Seat at the Table

Contributions by Omar H. Ali Simone R. Barrett Tejai Beulah Sandra Bolzenius Carol Fowler Lacey P. Hunter Tiera C. Moore Tedi A. Pascarella John Portlock Lauren T. Rorie Tanya L. Roth Marissa Jackson Sow Virginia L. Summey Hettie V. Williams and Melissa Ziobro <p/>While Black women's intellectual history continues to grow as an important subfield in historical studies there remains a gap in scholarship devoted to the topic. To date major volumes on American intellectual history tend to exclude the words ideas and contributions of these influential individuals. <i>A Seat at the Table: Black Women Public Intellectuals in US History and Culture </i>seeks to fill this void presenting essays on African American women within the larger context of American intellectual history. Divided into four parts the volume considers women in politics art government journalism media education and the military. Essays feature prominent figures such as Shirley Chisholm Oprah Winfrey journalist Charlotta Bass and anti-abortion activist Mildred Fay Jefferson as well as lesser-known individuals. <p/>The anthology begins with a discussion of the founders in Black women's public intellectualism providing a framework for understanding the elements structure and concerns central to their lives and work in the nineteenth century. The second section focuses on leaders in the Black Christian intellectual tradition the civil rights era and modern politics. Part three examines Black women in society and culture in the twentieth century with essays on such topics as artists in the New Negro era; Joycelyn Elders a public servant and former surgeon general; and America's foremost Black woman influencer Oprah. Lastly part four concerns Black women and their ideas about public service--particularly military service--with essays on service members during World War II and the post-WWII military. Taken as a whole <i>A Seat at the Table</i> is an important anthology that helps to establish the validity and existence of heretofore neglected intellectual traditions in the public square.