In a year or so, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Dr. Jessica Harris hopes her newly written book will make a good and lasting contribution to 20th Century African American history. She is an historical studies assistant professor in SIUE’s College of Arts and Sciences.
The book will be the result of Harris’ winning the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation’s Career Enhancement Fellowship for Junior Faculty. She was one of several junior faculty members selected nationwide to participate in the competitive program. The fellowship is effective from June 1, 2014-June 30, 2015.
“I was surprised and am still taking it all in,” Harris said. “I will spend the year finishing my book. The working title is Before the Panthers: Black Women and the Struggle for Civil Rights in Oakland, California 1900-1940.”
The objective of the Career Enhancement Fellowship for Junior Faculty (CEFJF) is to “increase the presence of under-represented minority junior faculty members and other faculty committed to eradicating racial disparities in core fields in the arts and sciences.”
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation provides the Mellon Foundation grant used to administer the program. Winners enjoy a year-long sabbatical, a senior faculty mentor and a three-day retreat. Harris will attend the retreat from June 23-25 in Atlanta, Ga.
In 2011 Harris received her Ph.D. in 20th Century U.S. in African American History from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.. She came to SIUE in 2011. Some of the course subjects that Harris has taught and is teaching at SIUE include: the History of Black America, U.S. history from 1877 to the present, Love, Labor Liberation: Black Women in the 20th Century, The Black Freedom Movement, and Black Greek-Letter Organizations in Historical Perspective.
Harris names two books that have most influenced her approach to teaching African American history: The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois and The Miseducation of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson. As for research, the book that most impacted her studies on African American women was Too Heavy a Load: Black Women in Defense of Themselves, 1894-1994 by Deborah Gray White.
“I see my research as part of long standing efforts by scholars, in a range of fields, to document the experiences of African Americans in the United States,” Harris said, “and likewise, make visible their contributions to this nation’s history and culture.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville provides students with a high quality, affordable education that prepares them for successful careers and lives of purpose. Built on the foundation of a broad-based liberal education, and enhanced by hands-on research and real-world experiences, the academic preparation SIUE students receive equips them to thrive in the global marketplace and make our communities better places to live. Situated on 2,660 acres of beautiful woodland atop the bluffs overlooking the natural beauty of the Mississippi River’s rich bottom land and only a short drive from downtown St. Louis, the SIUE campus is home to a diverse student body of nearly 14,000.
Photo: Dr. Jessica Harris