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William Sanders Scarborough: The First African American Member of the Modern Language Association

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 October 2020

Michele Valerie Ronnick*
Affiliation:
Wayne State University

Extract

Our interest in learning about original or inaugural achievements in every field of endeavor is perennial. When a member of a traditionally disenfranchised group is an innovator, acknowledgment of the person's accomplishment is important to the well-being of the group, especially if it has been omitted from the record. Thus, it is right that we give some attention to the life of William Sanders Scarborough (1852-1926), the first professional scholar of classical studies of African American heritage and the first African American member of the MLA. In his era he rose to fame in the vanguard of the proponents of liberal arts education, but his career has been neglected since then (Ronnick, “Scarborough” [1997]).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 2000

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References

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