Merline Pitre

Last updated
Merline Pitre
Born (1943-04-10) April 10, 1943 (age 81)
Academic background
Alma mater Temple University
Thesis Frederick Douglass : a party loyalist, 1870-1895  (1976)

Merline Pitre (born April 10, 1943) is an American historian and educator. She is a professor of history at Texas Southern University and previously served as president of the Texas State Historical Association in 2011 and 2012.

Contents

Life and career

Pitre was born on April 10, 1943, in Opelousas, Louisiana, to parents Florence W. Pitre (d. 2014) and Robert Pitre. [1] [2] She grew up in the Louisiana Plaisance community [3] and graduated as valedictorian from Plaisance High School in 1962. [4] [5] She received a B.S. in French from Southern University and an M.A. in French from Atlanta University. She received another M.A. degree and Ph.D. at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1972 and 1976, respectively. [1]

For three years, Pitre was a teacher at St. Augustine College in Raleigh, North Carolina. She conducted research at the Library of Congress, National Archives, and the Frederick Douglass Memorial Home. [4] In 1981, she was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, which awarded a stipend for independent research. [6]

In 1983, Pitre became the associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences at Texas Southern University, a position she held until 1985. [7] Between 1990 and 1994, as well as between 2000 and 2008, she served as the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences. [1]

From 2011 to 2012, she served as the president of the Texas State Historical Association. [8]

In 2007 and 2012, she received the Liz Carpenter Best Book on the History of Women Award from the Texas State Historical Association for her books Black Women in Texas History (with Bruce Glasrud) and Southern Black Women in the Modern Civil Rights Movement (with Bruce Glasrud), respectively. [9] In 2014, she was awarded the Lorraine Williams Leadership Award from the Association of Black Women Historians and the President Achievement Award from Texas Southern University. [1]

Writings

Related Research Articles

The civil rights movement (1896–1954) was a long, primarily nonviolent action to bring full civil rights and equality under the law to all Americans. The era has had a lasting impact on American society – in its tactics, the increased social and legal acceptance of civil rights, and in its exposure of the prevalence and cost of racism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bibliography of the Reconstruction era</span> Eras main scholarly literature (1863–1877)

This is a selected bibliography of the main scholarly books and articles of Reconstruction, the period after the American Civil War, 1863–1877.

The civil rights movement (1865–1896) aimed to eliminate racial discrimination against African Americans, improve their educational and employment opportunities, and establish their electoral power, just after the abolition of slavery in the United States. The period from 1865 to 1895 saw a tremendous change in the fortunes of the Black community following the elimination of slavery in the South.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of African Americans in Texas</span> Ethnic group

African American Texans or Black Texans are residents of the state of Texas who are of African ancestry and people that have origins as African-American slaves. African Americans formed a unique ethnic identity in Texas while facing the problems of societal and institutional discrimination as well as colorism for many years. The first person of African heritage to arrive in Texas was Estevanico, who came to Texas in 1528.

Make Haste Slowly: Moderates, Conservatives, and School Desegregation in Houston is a 1999 book by William Henry Kellar, published by Texas A&M Press, which discusses school desegregation in Houston, Texas, involving the Houston Independent School District. The book's main focus is 1954–1960.

Jane Johnson Endsley was a successful Dallas businesswomen and community leader. A former slave, Endsley eventually ran one of the city's largest railroad-yard coal and log businesses.

<i>Black Dixie</i>

Black Dixie: Afro-Texan History and Culture in Houston is a 1992 book edited by Howard Beeth and Cary D. Wintz and published by Texas A&M University Press. It is a collection of thirteen essays about the history of African-Americans in Houston. It was the first scholarly book to provide a comprehensive history of Houston's black community, and the book's dust jacket referred to it as the first such book of any city in the Southern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lulu Belle Madison White</span> American civil rights activist

Lulu Belle Madison White was a teacher and civil rights activist in Texas during the 1940s and 1950s. In 1939, White was named as the president of the Houston chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) before becoming executive secretary of the branch in 1943. Under her leadership, the Houston chapter of the NAACP more than doubled in size from 1943 to 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mississippi State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs</span>

