Hutchins Center for African and African American Research facts for kids
The Hutchins Center for African and African American Research is a special place at Harvard University. It's also known as the Hutchins Center. This center helps people learn more about the history and culture of people of African descent from all over the world. It brings researchers together and shares important information with everyone.
The Hutchins Center started a long time ago, in May 1975. Back then, it was called the W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute. It was the very first research center focused on studying the history, culture, and society of Africans and African Americans. In 2013, it was renamed the Hutchins Center.
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What the Hutchins Center Does
The Hutchins Center supports important research. It helps scholars study the rich history and culture of people of African descent. The center also helps researchers work together. Its main goal is to help more people understand this important topic.
As of December 2020, a famous scholar named Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the director of the Hutchins Center.
A Look at History
The center began as the W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute in May 1975. It was named after William Edward Burghardt Du Bois. He was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1895. The institute was created to help students write their doctoral papers on topics related to African American studies.
In September 2013, the center was relaunched as the Hutchins Center. This happened because of a generous gift of $15 million from the Hutchins Family Foundation. This foundation was started by Glenn Hutchins. The W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute continued to be a part of the new Hutchins Center.
Research and Projects
The Hutchins Center is home to many different research groups and projects. These include:
- The Hiphop Archive and Research Institute, which studies the history of hip-hop.
- The Afro-Latin American Research Institute, which focuses on people of African descent in Latin America.
- The Image of the Black Archive & Library, which collects images and information about Black history.
- The Project on Race & Gender in Science & Medicine, which looks at how race and gender affect science and medicine.
- The History Design Studio, which explores new ways to present history.
- The Jazz Research Initiative, which studies jazz music.
The center also has the Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art. This gallery is a place where people can see amazing art from African and African American artists.
Books and Other Works
The Hutchins Center publishes a magazine called Transition Magazine. It is also connected to the Du Bois Review. This review is edited by Lawrence D. Bobo, who is a professor at Harvard.
One big project is the African American National Biography Project. This is a joint effort between the Hutchins Center and Oxford University Press. It creates biographies of important African Americans.
The center also helped start a group at University College London. This group studies the history of how people were enslaved in British history. They have an online database that is free for everyone to use. It helps people learn about the impact of these historical events.
The W. E. B. Du Bois Medal
Since the year 2000, the Hutchins Center has given out the W. E. B. Du Bois Medal. This medal is a very high honor from Harvard University. It is given to people who have done amazing work in African and African American studies.
