Our History

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is surrounded by a group of people while visiting Stanford University on April 23, 1964

Courtesy of Stanford Libraries.

1968

First named the “Program in African and Afro-American Studies,” the interdisciplinary program was formed by a committee headed by Professor James L. Gibbs, Jr. of the Anthropology Department in 1968, and was the direct result of student activism on campus.

The meaning of the Sankofa symbol is "return and get it" –– a West African symbol illustrating the importance of learning from the past.

1969

Joined by AAAS director Dr. St. Clair Drake, Professor Gibbs continued to be actively involved by serving on the Steering Committee and the Executive Committee for AAAS. He was instrumental in designing the AAAS 105 course–the introductory course required for all majors and minors in AAAS.

Dr. St. Clair Drake stands at the front of a classroom, and is speaking with another person whose back is turned. — Dr. St. Clair Drake. Photo from *BLACK 70,* an African-American Stanford yearbook edited by Joyce King in 1970.

Members of Stanford’s Black Student Union (BSU) "took the mic" from provost Richard Lyman at a university wide convocation entitled "Colloquium and Plan for Action: Stanford's Response to White Racism." Courtesy of Stanford Libraries.

A Black fist raised proudly in the air. — Photo from *BLACK 70,* an African-American Stanford yearbook edited by Joyce King in 1970.

1969-1974

Dr. St. Clair Drake served as the first Chairperson of the program from 1969-1976. Drake developed several student initiated courses such as the Workshop in Community Development; the Workshop in Performing Arts; and the Workshop in Economic and Political Analysis.

1976-1979

Professor Sylvia Wynter (Spanish and Portuguese) becomes director of AAAS. During her tenure as Chairperson, Professor Wynter brought the Committee on Black Performing Arts under the umbrella of AAAS. She also introduced additional courses into the AAAS curriculum.

1990-1995

Director Professor Horace Porter (English) implements the annual St. Clair Drake Memorial Lecture. Professor Porter continues to enhance the intellectual impact of the program by bringing to campus scholars such as Geneva Smitherman, Barbara Fielding, and Martin Kilson.

1974-1975

Thom Rhue served as Interim Director for two years from 1974-1976 (under the guidance of Dr. Drake) while completing his Ph.D. work in the Sociology of Education and subsequently serving as Acting Assistant Professor of Sociology. Rhue's tenure was during a politically tumultuous time and he worked to keep student participation in the program high. He concentrated his efforts in trying to meet the needs of a diverse student population consisting of students reflecting Nationalist and Marxist perspectives as well as others with more conservative backgrounds.

1980-1989

Director Professor Kennell Jackson (History) introduced Lecture Series, revamped the curriculum, renovated Harmony House, and established Undergraduate Scholars Program.

1990

Founding Director, St. Clair Drake passes away.

Photo courtesy of Stanford Libraries.

Four days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Members of the Black Student Union (BSU) "Took the Mic" from Provost issuing ten demands to the university, including demands to create

The meaning of the Hye Won Hye symbol is "that which does not burn" –– a West African symbol illustrating imperishability and endurance.

1996-1998

Dr. Morris Graves serves as director of AAAS for two years from 1996-1998. Under the directorship of Graves, the African and Afro-American Studies Majors and Minors Association was developed. He creates an associate director position. Dr. Diann McCants served as the first Associate Director.

1997

AAAS became a housed inside the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity.

Text reads: "THE BLACK PLEDGE. We pledge allegiance to our great Black bothers who died for us, that we will study together, learn together, and walk together in their footsteps. There are no graves, no vaults, and no stones that can hold back their greatness. What they stood for and died for, can never be killed by bullets, racial discrimination, and social injustice. We will never beg for mercy and we will never run away. We will stand up and walk together to fulfill their dreams. AUTHOR UNKNOWN"

