Breaking Barriers: Early Colleges Shaped by African American Women

Photo by Andy Wang on Unsplash

Renowned scholar Linda M. Perkins will soon release her latest book offering new insights into the experiences of African American women in higher education. Her new book is titled, To Advance the Race: Black Women's Higher Education from the Antebellum Era to the 1960s.

As University Professor and director of Applied Gender Studies at Claremont Graduate University, Perkins has dedicated her career to researching the history of African-American women’s education and access to elite institutions.

With a PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Perkins has established herself as a leading historian of women’s and African-American higher education. She has held leadership positions in key academic organizations including the American Educational Research Association.

Perkins' forthcoming book synthesizes her extensive research on African American undergraduate women at historically black colleges and universities through World War II. The book will share new findings on how race, gender and class impacted these students' experiences at institutions like Fisk University, Howard University and Tuskegee Institute.

Complementing decades of scholarship on African American women in higher education, this latest contribution provides a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities these pioneers encountered. Perkins' book promises powerful insights from examining the intersection of identity for black women pursuing college degrees in the early 20th century.

Bridging academic and public audiences, Perkins' book contributes an important voice to ongoing dialogues about diversity and inclusion in higher education. Stay tuned for the forthcoming release of this new title from a leading scholar making history by documenting it.

Amanda Golden-Peace

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