Howard Dodson

Howard Dodson, Jr (born June 6, 1939) is the long-time director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem.

Dodson grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania where his family had moved from Virginia. His parents worked blue collar jobs in construction and textiles. He attended West Chester State College, and then earned a master's in history and political science at Villanova. In 1964, he joined the Peace Corps and spent two years in Ecuador. In 1968, believing he had responsibilities in the United States during the civil rights movement, he returned, stopping in Puerto Rico for a period of reflection and then going to Berkley to study slavery in the Western Hemisphere.^[1] From 1974 to 1979 he worked as the executive director of the Atlanta-based Institute of the Black World, in addition to teaching classes at Emory University. Dodson was later a consultant to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) until 1984.^[2]

Dodson took on the directorship of the Schomburg center in 1984 and had a successful tenure, during which he increased the center's holdings of historical artifacts—many of them rare and irreplaceable—from 5 to 10 million, curated numerous displays and exhibitions, and raised millions of dollars in support.^[3] One high point was his intimate involvement in the African Burial Ground project, through which hundreds of former slaves buried in Manhattan during the 17th and 18th centuries were exhumed and reburied. He has recently announced his retirement from the directorship, with plans to travel widely.

Published works

• Dodson, Howard (1984). Censorship and Black America, An Exhibition in the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture : July 19-October 15, 1984. New York: New York Public Library.
• Dodson, Howard (1993). A Public Forum on the Draft Proposal to the U.S. Congress for Commemorating the African Burial Ground. New York: S & S Reporting Co Inc.
• Dodson, Howard (2000). The Black New Yorkers: The Schomburg Illustrated Chronology. New York: John Wiley. ISBN 0471401730
• Dodson, Howard (2002). Jubilee: The Emergence of African-American Culture. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Books ISBN 0792269829
• Dodson, Howard (2004). In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society ISBN 9780792273851
• Dodson, Howard (2007). Lest We Forget: The Triumph over Slavery. San Francisco: Pomegranate. ISBN 9780764940378
• Dodson, Howard (2007). Ideology, Identity and Assumptions. New York: New York Public Library. ISBN 9780870137952
• Dodson, Howard; with Palmer, Colin A. (2007). Cultural Life. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press. ISBN 9780870138089
• Dodson, Howard; with Palmer, Colin A. (2008). Origins. New York: New York Public Library. ISBN 9780870138171
• Dodson, Howard; with Palmer, Colin A. (2009). The Black Condition. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press. ISBN 9780870138386
• Dodson, Howard (2009). Becoming American: The African-American Journey. New York: Sterling Pub Co. ISBN 9781402754074

References

Further reading

• Howard Dodson Jr. Biography - Center Preserves and Shares Knowledge, Inspired to Study Cultural Histories, Moved by King Assassination
• Howard Dodson Biography
• J358-2011: Honoring Howard Dodson upon the occasion of his designation for special recognition by the New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
• Howard Dodson