[ John H. Bracey Jr.—an architect of Black studies—who helped
to create one of the nation’s first doctoral programs in African
American studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, died
over the weekend. Bracey was 81.]
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BLACK STUDIES PIONEER JOHN H. BRACEY JR. JOINS THE ANCESTORS  
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Walter Hudson
February 5, 2023
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
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_ John H. Bracey Jr.—an architect of Black studies—who helped to
create one of the nation’s first doctoral programs in African
American studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, died
over the weekend. Bracey was 81. _

Prof. John H. Bracey Jr.,

 

A faculty member in the W.E.B Du Bois Department of Afro-American
Studies at UMASS since 1972, Bracey served in various roles, including
chairing the department and directing the graduate certificate in
African Diaspora Studies.

An expert on Black social history, racial ideologies and movements and
the history of African American women Bracey wrote and edited a number
of books including _Black Nationalism in America, African American
Women and the Vote: 1837-1965; African American Mosaic: A Documentary
History from the Slave Trade to the Twenty-First Century_ that he
co-authored with Dr. Manisha Sinha; and _SOS—Calling All Black
People: a Black Arts Movement Reader_ that he edited with his
colleague, Dr. James Smethurst and well-known poet Sonia Sanchez.

“Professor Bracey was a walking encyclopedia and was one of the most
brilliant and prolific thinkers that I’ve ever met and had the
opportunity to work with,” said Dr. Jamal Watson, the former
executive editor of _Diverse_ and a faculty member at Trinity
Washington University. Bracey directed his doctoral dissertation and
was his master professor at UMASS. 

“Professor Bracey was extremely generous with his time and his
mentorship, but he was also laser-focused on building the next
generation of leaders who would protect and build on the field of
African American studies,” said Watson “He greatly transformed the
trajectory of Black studies and was instrumental in mentoring hundreds
of scholars who he single-handedly helped transition into the academy.
But more importantly, he had a deep and abiding love for Black people
and that was evident in everything that he did.”

Born in Chicago, Bracey grew up in Washington, D.C. and attended
Howard University, Roosevelt University in Chicago and completed
graduate work at Roosevelt and at Northwestern University. In the
1960s, Bracey was active in the Civil Rights, Black Liberation, and
Peace movements as a member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE),
Chicago Friends of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC), Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and the Revolutionary
Action Movement. 

Bracey was lauded for his early work on editing the papers of the
NAACP and was successful in helping UMASS secure the papers of Dr.
W.E.B Du Bois, the towering Black intellectual who grew up in nearby
Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

In 2021, UMASS Chancellor Dr. Kumble Subbaswamy announced the
establishment of an endowed graduate fellowship in honor of Bracey.
The fellowship was announced in conjunction with the school's Black
Presence Initiative, an effort to explore and document the experiences
of Black students at UMass Amherst.

At the time of the announcement, Subbaswamy praised Bracey for leading
the efforts “to record and archive the many impressive and enduring
contributions the Black members of our community have made to UMass.
It is only fitting that the campus create a permanent acknowledgement
of the transformative role he has played on our campus.”

A lifetime member of the Association for the Study of African American
Life and History and of the Organization of American Historians,
Bracey received numerous awards and accolades and was the recipient of
an honorary degree from the College of Wooster in 2013.  In 2018,
Bracey was among a number of scholars that 
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_[WALTER HUDSON can be reached at [email protected]  ]_

* Black Studies
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* African American history
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* Critical Race Theory
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* CRT
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* African Americans
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* U.S. history
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* Racism
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* slavery
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* W. E. B. Du Bois
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* Black culture
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* Black Arts
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* Black Liberation
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