Few teaching materials in 1973 addressed African or African-American culture. So Stanford’s Black Volunteer Center compiled its own, edited by Grace Carroll Massey, '71, MA ’72, PhD ’75, right, with Marilyn Monmouth, Linda (Spears-) Bunton, MA ’71, and Kimble Smith. Massey became renowned for her research on race and stress, while Spears-Bunton leads the English Education graduate program at Florida International University. *The Stanford Daily.*

1998-2005

Dr. John Rickford (of Linguistics) took over as the new director of AAAS in the fall of 1998 and worked with Associate Director Vera Grant from 2001. His innovations included the creation of Learning Expeditions (traveling to South Carolina Sea Islands, Jamaica, Ghana, and Belize), the Black Book Collection Contest, and Archives of interviews with lecturers focusing on Black themes.

2005-2007

Director Professor Lawrence Bobo (Sociology) With Associate Director Vera Grant, he led Learning Expeditions to Paris, France and Harlem, New York.

Three women pose at the 2018 Black Panther screening. — Photo from the 2018 *Black Panther* screening.

Student Mysia Anderson gives a senior presentation in 2017.

African and African American Studies 2017 senior presentations. Featured: Mysia Anderson.

2007-2010

Director Professor Michele Elam (English) and Associate Directors Dr. Cheryl Richardson (2008-2009) and Dr. Cheryl Brown (2009-2010) introduce “Race Forward,” a 3 year initiative to collaborate with fields of research and teaching that have not historically engaged critical race studies or where scholars or students of color have been underrepresented. The university-wide initiative integrated the critical study of race with studies of faith, the environment and public health.

The meaning of the Ananse Ntontan symbol is "spider's web" –– a West African symbol of wisdom, creativity and the complexities of life.

2010-2013

Director Professor Arnetha Ball (School of Education) added a fourth theme to the "Race Forward" initiative (2010). Together with Associate Director Dr. Cheryl Brown they hosted a number lectures and events throughout the 2011-2012 year to address issues of race in education. In 2012, Dr. Ball, develops a new community oriented comparative research program focused for students who want to do research on communities nationally and internationally.

Brian Stelfreeze sitting, with a microphone

A conversation with Brian Stelfreeze, the artist responsible for helping to revive Marvel's Black Panther (2018) with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Jemele Hill, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, and DeJuana Thompson sit together in large arm chairs, on a stage with an audience looking on. They are engaged in a conversation and appear to be laughing or smiling.

The St. Clair Drake Memorial Lectures are dedicated to the memory of Professor St. Clair Drake, the founding director of the Program in African & African...

The St. Clair Drake Memorial Lectures are dedicated to the memory of Professor St. Clair Drake, the founding director of the Program in African & African American Studies at Stanford University.

Page 68 from BLACK 70, an African-American Stanford yearbook edited by Joyce King in 1970. Text reads: "Now 1970. "As a student who has witnessed Stanford '66 through '70, just to see this Yearbook produced is a testament to the progress of our Black Students Union and as such the Spirit of Black people on campus: Nairobi Schools are functioning beautifully, giving young Black minds real education with the help of Black Stanford students; the Afro-American Studies Program is flourishing under St. Clair Drak — Page 68 from *BLACK 70,* an African-American Stanford yearbook edited by Joyce King in 1970.

2013-2016

In 2013, Dr. H. Samy Alim began his term as director. Professor Alim began a university-wide initiative "Race in Post-Obama America: New Approaches to New Problems in "the New America." In the Spring of 2015 Professor Alim co-taught a course entitled, "Race, Policing & Mass Incarceration" as part of this three year initiative.

2016-2019

Professor Allyson Hobbs (History) began her term as director, reviving the learning expeditions and taking senior majors on a trip to the National Smithsonian of African American History and Culture. Hobbs continued to strengthen the curriculum of the program and has introduced new thematic emphases to the major. Following the 2016 Presidential election, Hobbs alongside Associate Director, Jakeya Caruthers introduced a new theme of programs focusing on Race, Rights & Resistance. Hobbs also expanded the office staff to now include a Program Manager in addition to the Student Services Officer and Associate Director.

