Ralph Luker
Encyclopedia
Dr. Ralph E. Luker is an American
historian
, teacher, and the author of several books about race, religion
and the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
Ralph Luker founded the Cliopatria history group blog on the History News Network
of George Mason University
's Center for History and New Media
.
Luker has taught in departments
of history
at Allegheny College
, Antioch College
, and Morehouse College
, and in departments of religion
at Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)
and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
.
In 1994, when he was associate professor of history at Antioch College
, Luker was denied tenure after accusations of racism by some students. Outraged by the charges, Luker underwent a hunger-strike but to no avail.
Periodicals
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, teacher, and the author of several books about race, religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
and the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
Ralph Luker founded the Cliopatria history group blog on the History News Network
History News Network
History News Network is a project of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. Although the HNN resides on GMU's server, it operates independently of the university as a non-profit corporation registered in Washington State...
of George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
's Center for History and New Media
Center for History and New Media
The Center for History and New Media at George Mason University was established by Roy Rosenzweig in 1994 to research and use digital media and information technology in historical research, education, digital tools and resources, digital preservation, and outreach.- Digital preservation...
.
Luker has taught in departments
Academic department
An academic department is a division of a university or school faculty devoted to a particular academic discipline. This article covers United States usage at the university level....
of history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
at Allegheny College
Allegheny College
Allegheny College is a private liberal arts college located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the town of Meadville. Founded in 1815, the college has about 2,100 undergraduate students.-Early history:...
, Antioch College
Antioch College
Antioch College is a private, independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was the founder and the flagship institution of the six-campus Antioch University system. Founded in 1852 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1853 with politician and...
, and Morehouse College
Morehouse College
Morehouse College is a private, all-male, liberal arts, historically black college located in Atlanta, Georgia. Along with Hampden-Sydney College and Wabash College, Morehouse is one of three remaining traditional men's colleges in the United States....
, and in departments of religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
at Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)
Lincoln University (Pennsylvania)
Lincoln University is the United States' first degree-granting historically black university. It is located near the town of Oxford in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania. The university also hosts a Center for Graduate Studies in the City of Philadelphia. Lincoln University provides...
and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech , is a public land-grant university with the main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia with other research and educational centers throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and internationally.Founded in...
.
In 1994, when he was associate professor of history at Antioch College
Antioch College
Antioch College is a private, independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was the founder and the flagship institution of the six-campus Antioch University system. Founded in 1852 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1853 with politician and...
, Luker was denied tenure after accusations of racism by some students. Outraged by the charges, Luker underwent a hunger-strike but to no avail.
Writing
Books- (In progress as of 2003.) The Man Who Started Freedom: The Essays, Sermons and Speeches of Vernon Johns. Critical edition of the papers of Vernon JohnsVernon JohnsVernon Johns was an American minister and civil rights leader who was active in the struggle for civil rights for African Americans from the 1920s....
, the father of the American civil rights movement.
- 1996: Historical Dictionary of the Civil Rights Movement, 1941-1995. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Hardcover: ISBN 0-810-83163-5.
- 1996: Black and White Sat Down Together: The Reminiscences of an NAACP Founder. The Feminist Press at CUNY. Hardcover: ISBN 1-558-61099-5. (See also: Mary White OvingtonMary White OvingtonMary White Ovington was a suffragette, socialist, Unitarian, journalist, and co-founder of the NAACP.-Biography:...
.)
- 1992: The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Volume I: Called to Serve, January 1929 - June 1951. Clayborne Carson, Ralph E. Luker, Penny A. Russell, eds. University of California PressUniversity of California PressUniversity of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
. Hardcover: ISBN 978-0-520-07950-2.
- 1994: The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Volume II: Rediscovering Precious Values, July 1951 - November 1955. Clayborne Carson, Ralph E. Luker, Penny A. Russell, Peter Holloran, eds. University of California PressUniversity of California PressUniversity of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
. Hardcover: ISBN 978-0-520-07951-9. - Sponsored by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Emory UniversityEmory UniversityEmory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
and the Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute.
