Jack D. Forbes facts for kids

Jack Douglas Forbes (born January 7, 1934 – died February 23, 2011) was an important American historian, writer, and activist. He focused on topics related to Native American people. He is well-known for helping to start one of the first Native American studies programs. This program was at the University of California Davis. He also helped create D-Q University, a college mainly for Native American students in Davis, California.

Life and Education

Jack D. Forbes was born in 1934 in Long Beach, California. His parents were George Theodore Forbes and Dorothy Hazel Rufener Forbes. Jack grew up in nearby El Monte and Eagle Rock. He started writing for his high school newspaper. He earned his first college degree in Philosophy from the University of Southern California in 1953. He continued his studies there, getting a Master's degree in 1955. In 1959, he earned his Ph.D. in History and Anthropology.

Working for Native American Rights

In the early 1960s, Forbes became active in the Native American movement. This movement worked to protect the rights of Native American people. It also aimed to help them keep their cultures strong. Native Americans on the West Coast became very active. They gained national attention with events like the occupation of Alcatraz Island. They wanted better education and civil rights. They also pushed for universities to create Native American studies departments.

Teaching and Academic Work

Forbes first taught at San Fernando Valley State College and the University of Nevada, Reno. In 1969, he joined the University of California, Davis. There, he helped create a program in Native American studies. This was one of the first programs of its kind at a major university. Later, he helped turn this subject into a full department. He also served as its chairman.

Forbes studied how different cultures mixed. He explored the connections between African American and Native American histories. He also looked at people with both Indian and European backgrounds. His work also included African American and Latin American history. Forbes became a professor emeritus in 1994. This means he was retired but still respected. He continued to teach at the university until 2009.

In 1971, Forbes was one of the people who founded Deganawidah-Quetzalcoatl University. This college is often called D-Q University. It was a two-year college near Davis, California. It was the first tribal college in California. Forbes taught there for 25 years and was on its board. The college stopped holding classes in 2005.

Forbes was also a visiting professor in other countries. He taught at the University of Warwick in England. He also spent time at Oxford and the University of Essex. He held a special teaching position at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

Important Writings

Near the end of his career, Forbes published an important book. It was called Africans and Native Americans: The Language of Race and the Evolution of Red-Black Peoples (1993). This book was the result of twenty years of study. He explored how ideas about race changed in the United States. He noted that Native Americans who also had African heritage were often just called "black." This sometimes caused them to lose their Native American culture.

Family Life

Forbes was married and had two children, Kenneth Forbes and Nancy (Forbes) O'Hearn. He later married Carolyn Forbes. She, his children, and his grandson survived him.

Awards and Recognition

• Before Columbus Foundation: American Book Award for Lifetime Achievement (1997)
• 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award, Native Writers' Circle of the Americas

Selected Books

• Columbus and Other Cannibals, Seven Stories Press (2008) ISBN: 1-58322-781-4
• The American Discovery of Europe, University of Illinois Press (2007) ISBN: 0-252-03152-0
• Apache, Navaho and Spaniard, University of Oklahoma Press (1994) ISBN: 0-8061-2686-8
• Africans and Native Americans: : The Language of Race and the Evolution of Red- Black Peoples, University of Illinois Press (1993) ISBN: 0-252-06321-X

Fiction Books

• Red Blood (Novel), Theytus Press (1997) ISBN: 0-919441-65-3
• Only Approved Indians: Stories, University of Oklahoma Press (1995) ISBN: 0-8061-2699-X

See also

• Tribal colleges and universities