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The Careers of African American Political Scientists, 1934–1960: Early Careersof Twiley and Lucius Barker

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2005

Michael B. Preston
Michael B. Preston
Affiliation:
University of Southern California
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Extract

It is indeed an honor and privilege for me todiscuss the careers of two outstanding earlyblack political scientists—Twiley and Lucius Barker. They have both singularly and jointlyplowed and tilled the fields for other young black political scientists to follow. Iconsider myself as one of their followers—young I am not, but a follower I am.

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Type
Profession Symposium
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 38 , Issue 1 , January 2005, pp. 103 - 104
Copyright
© 2005 by the American Political Science Association

It is indeed an honor and privilege for me todiscuss the careers of two outstanding early black political scientists—Twiley and Lucius Barker. They have both singularly and jointly plowed and tilled the fields for other young black political scientists to follow. I consider myself as one of their followers—young I am not, but a follower I am.

Both Lucius and Twiley received their B.A.s in political science at Southern University—Twiley in 1948 and Lucius in 1949; they also both received their M.A./Ph.D.s from the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign—Twiley in 1955 and Lucius in 1954. They both went back and taught at Southern University (Twiley from 1955–1960 and Lucius from 1954–1956). Over the years, both have received honors and awards for outstanding teaching. They have also jointly published several books in the area of Public Law—one of which is a mainstream text in the field: Civil Liberties and the Constitution: Cases and Commentaries, published in 1970, revised in 1975, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1999. Their other books, Studies in Freedom, Courts, Politics: Studies in Civil Liberties and Supplement for Civil Liberties and the Constitution have also been very well received by the profession. Next I want to focus on Twiley Barker's contribution to the profession.

Twiley Barker

Twiley moved from Southern University to become one of the founding members of the department of political science at the University of Illinois-Chicago Circle campus. He became an associate professor of political science and later professor and director of undergraduate study, 1978–1994. He is currently professor emeritus, University of Illinois-Chicago. He relocated to the Washington, D.C. area and is currently a lecturer at Howard University.

Twiley has published a number of articles in the field of public law and several on Chicago politics. He has been an active member in the Midwest Political Science Association (MWPSA), the National Conference of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS), and the American Political Science Association (APSA). Of course, I need to mention one of his best articles was published in my first book, The New Black Politics, in 1982 on “Courts, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and the Future of Black Politics.” He is also one of the few people I know who taught Jewell Prestage—and as some of you know, Jewell has taught everybody else!!

Lucius Barker

While Twiley's career path took him to Chicago, Lucius went on to the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee where he went from instructor to associate professor, from 1956–1967. He stopped at Indiana for a semester and on to Urbana from 1967–1969. He spent 1964–65 at Harvard Law School as a post-doctoral fellow in law and political science. From 1969–1990, he was a professor of political science at Washington University, while also holding the title, Edna F. Gelhorn University Professor of Public Affairs and Professor of Political Science. In 1988–1989, he was visiting professor of Government at Harvard University. From 1990–2001 Lucius became the William Bennett Munro Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. Lucius retired in 2001 and is now William Bennett Munro Professor Emeritus.

Lucius was an assistant chancellor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign from 1967–1969; chairperson for several years at Washington University and at Stanford; chair, Committee on Athletics, 1998–1999; and executive director of a major conference on “Race: African Americans, Research and Policy Perspectives at the Turn of the Century” at Stanford.

His publications are extensive. Along with the books published with his brother (see Twiley Barker, above), he has also published the leading textbook on black politics, African-Americans and the Political System, now in its fourth edition. He has also written several books on Jesse Jackson and has an extensive list of articles in public law and African-American politics.

He was president of the Midwest Political Science Association, 1982–1984; president of National Conference of Black Political Scientists, 1983–1984, president of American Political Science Association, 1992–1993; and served as editor, National Political Science Review, 1987–1990. He has received a number of honorary degrees and served on several prestigious boards of top organizations. Lucius continues to work on a major study of Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Finally, let me say that I am proud to speak on behalf of the “Barker Brothers” and their contributions to political science. They started out plowing the fields, but have since left us paved roads upon which to travel. As one who has been a follower of the “Barker Brothers,” I am also proud to recognize their contributions to the profession, but also as role models to emulate. “May the wind always be at their backs.”