The Mississippi State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, Inc (MSFCWC) is an African American woman's club located in Mississippi. The umbrella organization, affiliated with the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) was founded in 1903. The headquarters of the club are located in Jackson. The organization had an annual convention and was organized into committees. MSFCWC sponsored scholarship opportunities, and provided resources for black people in Mississippi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maud A. B. Fuller</span> American Educator

Maud Anna Berry Fuller, also known as M. A. B. Smith and M. A. B. Fuller, was an American educator and a leader in the Baptist church. She was the founder and the editor of the Woman's Helper, a national newspaper. Fuller served for 41 years as the president of the National Baptist Convention's Women's Auxiliary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josie Briggs Hall</span> American writer and teacher

Josie Briggs Hall was an American writer and teacher. She wrote the first book published by a black Texan woman.

Edward Anderson was a state legislator in Texas during the Reconstruction era. He served in the Texas House of Representatives for District 14 in 1873. Anderson was unseated later that year after testimony from fellow legislators.

Harriel "Hal" G. Geiger was an American politician, blacksmith, and lawyer. Born into slavery in South Carolina, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives as a candidate for the Greenback Party. He served from January 1879 to January 1881. He lost his re-election campaign to E. C. Mobley but won the seat in a special election, after Geiger moved out of the district, and served from April 1882 until January 1883. He lost re-election in 1882 and was convicted of bribery under 18 U.S.C. § 201. He was murdered by a judge for being insolent. Geiger and Robert A. Kerr were the only African-Americans to be elected into the Texas Legislature as representatives for the Greenback Party.

E. C. Mobley was an American lawyer and member of the Texas House of Representatives from January 11, 1881 to August 3, 1881. He defeated Hal Geiger who was seeking re-election in Robertson County, Texas in 1881. Mobley resigned his office when he moved out of the district. Geiger won the special election to replace him. He was a lawyer and a Democrat. Originally from Georgia, he was listed as 42 years old in 1881.

Jeremiah J. Hamilton was a school founder, carpenter, political organizer, and legislator in Texas.

Bedford Green Guy was an American farmer and state legislator in Texas. He served from 1879 to 1881 as a member of the Greenback Party, although other sources have him listed as Republican. He represented Washington County, Texas.

Doc C. Lewis was a farmer and state legislator in Texas. A Republican, he served from 1881 to 1883 during the Seventeenth Texas Legislature in the Texas House of Representatives. He was one of four African American members of the Texas House at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plaisance School</span> School in Louisiana, United States

Plaisance School is a school, established in 1921, in Plaisance, Louisiana, United States. The school was segregated during the Jim Crow-era and served African American students. It also went by the names Plaisance High School, and Plaisance Rosenwald School.

Walter E. Riptoe was a preacher and state legislator in Texas. A Republican, he served two terms in the Texas Senate during the Fifteenth Texas Legislature and Sixteenth Texas Legislature from 1876 to 1881, representing Marshall (Harrison) County. The Texas State Preservation Board has a photograph of him.

Melvin Goddin was a state legislator in Texas.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Merline Pitre's Biography". The HistoryMakers. November 28, 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  2. "Florence W. Pitre". Daily World. 25 September 2014. p. A5. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  3. "Parish native returns to museum for lecture". Daily World. 7 February 2001. p. 4A. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Plaisance Woman To Get PhD Degree". Daily World. 20 May 1976. p. 15. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  5. "Merline Pitre Highest Ranking Student in Class". Daily World. 3 June 1962. p. 36. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  6. "Dr. Merline Pitre Receives Fellowship". Daily World. 2 July 1981. p. 19. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  7. "About Faculty". Texas Southern University. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  8. Pitre, Merline (2012). "Texas and the Master Civil Rights Narrative: A Case Study of Black Females in Houston". The Southwestern Historical Quarterly. 116 (2): 125–138. ISSN   0038-478X. JSTOR   24388315 . Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  9. "TSHA | Liz Carpenter Award for Best Book on the History of Women". www.tshaonline.org. Retrieved 2023-02-18.
  10. Reviews for Through Many Dangers, Toils and Snares: Black Leadership in Texas, 1870-1890
  11. Reviews for In Struggle against Jim Crow: Lulu B. White and the NAACP, 1900–1957
  12. Review of Black Women in Texas History: Eight Essays on the Role Black Women Played in the Shaping of the History of the Lone Star State
  13. Review of Born to Serve: A History of Texas Southern University