- 1991: The Social Gospel in Black and White: American Racial Reform, 1885-1912. University of North Carolina PressUniversity of North Carolina PressThe University of North Carolina Press , founded in 1922, is a university press that is part of the University of North Carolina....
. Hardcover: ISBN 0-807-81978-6. Paperback (1998): ISBN 0-807-84720-8. - Winner of the 1992 Outstanding Book Award from the Gustavus MyersGustavus MyersGustavus Myers was an American journalist and historian who published a series of influential studies on capital formation. His name is associated with the muckraking era of American literature.-Early years:...
Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights.
- 1984: A Southern Tradition in Theology and Social Criticism, 1830-1930: The Religious Liberalism and Social Conservatism of James Warley Miles, William Porcher DuBose, and Edgar Gardner Murphy. Edwin Mellen Press. Hardcover: ISBN 0-88946-655-6, ISBN 978-0-88946-655-5.
Periodicals
- American QuarterlyAmerican QuarterlyAmerican Quarterly is an academic journal and the official publication of the American Studies Association. The journal covers topics of both domestic and international concern in the United States and is considered a leading resource in the field of American studies. The current editor-in-chief is...
- The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionThe Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the only major daily newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and its suburbs. The AJC, as it is called, is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the result of the merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta...
- Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture - published since 1932 by the American Society of Church HistoryAmerican Society of Church HistoryThe American Society of Church History was founded in 1888 with the disciplines of Christian denominational and ecclesiastical history as its focus. Today the society's interests include the broad range of the critical scholarly perspectives, as applied to the history of Christianity and its...
. - Journal of American HistoryJournal of American HistoryThe Journal of American History is the official academic journal of the Organization of American Historians. It covers the field of American history and was established in 1914 as the Mississippi Valley Historical Review, the official journal of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association...
- The Journal of Negro History
- New England Quarterly - sponsored by the Massachusetts Historical SocietyMassachusetts Historical SocietyThe Massachusetts Historical Society is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history...
, the Colonial Society of MassachusettsColonial Society of MassachusettsThe Colonial Society of Massachusetts is a US non-profit educational foundation, founded in 1892, and established for the study of the history of Massachusetts. The period of study is from its settlement through the early nineteenth century. It is a member of the New England Regional Fellowship...
, and Northeastern University, BostonNortheastern University, BostonNortheastern University , is a private, secular, coeducational research university in Boston, Massachusetts. Northeastern has eight colleges and offers undergraduate majors in 65 departments...
. - OAH Newsletter - quarterly publication of the Organization of American HistoriansOrganization of American HistoriansThe Organization of American Historians , formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S...
. - Perspectives - monthly magazine of the American Historical AssociationAmerican Historical AssociationThe American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and professors of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials...
. - Slavery & Abolition: A Journal of Slave and Post-Slave Studies - published by RoutledgeRoutledgeRoutledge is a British publishing house which has operated under a succession of company names and latterly as an academic imprint. Its origins may be traced back to the 19th-century London bookseller George Routledge...
. - South Atlantic Quarlerly - published by the Duke University PressDuke University PressDuke University Press is an academic publisher of books and journals, and a unit of Duke University. It publishes approximately 120 books annually and more than 40 journals, as well as offering five electronic collections...
. - Southern Cultures - quarterly publication of the Center for the Study of the American SouthCenter for the Study of the American SouthThe Center for the Study of the American South is an academic organization dedicated to the study of "southern history, literature, and culture as well as ongoing social, political, and economic issues" at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.-History:The CSAS was the brainchild of a...
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
. - Southern Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the South - published by the Southern Studies Institute of Northwestern State University of Louisiana in Natchitoches, LouisianaNatchitoches, LouisianaNatchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...
. - The Virginia Quarterly ReviewThe Virginia Quarterly ReviewThe Virginia Quarterly Review is a literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in 1925 by James Southall Wilson, at the request of University of Virginia president E. A. Alderman...