History department doctoral student Gloria Ashaolu was just published in the Journal of African American History, a leading journal in the profession. Ashaolu’s article, “Rich Cargoes of Contributions”: Jane Dabney Shackelford and the Early Black History Movement,” traces the life and times of Jane Dabney Shackelford reveal new stories about the educational strivings and activism of local Black women teachers during the Early Black History Movement. Drawing from Shackelford’s writings, the Journal of Negro History, the Negro History Bulletin, and letters in tandem with other primary sources, this article examines Shackelford’s contributions to this movement that is most often associated with Carter G. Woodson, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), and the popularization of Black history that began with the founding of Negro History Week in 1926. Centering Shackelford, it explores the impact of the convergence of the Progressive Era ethos that shaped teaching programs at renowned northern universities and the Harlem Renaissance. Highlighting the centrality of the ASNLH to the Early Black History Movement and the importance of the partnership forged with local women schoolteachers like Shackelford, this article discusses the usefulness of the learning materials Black teachers created and imparted to their students as windows into historical memory during Shackelford’s time.
The article is available at: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/732141