Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham
Higginbotham with Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Born	1945 (age 79–80) Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Alma mater	University of Wisconsin; Howard University; University of Rochester
Occupation	African American History Professor
Notable work	Righteous Discontent: The Women's Movement in the Black Baptist Church: 1880–1920
Spouse(s)	A. Leon Higginbotham (d. 1998)
Awards	National Humanities Medal

Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, born in 1945, is a well-known American professor. She teaches about African American Studies, African American Religion, and History at Harvard University. She is famous for her book, Righteous Discontent: The Women's Movement in the Black Baptist Church: 1880–1920. This book won many awards. She also received the important National Humanities Medal in 2014 for her work.

Her Early Life and Education

Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham was born in Washington, DC in 1945. Her father, Albert Neal Dow Brooks, was a leader for the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. He also edited a magazine called Negro History Bulletin. Her mother, Alma Elaine Campbell, taught history in high school. Later, she became a supervisor for history in Washington, D.C. schools.

Evelyn often went to work with her father. This allowed her to meet many important early African American historians. These included Rayford Logan and Benjamin Quarles. Evelyn said this experience helped her decide her career. She knew she wanted to "teach, research, and write about the history of African Americans."

Stories from her family also inspired her. Her great-grandfather, Albert Royal Brooks, was born into slavery in Virginia in 1817. After the American Civil War, he served on the jury that tried former Confederate president Jefferson Davis. Evelyn's great-grandmother, Lucy Goode Brooks, started one of the first orphanages for Black children after the Civil War. It was called the Friends Asylum for Colored Orphans. Today, it is still open as FRIENDS Association for Children.

Her grandfather, Walter Henderson Brooks, was a pastor at Nineteenth Street Baptist Church (Washington, D.C.). This is the oldest Black Baptist church in Washington D.C. Evelyn's aunt, Julia Evangeline Brooks, helped start Alpha Kappa Alpha. This was the first African-American sorority.

Evelyn says that these family stories helped her study history. They showed her how important individual lives are. They also showed how these lives connect to bigger social and political events.

Her College Years

Evelyn Higginbotham earned her history degree (B.A.) from the University of Wisconsin in 1969. She then received her master's degree (M.A.) in history from Howard University in 1974. In 1975, she got a special certificate in Archival Administration from the U.S. National Archives. She also earned a Ph.D. degree in history from the University of Rochester in 1984. She married A. Leon Higginbotham, who passed away in 1998.

Her Career as a Professor

From 1969 to 1971, Evelyn Higginbotham taught American history. She also helped eighth-grade students at Francis Parkman Jr. High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After moving to Washington D.C., she taught American history and social studies at Woodrow Wilson High School.

From 1974 to 1975, she worked at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University. Higginbotham also taught history as a professor at Dartmouth College, the University of Maryland, and the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1993, Higginbotham became a professor at Harvard University. She taught Afro-American Studies and African American Religious History. Since 1998, she has been the Victor S. Thomas Professor of History and African American Studies at Harvard. In 2006, she became the head of Harvard University's African American Studies department. In 2008, she was the acting-director of the W. E. B Du Bois Institute for African American Research. In 2010, she was also named the first John Hope Franklin Professor of American Legal History at Duke University Law School.

Her Books and Research

Evelyn Higginbotham has written about many different topics. These include African American religious history, women's history, and civil rights. She also writes about how race and gender identity are formed.

Righteous Discontent

Her most famous book is Righteous Discontent: The Women's Movement in the Black Baptist Church: 1880–1920. This book won many awards. It received honors from the American Historical Association and the American Academy of Religion. It also won awards from the Association of Black Women Historians. The New York Times Book Review listed it as a Notable Book of the Year in both 1992 and 1993.

Other Important Works

Higginbotham also helped update John Hope Franklin's book, From Slavery to Freedom. This book is a survey of African American history. She worked with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. to edit the African American National Biography. This is a 12-volume resource with information on over 5,000 African American historical figures.

Her article "African American Women's History and the Metalanguage of Race" won an award in 1993. It is still one of her most often used and reprinted articles. Higginbotham also helped create AP African American Studies. This is a college-level course for high school students.

Awards and Recognition

Evelyn Higginbotham has won many awards for her books, articles, and research.

• In 1994, she received the Scholar's Medal from the University of Rochester.
• In 2000, she won the Women of Achievement Award from the YWCA of Boston.
• In 2003, Harvard University chose her as a Walter Channing Fellow. This was to honor her achievements in history.
• In 2005, AOL Black Voice named her one of the "Top 10 Black Women in Higher Education."

She received several awards in 2008:

• In April, Unity First honored her for preserving African American History.
• In August, she received the Legend Award from Urban League.
• In October, she was given the Carter G. Woodson Scholars Medallion by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.

In 2010, Higginbotham joined the American Philosophical Society. This group promotes useful knowledge. She received an Honorary Doctorate degree from Howard University in 2011. In 2012, she was honored with the Living Legacy award. She also won the Joan Kelly Memorial Prize in Women's History.

In May 2012, Higginbotham received the Star Family Prize for Excellence in Advising. This was for her guidance to a Harvard student. Heidelberg University gave her the James W.C. Pennington Award in 2013. This was for her work in African American Religious History. She received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2014.

Her most notable award was the 2014 National Humanities Medal. President Barack Obama gave her this award at the White House. It was for "illuminating the African American journey," meaning she helped shed light on the experiences of African Americans.