2002.02.01: February 1, 2002: Headlines: COS - Liberia: University Education: Historiography: Civil Rights: African American Issues: Knox News: When she graduated, Liberia RPCV Cynthia Fleming was the 43rd black woman in the country to earn a doctorate in history
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2007.02.21: February 21, 2007: Headlines: COS - Liberia: University Education: Historiography: Civil Rights: African American Issues: The Daily Beacon: Liberia RPCV Cynthia Fleming is an oral historian at the University of Tennessee :
2002.02.01: February 1, 2002: Headlines: COS - Liberia: University Education: Historiography: Civil Rights: African American Issues: Knox News: When she graduated, Liberia RPCV Cynthia Fleming was the 43rd black woman in the country to earn a doctorate in history
When she graduated, Liberia RPCV Cynthia Fleming was the 43rd black woman in the country to earn a doctorate in history
As an undergraduate, Fleming, now 51, was in the top of her class, but her degree was from historically black Knoxville College. "Because I was from a black school, they were real reluctant to take me," Fleming said. "I knew it was a rich, white university." Duke ended up paying her way through graduate school, and Fleming earned both her master of arts and doctoral degree in history in four years, which is an exceptionally fast track in the academic world. "Well, they made me mad," Fleming said. "They shouldn't have done that."
When she graduated, Liberia RPCV Cynthia Fleming was the 43rd black woman in the country to earn a doctorate in history
Getting it right a priority for history professor
Key to nation's future can often be found in its past
By Nellann Young, News-Sentinel staff writer
Duke University was reluctant to accept Cynthia Fleming into its graduate program nearly 30 years ago.
As an undergraduate, Fleming, now 51, was in the top of her class, but her degree was from historically black Knoxville College.
"Because I was from a black school, they were real reluctant to take me," Fleming said. "I knew it was a rich, white university."
Duke ended up paying her way through graduate school, and Fleming earned both her master of arts and doctoral degree in history in four years, which is an exceptionally fast track in the academic world.
"Well, they made me mad," Fleming said. "They shouldn't have done that."
When she graduated, she was the 43rd black woman in the country to earn a doctorate in history.
Fleming is now an associate professor at the University of Tennessee. She came back to Knoxville 19 years ago and began teaching at the university, where she had never dreamed she might one day work when she was attending Knoxville College.
Still, she's found a home here with three cars and a truck that she refers to as her children and a 15-year-old horse, Atan. She says her love of automobiles comes from having grown up in Detroit.
Besides teaching a variety of classes in African-American studies and the history department, Fleming is currently working on two books.
One is a look at the effects of the civil-rights movement on little-known Wilcox County in Alabama.
The other is an authorized biography of Dr. C.T. Vivian, an associate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
"This is more than a profession to me," Fleming said of her teaching career.
Fleming sometimes offers her students a different perspective on American history than they might get elsewhere. For example, she plans to surprise students in a history survey class this semester by bringing minority groups into their studies.
Cynthia Fleming, an associate professor at the University of Tennessee, speaks to students during her African-American studies class. Fleming said the class is an important part of the university's curriculum. News-Sentinel photo by Saul Young.
"Black history is American history," Fleming said, adding that it has often been ignored, along with the history of Native Americans and Japanese-Americans.
Fleming served as the director of African-American studies for 10 years and remains active in keeping the program alive. But she's sad that the program has been faced with belt-tightening measures recently because, in her view, the university administration hasn't adequately supported it during tough financial times.
"In this time of tight budgets, if something's gotta go, it's OK if we're first," Fleming said in describing the administration's attitude to the program.
And just as the program plays a vital role at the university, so does keeping black history -- and history in general -- accurate.
"It's so important to get it right," Fleming said. "Every place needs people who look after the past."
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Headlines: February, 2002; Peace Corps Liberia; Directory of Liberia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Liberia RPCVs; University Education; Historiography; Civil Rights; African American Issues; Tennessee
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Story Source: Knox News
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Liberia; University Education; Historiography; Civil Rights; African American Issues
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