Howard Librarian Wins DuBois Fellowship

Dorothy Porter, whom colleagues called a "legend" in the field of Afro-American bibliography, has been appointed a fellow at Harvard's W.E.B. DuBois Institute for the 1988 academic year.

Porter served as a research librarian and is now curator emeritus at Howard University's Moorland-Spingarn Research Center in Washington, D.C.

"She built the center from a small, specialized collection to what is one of the largest [Afro-American Studies] collection at any university," said Moorland-Spingarn Director Dr. Thomas Battle.

"She is a legend to say the least, in this field--one of the most important bibliographers of the Afro-American experience," Battle said.

While at Harvard, Porter will try to complete a book on a 19th-century free Black family in Salem, Massachusetts, she said. This 10-member family, the Remonds, included two prominent abolitionists and several prominent entrepeneurs. The book will be largely a "historical narrative," Porter said.

Porter, who has been at the Institute since September 15, said her experience as a fellow has been "invigorating." She said the fellowship offers her access to Harvard's resources and the chance to communicate with "other scholars, near my field."

Catherine Clinton, another DuBois Fellow for 1988-'89, agreed that the Institute scholars provide "cross-fertilization." Being at the Institute "really stimulates us to get going on our projects," she said.

Clinton, who is also teaching at Brandeis, is researching the lives of white and Black women on plantations during the Civil War and Reconstruction. She plans to publish a book based on this research.

Porter and Clinton are among 18 fellows at the Institute for the 1988-89 year. Others come from as far as Japan and Czechoslovakia. Some are independent scholars, but most come from American universities.