Washington State University Black Studies Department Records, 1970-1981

The Black Studies department was created in 1970 and while the department itself has since been enveloped into Comparative Ethnic Studies in the College of Liberal Arts, black studies classes are still offered as part of that program. An early director of the department was Talmadge Anderson. He had earned an MBA from Atlanta University (as of 2011, Clark Atlanta University) and was faculty in WSU’s College of Business before becoming director for Black Studies. The department was one of the first black studies programs in the northwest, and offered classes included Swahili, Black Literature, Black Psychology and Anderson’s area of expertise, Black Economics.

In 1975, Anderson created the Heritage House, which was WSU’s first African American cultural center. It was originally located on College Avenue, in an area in front of Cleveland Hall, between it and the Owen Science and Engineering Library. As of 2011 it is located at 935 B Street; in 1996 it was renamed in honor of Anderson as the Talmadge Anderson Heritage House. As Anderson planned it, Heritage House was a place to talk about campus involvement and issues that relate to blacks. He also brought in many well known speakers.

In 1977, Anderson created and became editor of The Western Journal of Black Studies, a quarterly journal that specialized in black research, social and political issues, arts, and literature. It is still published today through WSU University Press.

Biographical materials retrieved from http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aaw/anderson-talmadge-1932 in January, 2011.