Higginbotham, Evelyn Brooks
1945-present · Contribution: 1993-2009
Education
Coined the influential concept of the “politics of respectability” in her landmark 1993 book Righteous Discontent, the first full scholarly account of Black women's central role in building the Black Baptist church into a vehicle for social and political change, and later revised and updated John Hope Franklin's foundational textbook From Slavery to Freedom

Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Category
- Education
Impact on the world
Higginbotham gave the field one of its most influential analytical frameworks and helped build its major reference works, shaping how Black women's history is written and taught.
Sources
- American Historical Association
1 more sources and references are available to members.
More in Education
Adams, Osceola Macarthy
1890-1985
Co-founded Delta Sigma Theta Sorority in 1913; pioneering Black actress and acting teacher who performed under the stage name Osceola Archer
Anderson, Claud
1936-
Authored 'PowerNomics: The National Plan to Empower Black America' and 'Black Labor, White Wealth,' influential books on Black economic self-sufficiency and group economics; held senior federal and state economic development posts
Armstrong, Byron Kenneth
1892-1980
Co-founded Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity in 1911; earned a PhD and built a career as a professor and academic dean across multiple universities
Asante, Molefi Kete (Arthur Lee Smith Jr.)
1942-
Coined the theory of Afrocentricity; founded the first PhD program in African American Studies in the United States at Temple University in 1988