World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Paula Jane Giddings

パウラ・ジェーン・ギディングス

Paula Jane Giddings

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1947-11-16 （Yonkers, New York, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Yonkers, New York → Paris, France → New York City, U.S. → Northampton, Massachusetts (Smith College)

Career

Occupations
Writer, Historian, Civil rights activist, Scholar, Editor
Active Years
1969-2017
Affiliations
Random House (editorial staff), Howard University Press (associate editor), Essence (contributing editor and book review editor), Rutgers University, Douglass College (faculty), Smith College (Elizabeth A. Woodson Professor of Africana Studies)
Memberships
Delta Sigma Theta (sorority), Fellowships and academic societies (various)
Influenced By
Arthur P. Davis, Jeane Marie Miller

Education

Gorton High School
Period: 〜1965
Year of Graduation: 1965
Country: United States
Graduated from local public high school in Yonkers
Howard University
English
Degree: Bachelor of Arts
Period: 1965–1969
Year of Graduation: 1969
Country: United States
Worked on university newspaper and literary magazine; involved in campus activism against sexism, colorism, and classism

Awards

Candace Award (History)
1984
Organization: National Coalition of 100 Black Women
Result: winner
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
1993
Organization: Guggenheim Foundation
Result: fellowship
Letitia Woods Brown Book Prize
2008
Work: Ida, A Sword Among Lions: Ida B. Wells and the Campaign Against Lynching
Organization: Association of Black Women Historians
Result: winner
Gustavus Myers Center Outstanding Book Award
2008
Work: Ida
Organization: Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights
Result: winner
Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Biography)
2008
Work: Ida
Category: Biography
Organization: Los Angeles Times
Result: winner
National Book Critics Circle Award (finalist)
2008
Work: Ida
Organization: National Book Critics Circle
Result: finalist
Black Caucus of the American Library Association Literary Award (Nonfiction)
2009
Work: Ida
Category: Nonfiction
Organization: Black Caucus of the American Library Association
Result: winner
John Hope Franklin Research Center Book Award
2011
Work: Ida
Organization: Duke University John Hope Franklin Research Center
Result: winner
Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2017
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Result: elected
Howard University Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award in the Field of Journalism
2018
Organization: Howard University
Result: recipient
Honorary Doctorate
Organization: Bennett College / Wesleyan University
Result: honorary degree

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America

1984 History / Gender studies

A historical study tracing the role and impact of Black women in the United States through the intersections of race and sex, covering the Civil Rights and women's movements up to the 1970s.

Black women's historyIntersection of race and sexSocial movements

In Search of Sisterhood: Delta Sigma Theta and the Challenge of the Black Sorority Movement

1988 History / Social studies 336 pages

A detailed history of Delta Sigma Theta, examining the sorority's influence and the roles its members have played socially and politically.

Sorority historyOrganization of Black womenCommunity and politics

Ida, A Sword Among Lions: Ida B. Wells and the Campaign Against Lynching

2008 Biography / History

A biography of Ida B. Wells focusing on her life and campaign against lynching, illuminating important aspects of Black civil rights history.

BiographyAnti-lynching campaignBlack women's leadership

Burning All Illusions: Writings from The Nation on Race 1866-2002 (editor)

2002 Edited collection / History

An edited collection of writings from The Nation on race, compiling important essays and commentary across many years.

Race issuesHistorical commentaryCriticism

Bibliography

  • Ida, A Sword Among Lions (2008)
  • Burning All Illusions: Writings from The Nation on Race 1866–2002 (editor, 2002)
  • In Search of Sisterhood (1988)
  • When and Where I Enter (1984)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Scholarly, feminist-oriented proseCombines historical research with journalistic methods
Recurring Motifs
Voices and experiences of Black womenIntersectionality of race and genderStories of movement and resistance

Legacy

Paula Giddings is an important scholar and writer in Black women's history, feminism, and U.S. civil rights history. Her work has influenced both academia and general readers; notably, Ida has been recognized as a major contribution to biography and human-rights history and has received multiple awards.

Academic Societies

  • Association of Black Women Historians (associated)
  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences (elected)

Archives

  • Duke University John Hope Franklin Research Center
  • Smith College archives (relevant to Women and Gender studies)

Trivia

  • After high school she attended Howard University and worked on the student newspaper and literary magazine.
  • As a youth she participated as a Freedom Rider in the Civil Rights Movement.
  • In 1975 she moved to Paris to open the Paris bureau of Encore America/Worldwide News.
  • Served as Elizabeth A. Woodson Professor of Africana Studies at Smith College and retired in 2017.