The University of Illinois Press proudly announces the launch of the Darlene Clark Hine Black History Endowment. Beginning in late 2024, interest from the endowment will begin to yield direct grants to authors whose books in Black history and Black studies are in preparation and under contract with the University of Illinois Press (UIP). Interest from the endowment will also be used to offset a portion of production costs so that books in Black history can be priced accessibly for scholars and students.
This endowment honors the extraordinary work and legacy of Dr. Darlene Clark Hine, award-winning author and a coeditor of the Press’s influential The New Black Studies Series. Dr. Hine was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2006 and received a 2014 National Humanities Medal for her contributions in Black Women’s History and her pioneering study of the intersection of race, class, and gender. She has mentored scores of graduate students and authors who are now making their own mark on the field.
The mission of fostering the publication and dissemination of new scholarship fittingly reflects Dr. Hine’s lifelong commitment to encouraging and building up the community of Black scholars. Grants from the Darlene Clark Hine Black History Endowment will provide a financial boost to those engaged in the essential work of interrogating Black history, while supporting the timely publication of their books in an affordable form. The endowment will help scholars in Black history establish themselves and advance in the Academy, ensuring that their work contributes to the stream of intellectual conversation. It will also help ensure that the Press can continue to publish specialized scholarship in Black history and to price it affordably for scholars, students, and other readers.
A number of generous individuals have contributed to the initial phase of building the endowment. Dr. Margaret Washington, in making her gift to the endowment, shared these words:
“UIP has been a part of my academic life since I first began studying Black history. The books published mostly under editorship of August Meier helped me make the difficult decision to move from European diplomatic history to African American history. And of course UIP books were major course adoptions when I joined the profession. When I branched out from Southern history to women’s history, Darlene Clark Hine’s work, along with Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, was an important guide for me in that direction. Also, it was such an honor to receive the inaugural Darlene Clark Hine Award from the OAH. Thus, my contribution is meant to honor Darlene for her example in the profession and especially for Black women scholars. It is also to recognize the wonderful work UIP has initiated through the years in the field of Black history.”
Press director Laurie Matheson noted, “The production and dissemination of rigorous and transformational scholarship in Black history is fundamental to an accurate and nuanced understanding of American history. By supporting authors and their research in this field, the Darlene Clark Hine Black History Endowment supports the work of the next generation, and future generations, as they build on the foundational work of courageous and visionary scholars in documenting and interpreting the Black experience.”
The Darlene Clark Hine Endowment continues to accept donations toward a target endowment level of $100,000, with a goal of yielding $4,000 per year, in perpetuity, to support authors and books in Black studies and Black history at the University of Illinois Press. To learn more, please visit our website: https://www.press.uillinois.edu/support/funds-overview.php