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Emory Tolbert

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Name
  
Emory Tolbert


Emory Tolbert

Books
  
The UNIA and Black Los Angeles

Emory J. Tolbert (born 26 December 1946) is an African-American historian, archivist and activist.

Contents

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Early years and education

Emory Tolbert was born on December 26, 1946 to John J. and Johnie Mae Tolbert in Sanford, Florida. When he was three his family moved to Rochester, New York.

Tolbert graduated cum laude from Atlantic Union College with a B.A. in History and minors in Political Science, Religion, and Secondary Education in 1968. In 1975, he graduated from UCLA with a PhD in History with an emphasis in American History and minors in African American History, African American Literature and African History. Tolbert's dissertation was on Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League chapters in Los Angeles.

Teaching

Tolbert's teaching career began at Loma Linda University in 1968, where he taught the university's first course in African American History. He also taught courses on American history and the American constitution. While working on his doctorate at UCLA, Tolbert was an instructor at California State University, San Bernardino, University of Southern California, UCLA and University of California at San Diego (UCSD).

From 1973 to 1981, Tolbert was an assistant professor in the department of History at UCSD. He taught UCSD's first courses in African American History and initiated an MA program in Social and Ethnic History. From 1984 to 1991, he was an associate and full professor at California State University at Fullerton in the department of History and the department of Afro-American and Ethnic Studies. In 1987, he became Chairman of the Afro-American and Ethnic Studies Department.

Howard University

In 1991, Tolbert assumed the position of chair of Howard University's History department. He held this post until 1998, then served as chair again from 2002 to 2005, and 2009. While at Howard, Tolbert helped to incorporate a geography program, expand the public history program, and initiate the historical research for the New York Burial Ground Project.

Contribution

Tolbert's key area of research is Garveyism. His 1980 The UNIA and Black Los Angeles, was the first regional study of the Marcus Garvey movement. He has written and edited numerous books on the subject; served on committees and panels; and given many presentations. He has focused particularly on the effect of Garveyism in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles metropolitan area and California, conducting studies on UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) chapters nationwide.

Recently, Tolbert has been active in the Sabbath in Africa movement (SIA), sitting on its board and giving presentations across the world. The SIA generates scholarship on Christianity in Africa, operating on the premise that Christianity is a native African religion and has survived there uninterrupted since its inception during Pentecost.

Additionally, Tolbert is known to have one of the largest personal collections of African-American memorabilia.

Personal life

Tolbert was married to Frances Jones on August 1, 1976. They have two daughters, Denise (Defoe) and Erin.

Works

Books authored/edited

  • Tolbert, E.J. 1980. The UNIA and Black Los Angeles. Los Angeles: UCLA Center for Afro-American Studies.
  • Tolbert, E.J. and P. Ruff. 1982. From Beacon Light to Thirty-First Street.
  • Tolbert, E.J, senior editor. 1983. Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, Volume 1. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
  • Tolbert, E.J, senior editor. 1983. Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, Volume 2. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
  • Tolbert, E.J, senior editor. 1984. Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, Volume 3. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
  • Tolbert, E.J, senior editor. 1984. Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, Volume 4. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
  • Tolbert, E.J. and Carl E. Jackson, eds. 1986. Race and Culture in America. Edina, MN: Burgess Press.
  • Tolbert, E.J., ed. 1988. A Treasure Chest of Afro-American Culture. Santa Ana: Orange County Board of Education.
  • Tolbert, E.J. (Editorial Consultant). 1994. Timelines of African-American History: 500 Years of Black Achievement. Berkeley: Berkeley Publishing Group.
  • Tolbert, E.J. 1998. Perspectives on the African Diaspora, Volume 1. New York: Houghton Mifflin.
  • Tolbert, E.J. 2001. Perspectives on the African Diaspora, Volume 1 (Second Edition).New York: Houghton Mifflin.
  • Tolbert, E.J. with E.J. Humphrey. 2001. My Soul doth magnify the Lord. Collegedale, TN: The College Press.
  • Tolbert, E.J. 2001. Perspectives on the African Diaspora, Volume 2 (Second Edition). New York: Houghton Mifflin.
  • Tolbert, E.J., ed. 2005. 2000 Years of Christianity in Africa. USA: The Sabbath in Africa Study Group.
  • Tolbert, E.J., with Robert L. Woodfork. 2010. My Journey in the Ministry: A Recorded History of the South Atlantic Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Atlanta: South Atlanta Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

    • Book chapter contributions

  • "Garveyism in California," in Garvey, Africa, Europe and the Americas, edited by Rupert Lewis and Maureen Warner-Lewis, Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of the West Indies, Kingston Jamaica, 1986.
  • "The UNIA in Los Angeles, the 1920s," in People of Color in the American West, edited by Daniels et al., 1994.
  • "Marcus Garvey," in A Companion to American Thought, Boston: Blackwell, 1995.
  • "Paul Robeson" in Making It in America, edited by Elliott Barkan, ABC-Clio, 2001.
  • "The Great Migration" in Legacy: Treasures of Black History, edited by Thomas C. Battle and Donna M. Wells with preface by John Hope Franklin. National Geographic, 2006.

    • Journal articles

  • "Black Power and Christianity," Spectrum, Spring 1970.
  • "Outpost Garveyism and The UNIA Rank and File," Journal of Black Studies, March 1975.
  • "Federal Surveillance of Marcus Garvey and the UNIA," Journal of Ethnic Studies, Winter 1987.
  • "The Unseen Minority: Blacks in Orange County," (Co-authored with Lawrence de Graaf), Journal of Orange County Studies, 1990.
  • "Slaves, Workers and Race Rebels," Journal of American Ethnic History, Fall 1998.
  • "Review of The Veiled Garvey by Ula Taylor" (University of North Carolina Press, 2003) in Journal of American History, Spring 2004.

    • References

    Emory Tolbert Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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