Editor s note: Rooted in history
I absolutely love the PBS show, “Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.” Gates, a Harvard professor, historian and filmmaker, hosts celebrities and helps them trace their genealogies back many generations.
It doesn’t matter to me who the celebrities are, I find the ancestral stories fascinating. Sometimes they discover histories that evoke pride. Often, they discover family members with unsavory pasts. No matter what is unearthed, the guests are always grateful to uncover their roots.
I’m lucky that I have my version of Gates in my family my Aunt Gladys. She and her daughter, Kathy, have spent countless hours researching the roots of our lineage. And even though she’s my dad’s sister, she dug into my mom’s family too. Last year, my sister took a lot of the information that was uncovered and made books for us. I treasure every scrap of detail about those who came before me.
The Trailblazing Life of MSU’s First African American Faculty Member
David W.D. Dickson’s trailblazing career, spanning more than 40 years and five academic institutions, began at Michigan State University in the Department of English in 1948 when he became the university’s first African American faculty member and, a few years later, the first to be awarded MSU’s Distinguished Faculty Award. He also went on to become the first African American to lead a college or university in the state of New Jersey. However, the trajectory of his academic accomplishments first began in his childhood home.
Dr. David W.D. Dickson