Howard University’s Department of Afro-American Studies, supported by numerous campus and external sponsors, will host a celebratory symposium  April 20-22, “Howard University in the Decade of the 1970s,” in honor of the 90th birthday of  Dr. Andrew Billingsley.

Dr. Billingsley is a pioneering sociologist and author of the seminal work, Black Families in White America (1968).

The April 20 opening-night program will run

from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Founders Library Browsing Room, concluding with a welcoming reception. The April 21 and 22 sessions will convene in the Armour J. Blackburn University Center from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., respectively. The symposium is free and open to the public, but advance registration is encouraged.

The symposium will address the myriad advances made at Howard in the arts and humanities, authentic reflection of the high standards and dedication to academic rigor that Dr. Billingsley strove to embed in the culture of the University during his tenure as vice president of academic affairs from 1970 to 1974. Dr. Billingsley has been credited with laying the groundwork for Howard becoming the top producer of doctoral degrees for individuals of African descent in the nation and the world today. Dr. Billingsley came to the Capstone from the University of California at Berkley. He was instrumental in recruiting a generation of black scholars while helping define African-American studies as an expansive, interdisciplinary area for academic exploration.

Symposium speakers and guests will include: Dr. Joyce Ladner, former sociology professor and interim president of the University; Haki Madhubuti, former poet-in-residence at Howard; Dr. Harry Robinson, former dean of  architecture; Dr. Russell Adams, former chair of Afro-American Studies; Dr. Percy Pierre, former dean of  engineering; Dr. Acklyn Lynch, former political science professor; and Dr. Lawrence Gary, former director of the Institute for Urban Affairs and Research, established during Dr. Billingsley’s tenure. Also reflecting on the legacy of the 1970s will be a number of Capstone contemporaries, including Dr. Greg Carr, current chair of the Department of Afro-American Studies; Dr. Dana Williams, chair of the English Department; Provost and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Anthony Wutoh; Dr. Sandra Crewe, dean of the School of Social Work; Howard Dodson, former director of the Howard University Libraries and Moorland-Spingarn Research Center; Dr. Gwendolyn Everett, associate dean of the Division of Fine Arts; Dr. Edna Medford, chair of the Department of History; and Dr. Clarence Lusane, chair of the History Department.

Some of Dr. Billingsley’s former students, colleagues and friends, who have gone on to illustrious careers in academe and elsewhere, will also share remarks on the conference theme and its honoree, as will members of the Billingsley family. After leaving Howard in 1974, Dr. Billingsley became president of Morgan State University for nine years. He also held professorships at the University of Maryland-College Park and the University of South Carolina. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including Children of the Storm (1972), The Struggle for Survival(1973), Climbing Jacob’s Ladder (1992), Mighty Like a River: The Black Church and Social Reform(1997), and Yearning to Breathe Free: Robert Smalls and His Families (2007).

He has been working on his memoirs for the past three years, with the support of Howard's Afro-American Studies Department, the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, and the John and Eula Mae Cleveland Distinguished Chair in Afro-American Studies.

For more information, contact Bathsheba Bryant-Tarpeh at billingsleysymposium@gmail.com.