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This collection of interviews
explores the experiences of African American faculty
and senior staff at UC Berkeley as part of the broader
history of the University of California and its commitment
to access and diversity.
This series is grounded in the premise that higher education is
one of
the primary strategies for gaining social equality--access to employment
and income--for historically disadvantaged communities. Moreover, the
University, comprised of its students and faculty and administration,
with all of its intellectual and financial resources operates as a critical
touchstone in processes of systemic social change. Therefore the university
functions not simply as an educational institution, but also as a significant
site of past and future potential for imagining and crafting opportunity
for ethnic and racial groups formerly excluded from higher education.
This project recognizes that the University of California, as California's
premier public educational institution, plays a significant role in the
socio-economic mobility of all of California's residents. The story that
we hope will emerge from this project is a story of California--its
people and one of its most important public institutions.
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| Oral History Transcripts |
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William Russell Ellis
Professor Ellis joined UC Berkeley’s Department of Architecture in 1970, where he taught, researched, and innovated in the intersection of sociology and architecture. He subsequently played a significant role in university administration, serving as Vice Chancellor of Undergraduate Affairs and Faculty Equity Associate, a position for which he emerged temporarily from retirement. Ellis was raised in Los Angeles and educated at Compton High School and UCLA where he gained significant recognition as an athlete before going on to become a scholar and professor of sociology. Ellis emphasized over the course of his interview that his is a California story that reflects this state’s social history and diverse population. At Berkeley, he has worked to support and grow a student population that reflects this state’s diversity.
In this interview Professor Ellis reflects on UC Berkeley and the life and times that led him here. Significant themes include: a perspective on the University of California’s institutional history from the vantage point of someone who worked for change from within the administration, a perspective on how and why affirmative action policies and programs were built and dismantled, gender and racial discrimination and academic culture, and curricular transformation catalyzed by the social movements of the 1960’s. Professor Ellis’ trajectory reflects that of a generation of African American scholars and professionals. For many in this cohort, athletic excellence and/or military service were the mechanics of mobility that allowed them to circumvent structural racism and gain access to formerly segregated institutions of higher education. Against the changing backdrop of America’s racial landscape during the ‘60s and ‘70s, Ellis and his peers leapt far beyond what had been possible for their parents and previous generations and were central in efforts to create mechanisms to increase access for minorities and women who followed them in the academy.
Video Excerpts:
Selections from the African American Faculty and Senior Staff Oral History Project |
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Jewelle Taylor Gibbs
Jewelle Taylor Gibbs started as assistant professor at the University of California School of Social Welfare in 1979, became an associate professor in 1983, a full professor in 1986, and was appointed to the endowed chair as Zellerbach Family Fund Professor of Social Policy, Community Change and Practice in 1993, a position she held until her retirement in 2000. During these years Professor Gibbs wrote influential articles and books on a wide range of topics including minority mental health, young black men in America, and the O.J. Simpson and Rodney King cases; she was a visiting scholar in the United States and abroad; and she mentored a generation of students and faculty. She received the highest academic honor at the University of California, the Berkeley Citation, and testified before Congress. Professor Gibbs had returned to graduate school when her sons were in high school; her life has followed a trajectory instructive and inspirational for women who raise their families and occupy careers which impact the public sphere in significant ways.
Professor Gibbs' committee work and professional trajectory offers insight into the culture and mechanics of change within the academy.
Audio Excerpt:
On Women at the Men's Faculty Club
Related Links:
Jewelle Taylor Gibb interviewed by The HistoryMakers on March 25, 2002 |
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Henrietta Harris
San Jose native Henrietta Harris taught courses in UC Berkeley's Drama department from 1954-1969. A formally trained classical singer and performer, she toured Europe and the United States performing a repertoire of German lieder, art songs, and spirituals. Ultimately she left the world of music for her passion: theatre. In 1964, she founded the Aldridge Players West, a pioneering black theatre ensemble that performed in San Francisco and toured historically black schools in the South.
