Linda Heywood facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Linda Heywood
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Heywood in 2016
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| Born | 1945 (age 79–80) |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Professor |
| Spouse(s) | John Thornton |
| Awards | 2008 Herskovits Prize (with John Thornton) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Boston University |
Linda Marinda Heywood was born in 1945 in Trinidad and Tobago. She is a Caribbean-American historian. Dr. Heywood is also a professor at Boston University. She teaches about African American studies and history. Before Boston University, she taught at Howard University from 1984 to 2003.
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Discovering African History
Linda Heywood is an expert in African history. She is especially interested in the country of Angola. Her first major book was about Angola. It was called Contested Power in Angola. This book looked at how kingdoms in Angola changed. It covered their journey from being independent to being under colonial rule. It also included the fight for freedom and the Angolan civil war. This history spanned from the 1840s to the 1990s.
Exploring the African Diaspora
While teaching at Howard University, Dr. Heywood taught a class called Black Diaspora. This class focused on the history of African people around the world. She started doing a lot of research on this topic. This led to her editing a book called Central Africans and Cultural Transformations. Later, she wrote Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles, and the Foundation of the Americas.
The Story of Queen Njinga
Dr. Heywood has always been interested in the life of an Angolan queen named Njinga. This led her to write a book about her. The book is called Njinga of Angola: Africa's Warrior Queen. It was published in 2017.
Her Education and Awards
Linda Heywood earned her first degree, a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), from Brooklyn College. She then went on to get her Ph.D. from Columbia University.
In 2008, she received a special award. It was the Herskovits Prize. She shared this award with her husband, John Thornton. They won it for their book, Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles, and the Foundation of the Americas, 1585-1660. In 2020, she was chosen to be part of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. This is a group that honors important thinkers and leaders.
Books by Linda Heywood
Here are some of the books Linda Heywood has written or helped create:
- Contested Power in Angola, 1840s to the Present. University of Rochester Press, Rochester, 2000. ISBN: 1580460631
- Central Africans and Cultural Transformations in the American Diaspora. Cambridge University Press, 2001. (editor and contributor) ISBN: 978-0521802437
- Central African, Atlantic Creoles, and the Foundation of America 1585-1660. Cambridge University Press, 2007. (with John Thornton) ISBN: 978-0521770651
- Njinga of Angola: Africa's Warrior Queen. Harvard University Press, 2017. ISBN: 978-0674971820
