The Black History Movement during the Depression

Abstract

This chapter explores Reddick’s pioneering work in the fledgling field of black history. During the 1930s, Reddick worked as a professor of history at Kentucky State College and Dillard University, and he took a leading role in the black fraternity Phi Beta Sigma. He also completed his PhD in history from the University of Chicago, where he studied under the Lost Cause scholar Avery O. Craven. While tracking Reddick’s activities across these institutions, special focus is on Reddick’s contributions to Carter Woodson’s Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. Reddick gathered the testimonies of former slaves and influenced the larger effort by the Works Progress Administration, published a landmark historiographical article in the Journal of Negro History, completed an innovative dissertation on the role of white newspapers in New Orleans in sowing divisions and helping provoke the Civil War, and documented racial discrimination at libraries, archives, journals, and conferences.