studies. Departments might also use summer teaching opportunities to entice qualified candidates to their campuses. Advanced graduate students could be offered summer teaching to help them gain experience and earn some money. At the same time, the more relaxed summer atmosphere on most campuses would allow departments to see an applicant in an actual teaching situation and to better decide how that individual might fit a department's needs. A third potential source is international faculty. Medicine has led the way in this area and university faculty should become more active in drawing international minority scholars to their colleges. Public history also presents some opportunities. Many students have taken their historical skills to museums and might well be encouraged to continue their studies and shift careers to academic teaching. The future is bright and the discipline seems more active in nurturing a richer, more diverse group of faculty. Meeting The Need for Minority Historians Kermit L. Hall In May 1990, the Department of History at the University of Florida hosted an invitational workshop on meeting the need for African-American and Latino historians. The workshop was organized by Professors Hunt Davis and Robert Zieger, and it included fifty participants from the University of Florida, faculty from top-ten public institutions, historically black Southern colleges, two-year Florida colleges, Louis Harlan, President of AHA, and Nora Lee Frankel, the AHA staff person for minority affairs. Representatives from private and public foundations also attended. Those in attendance, many of whom had extensive experience with minority programs, were asked to explore ways to recruit minority students, navigate them through doctoral programs, and place them once they earned their degrees. The scope of the problem is sobering. Nationally, of the 488 persons awarded doctoral degrees in history in 1988 (the most recent year for complete data), only 21 were African American (8) or Hispanic (12). Not only are both groups dramatically under represented in the profession but the numbers of minority students enrolling in history graduate programs continue to decline. With a dwindling supply of new minority Ph.D.s, the market to recruit not only recent graduates but established minority faculty has become increasingly competitive. There are not enough minority historians to meet current demands let alone future requirements. The University of Florida Department of History faces a particularly daunting task. The department has never awarded an African-American a Ph.D. in history and only a few have received the M.A. The record for Hispanic students is somewhat better, thanks to the presence of a nationally renowned doctoral program in Latin American history, but still much work remains to be done. Dealing with the issue is critical, because of the college's and the department's ambitions to move into the ranks of the top-ten public research universities in the country. Schools such as the University of Michigan have already developed minority recruitment programs at a far quicker pace than Florida. The task is compounded by a wave of national publicity surrounding the formation of a White Student Union on campus. Dr. Fred Gainous, an African-American graduate of Florida and current Chancellor of the Alabama College System, illustrated the way perceptions hamper even the best intended efforts to promote greater racial harmony. He recounted not only his experience as a graduate student but the decision by his daughter, a recent high school honors graduate, not to attend the university. Gainous explained that she decided to enroll elsewhere because of the university's problematic history of race relations and the continuing controversy surrounding the White Student Union. Angleo Perez, who teaches at Hillsborough Community College, made a similar argument about the fate of Latino students, and he echoed the conclusions of the university's Quality of Life Task Force that too often minorities were set in competition with one another for scarce resources. Other participants argued that the department and the university need more minority faculty and that the curriculum needs to address the experience and contributions of persons of color. They also concluded that many minority undergraduate students knew little about the personal and professional regards of serving the academy, that what they did know was often erroneous, and that they harbored an unrealistic view of the rewards that would flow from careers in business and law. In sum, the workshop determined that historians were not doing a good job of explaining either the importance or the rewards of their profession to minority undergraduates. The workshop urged the department to develop a strategy to identify minority students with an aptitude for history in their sophomore years and encourage those students to build their skills. The centerpiece of that program should be a six-week summer institute staffed by department faculty and historians from outside the university. The institute would feature an innovative curriculum that would emphasize the methods and purposes of history, examine the most promising avenues of historical inquiry, explain the rewards (and pitfalls) of a career in history, and help to prepare participants for the rigors of graduate study. The program would not end with the summer institute; instead, the department would place students with academic mentors at their home institutions (including the University of Florida) with whom they could work in the capacity of paid research assistants. Such continuing contact, the workshop concluded, was critical to shepherding those students into graduate school. The department must build a network of history faculty at Florida and cooperating institutions who are willing to act as talent scouts and mentors. Once students are placed in graduate school, they will become alumni and recruiters for the program. The three-day workshop served to clarify the complex and difficult challenges in guiding a graduate program with an ethnically diverse graduate student body. Based on the suggestions made by workshop participants, the department has submitted proposals for funding to the U.S. Department of Education and several private foundations. |
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