Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights

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The Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights, earlier known as the Gustavus Myers Center for Human Rights or The Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in North America or several other such variations, was an American non-profit organization that existed from 1984 to 2009. It took its name from American journalist and historian Gustavus Myers and in particular from his 1943 work History of Bigotry in the United States.[1] The center was most known for the Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Awards, given out each year to ten books. The award, in the words of the center, "commends works published in a given year which extend our understanding of the root causes of bigotry and the range of options we as humans have in constructing alternative ways to share power."[1]

The initial director of the center, and founder of the book awards, was James R. Bennett (1932–), a professor of English at the University of Arkansas.[2] As such the center was located in the English Department of the university in Fayetteville, Arkansas.[3] Under Bennett, "The specific purpose of the Center is to present an annual award for the best scholarship published on the subject of intolerance in the U.S."[4] Bennett's own perspective including concern for the effects of what he called "the patriarchal-corporate-government-education-media complex [which makes use of] a massive propaganda system designed to produce uncritical support."[5] By early 1998, Bennett was still director of the center.[6]

But then later in 1998,[7] he was succeeded by Loretta Janice Williams (1937–2015), an author, sociologist, and activist, who became the center's other longtime director.[8] In so doing, the center became located in Boston, Massachusetts, first at the Boston University School of Social Work,[7] and then from 2002 on, at Simmons College.[9] Under Williams, the Myers Center continued to give out annual awards for books which are "outstanding in helping shed light on bigotry in America."[10] However the center additionally published a 12-to-16-page newsletter, beginning in 2000,[7] that after a few issues was called Multidiversity and that contained commentary on current topics as well as book reviews.[11] The Harvard Graduate School of Education characterized the center as "promot[ing] living out diversity equitably."[12]

Under either director, it is not clear how many people were actually affiliated with the center or where its funding came from. The book awards received significant visibility, with many authors including having received one in their biographies.[13] In the final year they were given, the 10 books that received awards[14] were said to have been selected from a field of nearly 400 nominations.[12]

In any case, in 2009, the year of the Myers Center's 25th anniversary,[1] the center closed due to lack of funds, in doing so saying, "Like so many other non-profits, we experienced insurmountable difficulties in garnering funding to continue our important work."[14]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ "News for Educational Workers", The Radical Teacher, No. 30 (January 1986), pp. 33-38, at p. 36.
  5. ↑ "James R. Bennett Responds", College English, Vol. 52, No. 6 (October 1990), pp. 684-686, at p. 684.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "From the Director", "FAQ", Gustavus Myers Center, Summer 2000, pp. 1, 11.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ ""We've Moved", Multidiversity, Fall 2002, p. 1.
  10. ↑ Gustavus Myers Center For The Study of Bigotry and Human Rights in North America, "Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights 2002 Award Winners," December 10, 2002. Retrieved July 18, 2010. Archived September 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ See this archived page for a list of newsletters and mostly-working links to them.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "News and Events: Pollock's Everyday Antiracism Wins Gustavus Myers Award", Harvard Graduate School of Education, December 8, 2008.
  13. ↑ See for example the results of this Google Books search.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Loretta J. Williams, "With Sadness, Myers Center Closes: Announces Awards for Outstanding Titles in Human Rights," Peacework Magazine, New England Office of the American Friends Service Committee, Cambridge, Massachusetts, issue no. 396. Retrieved July 18, 2010. Archived July 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
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