Video Excerpt:
Henrietta Harris Video Clip |
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Harry Edwards
Professor Harry Edwards joined UC Berkeley’s department of sociology in
1971. He conducted pioneering scholarship in the area of sociology of race
and sport and is also renowned for his involvement in the famous Black
Power salute on the victory podium at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico
City. Edwards has long been a controversial figure at UC Berkeley. In
fact, several of the narrators interviewed in this series point to his
1974 tenure case when discussing curricular transformation and
discrimination in hiring and promotion.
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Reginald Jones (1931-2005)
Professor Reginald Jones joined UC Berkeley's faculty in 1973 as professor of African American Studies and adjunct professor of Education. His work pushed the educational psychology field, challenging and debunking ideas held particularly with regard to minority and disabled children. He was committed to developing and nurturing future scholars in the field of psychology.
Related Links:
Obituary |
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Smith, Mary Perry
Mary Perry Smith is a fiercely committed educator who was an advocate for young people as a local high school teacher, and as co-founder of the Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement program (MESA). Mrs. Perry Smith is also a key figure in East Bay cultural institutions with her longtime involvement with the Oakland Museum of California and the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. This interview offers some insight into Mrs. Perry Smith's commitment and philosophy with regard to education and community involvement.
Audio Excerpt:
Mary Perry Smith Audio Clip |
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Norvel Smith (1924-2004)
Dr. Norvel Smith lived through several seminal chapters in the City of Oakland's history. Graduating from Berkeley with an EdD in 1956, he was the first African American Vice Chancellor in the UC System, serving as Vice Chancellor-Student Affairs from 1973-1982. He was President of Merritt Community College for five years, from 1968-1973. From 1963 to 1968, he entered the area of community development, as Director of the Oakland Department of Human Resources and Deputy Director of the Western Region Office of Economic Opportunity. Dr. Smith was part of a group of African American men, with its beginnings in the East Bay Democratic Club, who were important actors in East Bay politics in the decades after World War II.
Audio Excerpt:
Men of Tomorrow and East Bay Democratic Club
Related Links:
Obituary
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Michelle Woods Jones
Michele Woods Jones came to Berkeley from Monterey, California, as an undergraduate in 1966, lived in coop housing, and as a student saw the Third World Strike unfold around her. Upon graduating from college, Ms. Woods Jones became a counselor in the Educational Opportunity Program, then Director of Student Services, and finally Staff Ombudsperson. Woods Jones interview is unique because of the longevity of her relationship with Berkeleys campus and the different vantage points she brings from her student and professional experiences during an era of radical social transformation.
Video Excerpts:
Reflections on Third World Strike, Third World College, and changing times
Reflections on being a student at Berkeley
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Oral Histories In Progress
Bil Banks -- Professor Emeritus of African
American Studies
Troy Duster -- Professor Emeritus of
Sociology, Former Director of the Institute for the Study
of Social Change
William A. Lester -- Professor of Chemistry and Faculty Athletics Representative
Mary Lovelace O'Neal -- Professor of
Art Practice
Margaret Wilkerson -- Professor Emerita
of African American Studies and Drama Practice, former
Director of the Center for the Study, Education and Advancement
of Women
Olly Wilson -- Composer and Professor Emeritus of Music, former Faculty Assistant for Affirmative Action |
In Memoriam |
These pioneering colleagues passed away before they could be interviewed for this African American Faculty and Senior Staff Oral History Project.
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Barbara Christian (1943-2000)
Professor of African American Studies
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O'Neil Ray Collins (1931-1989)
Professor of Botany
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Harry Morrison (1932-2002)
Professor of Physics
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William A. Shack (1923-2000)
Professor of Anthropology
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Kenneth Harlan Simmons (1933-2000)
Professor of Architecture
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Staten Wentford Webster (1928-1987)
Professor of Education |
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Last Updated: 02/03/12
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