Black Women in the Academy conference: Panel with Angela Davis, 1994
Keynote speaker Angela Davis, then professor at the University of California Santa Cruz, with fellow panelists (Decima Francis at right) at the Black Women in the Academy Conference, January 1994.
About Angela Davis
Angela Davis is one of the iconic figures of this era. Acquitted on conspiracy charges in 1970, after one of the most famous trials in U.S. history, she went on to become an internationally renowned writer, scholar and lecturer. She is professor emerita at the University of California at Santa Cruz. An eloquent and charismatic speaker she is much in demand all over the world and draws huge audiences. She’s the author of many books, including Women, Race and Class, Blues Legacies and Black Feminism, Abolition Democracy, and Freedom is a Constant Struggle.
About the Conference
Historical Note
“Black Women in the Academy: Defending Our Name, 1894-1994” was a national conference convened to address historical and contemporary issues faced by African-American women in academia. The conference, which took place January 13-15, 1994, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was attended by over 2,000 people. The MIT Program in Women’s Studies co-sponsored the program with additional sponsorship from the Ford Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Ms. Foundation, Microsoft Corporation, and the W.E.B. DuBois Institute at Harvard University. Logistical support was provided by the MIT History Department and Program in Science, Technology, and Society.
The conference was planned and organized by two faculty members at MIT, Robin W. Kilson, professor in history and women’s studies, and Evelynn M. Hammonds [SM '80], MIT professor in science, technology, and society. With Florence Ladd of Radcliffe College’s Bunting Institute, they constituted the Executive Committee. The conference Advisory Committee was made up of representatives from major colleges and universities, including Charles Vest of MIT, Linda Wilson of Radcliffe College, Neil Rudenstine of Harvard University, and Diana C. Walsh of Wellesley College.
“Black Women in the Academy: Defending Our Name, 1894-1994,” offered workshops, panels, and roundtables, and featured addresses by Angela Davis, Lani Guinier, and Johnnetta Cole. Performance artist Vinie Burrows presented her one-woman show, “Sister, Sister.”