Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham

The first African American to be tenured in the History Department at Harvard, Higginbotham is also the first African American to head this department as chair from 2018-2020. Higginbotham broke ground with her 1993 book, Righteous Discontent: The Women's Movement in the Black Baptist Church: 1880-1920, deploying the concept of the politics of respectability to capture the strategy of racial uplift among blacks of the pre-civil rights era; it is essential reading in her field and of enduring relevance beyond it. Higginbotham co-authored with John Hope Franklin the ninth edition and tenth edition of his canonical work, From Slavery to Freedom. She thoroughly revised and rewrote the book, such that it remains a critical text for educators at every level. No African American woman has ever practiced history with greater distinction or respect than Higginbotham, and in her influential role as President of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, she is devoting her leadership to the cause of public history. Honors include the 2014 National Humanities Medal (September 2015).