An Oral History Project Conducted by John Robert Lewis Fellow Terrance L. Thomas
Project Description
The Civil Rights Movements of the 1950s-60s had a profound impact on the lives of Black Americans specific and the American social order in general. One of the ways this movement shifted this lived reality was through education, in particular the push for an education that sought to empower and ultimate liberate millions of Black Americans and bring into community countless others. One of the ways this push took place was the creation of the discipline of Black Studies.
Born in the aftermath of Stokely Carmichael’s call for Black Power (which dramatically shifted the Civil Rights Movement) Black Studies was birthed at San Francisco State College in late 1966. Under the direction of Dr. Nathan Hare, this academic discipline sought to remedy centuries of miseducation of American people on issues of race, class and gender. Over the next 5 years, this new academic discipline would explode and spread, and one of those places was a junior college in Chicago: Olive Harvey College.
Being the only Black Studies Department at a junior college for decades, Olive Harvey’s College’s Department was one of the leading voices in the Black Studies Movement. One of the ways this was demonstrated was through the created of its Annual Black Studies Conference, which for a time was the longest running conference of its type. The brainchild behind this conference was Professor Armstead Allen.
This oral history project will explore how the Civil Rights Movement impacted Professor Allen and how those experiences lead him to the field of Black Studies and the creation of the Annual Black Studies Conference.
Oral History Interview with Armstead Allen - 06/17/2024
Presentation Slides
Presentation Recording