Adele Logan Alexander facts for kids

Adele Logan Alexander, born on January 26, 1938, is an American professor and author. She teaches history at George Washington University. She is famous for her studies on family history, especially about African American families. Her work often looks at gender roles and social issues.

Her Education and Career

Adele Logan Alexander finished college at Radcliffe College in 1959. Her aunt also went to this school. Later, when she was 46 years old, she started working on her Ph.D. She earned her Ph.D. from Howard University in 1994. Today, she is a professor of American history at George Washington University. In 2009, she was chosen to be part of the National Endowment for the Humanities. This is a group that supports research and education in history and other subjects.

About Her Books and Work

Adele Logan Alexander is well-known for her books about African American families. She often writes about important people in her own family.

Stories of Her Family

One of her books is called Princess of the Hither Isles: A Black Suffragist's Story from the Jim Crow South. This book tells the story of her grandmother, Adella Hunt Logan. Her grandmother was a suffragist, which means she worked hard for women to get the right to vote.

Another book, Homelands and Waterways: The American Journey of the Bond Family, 1846-1926, describes how one family moved from being poor to becoming middle class. This happened during the time from the American Civil War to the Jazz Age.

Her book Parallel Worlds shares the lives of diplomat William Henry Hunt and his wife Ida Gibbs. Ida Gibbs was a key leader in the Pan-Africanism movement in the 1910s. This movement aimed to unite people of African descent around the world.

Talking About History

In 1999, Adele Logan Alexander appeared on the Charlie Rose show. She talked about racial identity and social class. In 2020, she was part of a group of women who spoke with The New York Times. They discussed the 100-year anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This amendment gave women the right to vote. During the talk, she shared her thoughts on how women fought for this right. She also shared her own memories of going to vote with her mother when she was a young child.

Awards and Special Recognition

Adele Logan Alexander has received several awards for her work. In 2000, she won the Black Caucus Literary Award from the American Library Association. This award recognizes excellent books by African American authors. In 2003, she received a lifetime achievement award from the African American Historical and Genealogical Society. This award honored her many years of important contributions to history and genealogy.

Her Personal Life

Adele Logan Alexander married Clifford Alexander Jr. in 1959. He was an important person in the government. He served as the United States Secretary of the Army from 1977 to 1981. Their daughter, Elizabeth Alexander, is a well-known poet and writer.