Introduction to the 2019 Exhibit

Since the late 19th century, scholars of color have been studying the traditional cultures, beliefs, expressions and practices of their own communities. The individuals highlighted by this exhibit are the tip of the iceberg of people whom we could bring forward. In fact, we have a list of enough additional people that we hope to expand this exhibit in the future.

We have chosen to feature 25 ancestors who have contributed to the field significantly and for whom we had sufficient information. We selected 25 ancestors to emphasize the 25 years of the existence of the Cultural Diversity Committee. We prioritized ancestors who had been members of AFS, the CDC, or had some relationship to AFS, as well as people considered pivotal to their areas of study. Since the CDC has primarily focused on people of color in the US, we restricted ourselves to selecting scholars whose scholarship featured diversity within the United States and her territories, seeking to represent the breadth of the focus of the CDC. We invite you to become acquainted with the stellar accomplishments of these scholars and to read their works. We think that these scholars add a distinctive vibrant richness to curriculum, research, and practice in relation to current issues within our field.

We thank all the scholars who contributed to making this exhibit real.

Curators: Dr. Phyllis M. May-Machunda & Dr. Olivia Cadaval

Writers: Dr. Olivia Cadaval, Dr. Norma Cantú, Gloria Colom Braña, Dr. Sojin Kim, Dr. Enrique R. Lamadrid, Dr. Phyllis M. May-Machunda, Dr. Olga Nájera-Ramírez, Dr. Solimar Otero, Alexandra Sanchez

Bibliographer: Gloria Colom Braña

Financial Support: AFS Cultural Diversity Committee and the Fellows of the American Folklore Society

Designer: Dr. Meredith A.E. McGriff