History : About Us : Frederick Douglass Institute and Department of Black Studies : University of Rochester

History

Origins: The Frederick Douglass Institute

The history of Black studies at the University of Rochester is rooted in the founding of the Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African American Studies (FDI) in 1986. Named in honor of Frederick Douglass, whose life and work remain deeply connected to Rochester, the institute emerged as a vital intellectual center dedicated to the study of Black histories, cultures, politics, and communities. For nearly four decades, the Frederick Douglass Institute fostered innovative scholarship, public dialogue, and community engagement, establishing Rochester as an important site for African American and African Diasporic scholarship.

Through lectures, conferences, artistic collaborations, research initiatives, and community partnerships, the institute convened distinguished scholars, artists, activists, and students while advancing conversations about race, democracy, inequality, citizenship, culture, health, and social transformation. The institute served as a home for interdisciplinary inquiry and public engagement, bringing together faculty and students from across the humanities, social sciences, arts, and professional schools to examine the historical and contemporary experiences of Black communities worldwide.

A hallmark of the Frederick Douglass Institute's impact has been its longstanding fellowship programs, which have supported generations of emerging scholars in Black studies and related fields. Through predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships, the Institute provided intellectual community, mentorship, teaching opportunities, and research support to promising scholars from across the humanities and social sciences. Many former fellows have gone on to distinguished careers as professors, academic leaders, museum professionals, curators, and public intellectuals at colleges, universities, and cultural institutions throughout the United States and beyond, extending the influence of the Frederick Douglass Institute far beyond Rochester.

Over the course of its history, the Frederick Douglass Institute became one of the University's most visible and influential intellectual centers, helping to shape generations of students and scholars while advancing the University's commitment to the rigorous study of Black life and thought. The institute also served as a crucial incubator for Black studies at Rochester, cultivating intellectual networks, supporting emerging scholarship, and creating the institutional foundation upon which the Department of Black Studies would later be built.

Transformation: From Institute to Department

Building upon the strong foundation established by the Frederick Douglass Institute, the University entered a transformative period in 2021. Responding to longstanding calls from students, faculty, and community stakeholders for a twenty-first-century vision of Black studies, the University began reimagining the place of Black study within its academic mission. While the Frederick Douglass Institute had long served as a vital intellectual and cultural center, its programmatic structure relied heavily upon partnerships with other academic units to sustain curricular offerings and institutional growth. Increasingly, students and faculty recognized the need for a more robust and autonomous academic home capable of supporting expanded teaching, research, faculty recruitment, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Under the leadership of Jeffrey Q. McCune, Jr.—then director of the Frederick Douglass Institute— faculty, students, staff, alumni, and University administrators worked collaboratively to develop a vision for a fully departmentalized Black studies unit. Through strategic planning, faculty retreats, curricular development, and sustained institutional advocacy, the institute advanced a framework that would strengthen Black studies while preserving the intellectual and public mission that had long defined the Frederick Douglass Institute.

These efforts culminated on September 30, 2022, when the University of Rochester Board of Trustees formally approved the establishment of the Department of Black Studies. The creation of the department represented a historic milestone in the University's commitment to Black scholarship and the culmination of decades of intellectual labor, institutional investment, and collective vision. With departmental status came the ability to recruit faculty directly, develop an independent curriculum, expand academic offerings, and establish a more sustainable institutional structure for Black studies at Rochester. More than an administrative change, departmentalization affirmed Black studies as a central intellectual enterprise within the University's academic mission and created new opportunities for faculty growth, student engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and public scholarship.

The newly established department immediately entered a period of significant growth and development. Among its earliest achievements was the appointment of its inaugural faculty members, assistant professors Jordan Ealey and Philip McHarris, whose scholarship expanded the department's interdisciplinary reach and helped establish a foundation for future growth. Since that time, the department has recruited eight additional faculty members whose expertise spans Black feminist studies, Black public health, visual culture, Afro-Latin American studies, African and Diasporic literatures, postcolonial theory, Black queer studies, and Black digital studies. Together, these scholars have positioned Rochester as a leading center for interdisciplinary Black studies scholarship, research, and teaching.

A defining chapter in the department's early history came through the award of a transformative 3 million dollar grant from the Mellon Foundation's Higher Learning program. Secured during the department's formative years under the leadership of Founding Chair Jeffrey Q. McCune, Jr., the grant provided critical support for faculty development and administrative infrastructure, strengthening the department's capacity to grow strategically while advancing innovative forms of scholarship and collaboration across the university. It also affirmed the significance of Black Studies as a vital area of intellectual inquiry and institutional investment.

The years surrounding departmentalization were also marked by an ambitious program of public scholarship and intellectual exchange. Through the Frederick Douglass Institute, the department convened major national conversations that reflected the breadth and urgency of contemporary Black studies. Signature symposia included:

We Have Nothing to Lose But Our Chains: Black Study and Its Futures (2021)
Black Feminism Unfinished (2022)
Black Visual Culture (2023)
Beyond Policing (2024)
250 Years of an American Experiment (2026)

These gatherings brought together leading scholars, artists, activists, and public intellectuals to address some of the most pressing intellectual, cultural, and political questions facing Black communities in the twenty-first century. During this period, the institute also expanded partnerships with organizations throughout Rochester and beyond, including Avenue Black Box Theatre, the Eta Rho Lambda Foundation, The Links Foundation, and the George Eastman Museum, further extending the reach of Black studies beyond the classroom and strengthening connections between the University and the broader community.

Today, the Frederick Douglass Institute and Department of Black Studies represents the next chapter in a history that spans nearly four decades. The Department of Black Studies serves as the University's academic home for interdisciplinary scholarship on Black life across local, national, and global contexts, while the Frederick Douglass Institute continues as its public-facing center for intellectual exchange, cultural programming, and community engagement. Far from diminishing the institute's role, the establishment of the department has enabled the Frederick Douglass Institute to expand its reach and deepen its impact throughout the Rochester community. Through public lectures, symposia, artistic collaborations, K–12 partnerships, community-engaged scholarship, and collaborations with cultural and civic organizations, the Institute continues to connect the University with broader conversations about Black life, culture, health, democracy, and social justice.

Together, the department and institute carry forward a shared commitment to rigorous scholarship, public engagement, creative expression, health and collective well-being, and the ongoing pursuit of justice and democratic possibility. The story of Black studies at Rochester is therefore not one of institutional replacement, but of institutional evolution. The establishment of the Department of Black Studies strengthened the University's capacity for teaching, research, and faculty development, while the Frederick Douglass Institute continues to flourish as a vital bridge between the University and the communities it serves. What began in 1986 as an institute dedicated to Black study has grown into a comprehensive academic and public enterprise whose impact extends across the University, the city of Rochester, and the broader world.