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Gerald Gill ’70, associate professor of history at Tufts University, will speak on “African-American Popular Music and Dance as Cultural Expression and Political Protest during the 1960s-1970s” 4:10 p.m. today at Skillman Library.
The talk is free and open to the public. It is presented in conjunction with the library’s exhibit, Dancing through the Decades.
Gill was a founder and later coordinator for Lafayette’s Association of Black Collegians. In addition, he was a member and committee chair of the Student Council during his sophomore, junior, and senior years. He received his bachelor’s degree as a history major and earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Howard University, Washington, D.C., in 1974 and 1985, respectively. He is researching the history of the civil rights movement in Boston in 1935-1970. Gill received the Distinguished Service Award from the African-American Center at Tufts University in 2000, and among his many other honors, he was named the Massachusetts College Professor of the Year in both 1995 and 1999.
Gill’s publications include Dissent, Discontent, and Disinterest: Afro-American Opposition to the United States Wars of the Twentieth Century (University of North Carolina Press, forthcoming), Meanness and Mania: The Changed Mood, and The Case for Affirmative Action for Blacks in Higher Education (co-author), as well as a long list of articles and book chapters. He has made numerous radio and TV appearances. Gill is a member of eight professional associations, including the American Historical Association, and has worked as a consultant for media companies, a number of documentary film projects, and several PBS series, including “Africans in America” produced by WGBH, Boston.
Last month, Gill delivered a keynote address for an oral history project that will document the education and life experiences of African-American and women students at Lafayette from the late 1960s to early 1970s. He discussed his Lafayette experiences and his research in higher education for African-Americans.