Black Studies Then: A Brief History
Black Culture Seminar Opens (1968)
1967-1969: Origins
The Simmons Black Student Organization (BSO) was founded in 1967. In March 1969, the BSO published a statement to the faculty called “Reading of Reality.” The students argued that they had been confronted “with many of the same apathetic, paternalistic, and racist attitudes with which Black students on white campuses all over the country are forced to deal in [their] struggle to make [their] educational experience more meaningful.” This document laid the groundwork for a list of Ten Demands, which were presented to President William Park in April 1969.
Ten Demands (1969)
1969: The Ten Demands
Included among the Ten Demands were calls for increasing recruitment of Black students and hiring of Black faculty and staff members, more financial aid dedicated for Black students, and curricular changes to reflect Black history and culture. Members of the BSO conducted a sit-in in the President’s Office, refusing to move until President Park agreed to accept the demands and make changes in administrative policy. The movement on campus led to sweeping changes in recruitment and financial aid protocols and procedures, which led to a large increase of Black students on campus in the 1970s. Simmons also hired more Black faculty and staff and increased the number of course offerings related to Black history and culture.
"We demand that plans be set forth for a major concentration for African and Afro-American Studies...."
Text from The Ten Demands, 1969
Black Affairs Program (1972)
1969-1972: The Black Studies Program
The Ten Demands also called for the creation of a Black Studies Program. As the department was under development, there were disagreements between BSO students and the Simmons administration on its direction, the director, the amount of funds allocated, and the relationship of the proposed department with existing academic departments. In 1972, the Black Studies Program was established as an interdepartmental concentration, with an aim of “increasing the awareness of all students in the Black experience.”
"The objectives of the Black Studies Program are to infuse materials on the black experience into all relevant courses and programs in the Simmons College curriculum and to stimulate the continuing development of courses and research whose primary focus is the black experience.
Of equal importance are its aims of increasing the awareness of all students in the black experience..."
Text from the 1972-1973 Simmons College Course Catalog
Simmons Promotional Poster (1980)
Our Little Black Book Auction (1981)
ABAFAZI, in The Simmons News (1991)
ABAFAZI Advertisement (1991)
1970s-2000s: Evolution of the Program
In 1974, the name of the program changed to the Afro-American Studies Program. In 1990, the name changed once more to the African American Studies Program. In 1997, the faculty voted to change the status of the program to a department. The Department of African American Studies was established, making it possible to receive a B.A. in the discipline. In 1974, the department established Vantage Point, a Black student and alumnae/i newsletter, and in 1991, the program published Abafazi: The Simmons College Review of Women of African Descent, which ran until 2005. In 2001, the department was renamed to Africana Studies to reflect the broadened focus on the study of Black history and culture from across the Africana diaspora.