ONLINE: “Black Woman Professor – White University”: Nellie Y. McKay at UW-Madison

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James Brown

Independent scholar Shanna Greene Benjamin is the author of "Half in Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay" (University of North Carolina Press, 2021).

Many UW-Madison grads are fortunate enough to have studied with Dr. Nellie McKay. A bright light in the academy, and trailblazing African American scholar, McKay nonetheless felt she had to keep many aspects of her private life hidden. Dr. Shanna Greene Benjamin joins us thanks to the Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries to discuss her new biography of McKay, Half In Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay, with UW professor Dr. Monica M. White. The book is out in April from University of North Carolina Press. Join the livestream on YouTube, no registration is required.

media release: In her biography of the influential professor and scholar, Dr. Nellie Y. McKay, Dr. Shanna Greene Benjamin examines Dr. McKay’s strategies for succeeding professionally while navigating the white-dominated academy. Dr. McKay (1930-2006), served on the UW-Madison faculty from 1977 to 2006, during which time she co-edited The Norton Anthology of African American Literature with Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. With the Norton Anthology, Dr. McKay created a space for the study of Black literature and Black feminist thought in the academy.

Despite gaining notoriety in her academic life, Dr. McKay chose to hide details about her personal life from her colleagues. Dr. Benjamin’s research demonstrates that this secrecy was a strategy McKay deemed necessary for her professional success. Dr. Benjamin’s book, Half In Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay (UNC Press, April 2021), lays bare the social climate in which Dr. McKay lived, the academic atmosphere in which she worked, and the strategies she employed to succeed in the white academy. Dr. Benjamin goes on to connect Dr. McKay’s life and legacy with the sacrifices and strategies of contemporary women of color in the academy.

Dr. Shanna Greene Benjamin is an independent scholar and author who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Friends of UW-Madison Libraries are pleased to bring Dr. Benjamin to campus via a virtual event on April 8 at 4PM CDT, a week before her book is released. She will be joined in conversation by Dr. Monica M. White, UW-Madison faculty member and author, as they tackle the issues raised in the book. Dr. Cheryl Gittens, UW-Madison’s Interim Chief Diversity Officer, will provide introductions and current context for the event.

For more information about this event, including an interview with Benjamin, visit the Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries event page.