2020-2021

Professor Arnetha Ball (Education) serves as the Interim Faculty Director during the Summer and Fall of 2020, hiring Dr. Katie Dieter as the new Associate Director in Fall 2020. Professor Arnetha Ball (AAAS Interim Faculty Director), Dr. Hadiya Sewer (AAAS Research Fellow), and Dr. Kimberly McNair (AAAS Postdoctoral Scholar) launch a special issue publication called The 2020 Project to record the experiences and reflections of the broader Stanford community as history unfolded in 2020.

2021-2022

Professor Vaughn Rasberry (English) becomes the Interim Faculty Director in Fall 2021. Dr. Kimberly McNair curates a photography exhibition titled “We Want a Free Planet: Black Panther Party Photo Exhibition,” which showcased photographs taken by Black Panther Party veteran and bodyguard to Huey P. Newton, Mr. Billy X Jennings. The exhibition was housed in the McMurtry building and Harmony House. In February 2021, then Provost Persis Drell announced that the Framework Task Force—which was charged with proposing a new framework on the study of race at Stanford—recommended the departmentalization of AAAS. This announcement followed the tireless organizing of student, faculty, and staff advocates during the year, capping a 50 + year history of lobbying for the departmentalization of AAAS. The Committee on the Departmentalization of AAAS convened in May 2021.

2022-2023

Professor Grant Parker (Classics) becomes the Interim Faculty Director in Fall 2022. Developed under the direction of Professor Grant Parker, in collaboration with Associate Director Dr. Katie Dieter, the Living Archive of Black Studies (LABS) was created to serve as a dynamic reservoir of knowledge and expression, actively engaged in the preservation, exploration, and dissemination of the multifaceted narratives of AAAS at Stanford. LABS is a living archive of in-depth interviews, photos, and media of key figures who played a crucial role in the foundation, establishment, and flourishing of African and African American Studies at Stanford University. In Fall 2022, Dr. Katie Dieter expands the office staff to include a new position of Finance and Administrative Manager and promotes Sasha Jackson (then Administrative Associate) to the role of a new position of Communication and Events Coordinator in preparation for departmentalization. Professor Ato Quayson (English) is announced as the inaugural chair of the new Department of African and African American Studies, which is set to launch on January 1, 2024.

Fall 2023

Professor Ato Quayson takes on the role of Interim Faculty Director in African and African American Studies for the Fall 2023 quarter. Dr. Katie Dieter leads AAAS creative honors thesis students on a learning expedition to Kingston, Jamaica to attend the Rex Nettleford Arts Conference at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, sponsored in part by the Burt McMurtry Arts Initiative grant and AAAS. AAAS hires Sandra Kiapi as the inaugural Director of Finance and Operations and Dr. Katie Dieter becomes the inaugural Director of Advanced Studies and Community Engaged Learning for the new Department of African and African American Studies. After Debra Satz, Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, and the Provost gave their approvals, the Board of Trustees officially approved the new Department of African and African American Studies at its October 2023 meeting.

2024-present

The Department of African and African American Studies (DAAAS) officially launches on January 1, 2024. Eight Stanford faculty have joint appointments in DAAAS including Vaughn Rasberry, Rachel Jean-Baptiste, Joel Cabrita, Grant Parker, Lerone Martin, Aaron Van Jordan, Ato Quayson, and Jennifer Brody* (*in August 2024). The new DAAAS has two faculty searches underway in the areas of Caribbean Studies and Black Studies in the Arts. A new robust curriculum is announced for the department which includes three tracks, language study, and exciting community engaged learning opportunities for students. The first day that undergraduate students will be able to declare the DAAAS major or minor is September 1, 2024. In addition, students who wish to continue their major or minor in the African and African American Studies interdisciplinary program are free to do so; students can declare the AAAS IDP major and minor through August 31, 2024 (the AAAS IDP remains a program in H&S but will no longer accept new majors and minors after September 1, 2024). Plans for designing the new building to house the DAAAS in the main quad are underway.