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Randal Maurice Jelks
Randal Maurice Jelks Professor of American Studies with a joint appointment in African and African American Studies. Professor Jelks also holds courtesy appointments in History, Religious Studies, and is the co- Editor of the journal American Studies. Jelks is also one of the founders and editors of http://theblackbottom.com a blog of African American Politics, Culture and Activism in Michigan.
Jelks is a graduate of South Shore High School (Chicago), the University of Michigan (BA in History), McCormick Theological Seminary (Masters of Divinity) and Michigan State University (Ph.D. in History); he is also an ordained clergy person in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Before joining the faculty of the University of Kansas, Professor Jelks taught at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Dr. Jelks was the 2006-2007 Rockefeller Foundation Fellow at the National Humanities Center in Research Park Triangle, North Carolina and in 2008 he was the Langston Hughes Visiting Professor at the University of Kansas in American Studies.
Jelks has published both scholarly and journalistic articles. His research and writing interests are in the area of African American Religious, Urban, and Civil Rights History. He is the author of two award winning books African Americans in the Furniture City: the Civil Rights Struggle in Grand Rapids, Michigan (The University of Illinois Press, 2006) and Benjamin Elijah Mays, Schoolmaster of the Movement: A Biography (University of North Carolina Press, May 15, 2012).
Phone: 785-864-9476
Address: American Studies
Bailey Hall 213
1440 Jayhawk Blvd
Lawrence, Kansas 66045
Jelks is a graduate of South Shore High School (Chicago), the University of Michigan (BA in History), McCormick Theological Seminary (Masters of Divinity) and Michigan State University (Ph.D. in History); he is also an ordained clergy person in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Before joining the faculty of the University of Kansas, Professor Jelks taught at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Dr. Jelks was the 2006-2007 Rockefeller Foundation Fellow at the National Humanities Center in Research Park Triangle, North Carolina and in 2008 he was the Langston Hughes Visiting Professor at the University of Kansas in American Studies.
Jelks has published both scholarly and journalistic articles. His research and writing interests are in the area of African American Religious, Urban, and Civil Rights History. He is the author of two award winning books African Americans in the Furniture City: the Civil Rights Struggle in Grand Rapids, Michigan (The University of Illinois Press, 2006) and Benjamin Elijah Mays, Schoolmaster of the Movement: A Biography (University of North Carolina Press, May 15, 2012).
Phone: 785-864-9476
Address: American Studies
Bailey Hall 213
1440 Jayhawk Blvd
Lawrence, Kansas 66045
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From Mays's humble origins in Epworth, South Carolina, through his doctoral education, his work with institutions such as the National Urban League, the NAACP, and the national YMCA movement, and his significant career in academia, Jelks creates a rich portrait of the man, the teacher, and the scholar. Benjamin Elijah Mays, Schoolmaster of the Movement is a powerful portrayal of one mans faith, thought, and mentorship in bringing American apartheid to an end."
The Struggle for Civil Rights in Grand Rapids
Awards and Recognition:
Winner of a State History Award in the University and Commercial Press category from the Historical Society of Michigan (2006).
The formation of a northern African American community and its struggle for civil rights
African Americans in the Furniture City is unique not only in terms of its subject, but also for its framing of the African American struggle for survival, civil rights, and community inside a discussion of the larger white community. Examining the African-American community of Grand Rapids, Michigan between 1850 and 1954, Randal Maurice Jelks uncovers the ways in which its members faced urbanization, responded to structural racism, developed in terms of occupations, and shaped their communal identities.
Focusing on the intersection of African Americans' nineteenth-century cultural values and the changing social and political conditions in the first half of the twentieth century, Jelks pays particularly close attention to the religious community's influence during their struggle toward a respectable social identity and fair treatment under the law. He explores how these competing values defined the community's politics as it struggled to expand its freedoms and change its status as a subjugated racial minority."
Howard Thurman, who served as dean of theology at Howard and Boston Universities, was a Morehouse College classmate of Martin Luther King, Sr, and he served as a mentor, spiritual adviser, and a friend to Martin Luther King, Jr. Morehouse College President Benjamin Elijah Mays taught Martin Luther King, Jr., and became a lifelong friend.
"King, Mays and Thurman: Interfaith Pioneers" was a program of the Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection, held at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel.
(including another Summer Reading Issue, and a Special Issue on Ralph Ellison)
From Mays's humble origins in Epworth, South Carolina, through his doctoral education, his work with institutions such as the National Urban League, the NAACP, and the national YMCA movement, and his significant career in academia, Jelks creates a rich portrait of the man, the teacher, and the scholar. Benjamin Elijah Mays, Schoolmaster of the Movement is a powerful portrayal of one mans faith, thought, and mentorship in bringing American apartheid to an end."
The Struggle for Civil Rights in Grand Rapids
Awards and Recognition:
Winner of a State History Award in the University and Commercial Press category from the Historical Society of Michigan (2006).
The formation of a northern African American community and its struggle for civil rights
African Americans in the Furniture City is unique not only in terms of its subject, but also for its framing of the African American struggle for survival, civil rights, and community inside a discussion of the larger white community. Examining the African-American community of Grand Rapids, Michigan between 1850 and 1954, Randal Maurice Jelks uncovers the ways in which its members faced urbanization, responded to structural racism, developed in terms of occupations, and shaped their communal identities.
Focusing on the intersection of African Americans' nineteenth-century cultural values and the changing social and political conditions in the first half of the twentieth century, Jelks pays particularly close attention to the religious community's influence during their struggle toward a respectable social identity and fair treatment under the law. He explores how these competing values defined the community's politics as it struggled to expand its freedoms and change its status as a subjugated racial minority."
Howard Thurman, who served as dean of theology at Howard and Boston Universities, was a Morehouse College classmate of Martin Luther King, Sr, and he served as a mentor, spiritual adviser, and a friend to Martin Luther King, Jr. Morehouse College President Benjamin Elijah Mays taught Martin Luther King, Jr., and became a lifelong friend.
"King, Mays and Thurman: Interfaith Pioneers" was a program of the Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection, held at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel.
(including another Summer Reading Issue, and a Special Issue on Ralph Ellison)