Thread by @karlajstrand

Next up is "Visibly Inscribed in the Annals of History: A Tribute to Dr. Rosalyn Terborg-Penn" with Toya Corbett, John H. Bracey, Jr., Bettye Collier-Thomas, Sharon Harley, and Robert L. Harris, Jr. #asalh2020

Natanya Duncan: Dr. Rosalyn Terborg-Penn was a role model, friend, and teacher for many, including the panelists today. She was a pioneer in our field and paved the way for us to do the work we do. #ASALH2020

Terborg-Penn's groundbreaking book was "African American Women and the Struggle for the Vote, 1850-1920" [BUY IT]. #ASALH2020

John Bracey: RTP was part of the young group fighting for Black studies and specifically, African American women's studies. They didn't ask permission and didn't ask for help, they just did it. It wasn't flashy or showy. It was a collective effort.

Bracey: DuBois outlined the foundation for Black studies by asserting the humanity of Black people. In the same way, RTP defined what Black women's studies would be and looked like. She and her colleagues laid the foundation for study of Black women today.

Bracey: RTP said "If you can't back it up from the library, you just talkin' smack... She was a historian's historian." #ASALH2020

Bracey on Terborg-Penn: "She'd beat you down with arguments. She didn't talk louder than you she just knew more than you." #ASALH2020

Bracey: RTP played a very important role in teaching Black students at Black institutions. We're just at the beginning of writing about the contributions Black women have made to this country. #ASALH2020

Dr. Bettye Collier-Thomas: Seconds everything John Bracey said. Had a lengthy history together (some unbeknownst to them until later) and both taught at Howard. Both spent time as "sister-scholars" at Library of Congress as well. #ASALH2020

Collier-Thomas: She and Terborg-Penn looking at similar kinds of topics/time periods/sources at the time. RTP at Morgan in Baltimore then. Paucity of published materials on Baltimore and very challenging to find. Collier-Thomas started indexing materials she found.

Collier-Thomas: She and Terborg-Penn were engaged in the recovery of Black women's history. The recent microfilming of Black newspapers provided a goldmine. RTP wrote a book of deep analysis that connected the movements.

Collier-Thomas: Terborg-Penn privileged her scholarship because she knew information is power. She did the hard research and published. She knew the importance of an org and network to share info and promote work of Black women scholars. #ASALH2020

Collier-Thomas: She and Terborg-Penn recognized the importance of collecting stories and histories of their families and their elders. RTP acted, didn't just speak, she didn't speak in public a lot. She had a personal and a professional persona.

Collier-Thomas: RTP's book remains the definitive study of Black women and the vote. Also imperative in it was the discussion of the participation of Black working class women in the suffrage movement. #ASALH2020

Sharon Harley: Often, people mistook Terborg-Penn and Sharon Harley as sisters. RTP wasn't always accepted or given credit for her work on Black women suffragists. They grew sick of being invisible. So they wrote books: Afro-American Woman and Women in Africa and Diaspora.

Harley: They also organized conferences. Terborg-Penn was "an organizational genius". She embraced everyone. She was a caring and thoughtful person. But she got pushback from white historians. And she persevered, she would not back down. #ASALH2020

Robert L. Harris, Jr.: I followed John Bracey to many institutions, but "I'm not going to follow him in the time he took in talking about [Rosalyn Terborg-Penn] this afternoon." #ASALH2020

Harris: There may not be an ASALH without Rosalyn Terborg-Penn. Accolades to RTP for co-founding Association of Black Women Historians. She could've been at any institution in the US but felt work of Black women historians was overlooked. #ASALH2020

Harris: It was important to her to be at an HBCU. She co-founded Assn for the Study of Worldwide African Diaspora. She could stand her ground; she was dependable. Had excellent skills of historical analysis in looking at the nuances of identity of the Black worldwide community.

Harris: RTP looked at the "cyclical nature of Black naming"; Black people giving themselves/having to take different names. Always very insightful. She had a quiet way about her but Harris did have to literally restrain her once from jumping on an editor at a particular press...

Collier-Thomas: Rosalyn Terborg-Penn was tough. "She didn't yield to anyone, even her friends, you had to go rounds with her." She stayed for what she stood for. Just look at her face when she talked sometimes, she didn't bat an eye. #ASALH2020

Collier-Thomas: Terborg-Penn pointed out how white suffragists literally wrote Black women out of the suffrage movement and out of Seneca Falls. She was pushed out of spaces and orgs because of the persistance of her work. #ASALH2020

Bracey: Terborg-Penn knew there was something before Seneca Falls. She brought to light the issues with how people studied suffrage. If you don't understand the history of Black women in the suffrage movement, you don't understand suffrage. #ASALH2020

Harley: "This was Rosalyn's year." It is so sad for her to have missed this [the centennial]. This is the culmination of decades of work.

Collier-Thomas: Couldn't believe how hard it was for Terborg-Penn to get the book published. Was told it wasn't centered in [white] suffrage history. She centered Black women and the gatekeepers denied her for a long time. #ASALH2020

Bracey: Discusses the reunion of the Combahee River Collective, after 40 years. Barbara Smith got out of a hospital bed to attend.

Collier-Thomas: Terborg-Penn could do what she wanted to at Morgan. That is one of the important things about being at an HBCU. The connectedness is imperative.

Corbett: Discusses how intimidated she was by Terborg-Penn. Took 2 months before she became comfortable in class. Then RTP brought Corbett in as a graduate assistant. And she was tough. But Morgan was tight-knit and RTP gave students ample one-on-one time.

Corbett: Dr. Penn inspired her to write about African American women. It's why she went to Morgan. RTP is why Corbett wanted to write about topics and people no one had ever written about before. "I'm a child of Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, so you can't tell me anything!" #ASALH2020

Duncan: Each of us was allowed to feel like we were Dr. Penn's favorite. She showed how to be the consummate professional AND still care. You can make investment in work and in others that would yield very different kind of narrative. #ASALH2020

Duncan: She changed my perception of what it meant to be a Black woman historian and a Black woman in the academy. She challenged me to be diligent and honest and get over my fear. She modeled the behavior.

Duncan: Terborg-Penn taught me to give people what they know in order to teach them something new. You don't get more scholar-activist than Rosalyn Terborg-Penn. She created orgs, conferences, advocated for Black academics.

Duncan: RTP didn't see Black women scholars as integrating spaces but instead as claiming their rightful places. RTP taught the value of knowing your audience and that your audience is right here and your work will serve far and beyond your initial audience. #asalh2020

Collier-Thomas: Relates challenges to selling books on Black history to trade audiences. This was the same argument against Dr Penn's book: there's no audience for this. Still a problem today. Shines light on lack of Black editors, publishers, etc. #asalh2020

Harley: Proved publishers wrong when her book sold 200 copies in 25 minutes. We have a lot of work to still do and Terborg-Penn laid the foundation. #asalh2020

Bracey: There was wilderness before Rosalyn, Bettye, and Sharon. They laid the foundation. Now there are enough books to fill up a syllabus. "You did that, that's the foundation you built." #asalh2020

Bracey: Come to ASALH to be nurtured. Our job is not to attack people's scholarship but to build people's scholarship. Come to ASALH to learn the field. We're not competing against each other, we were supporting each other. #asalh2020

Bracey: Howard still nurtures the best and the brightest. At HBCUs you can do anything, at PWIs you have to explain yourself. That is still Howard. We still haven't gotten to the point where we fit into larger institutions without losing something. #asalh2020

Collier-Thomas: Terborg-Penn's scholarship and ABWH were two of the most important things to her.

Harley: Her family also meant the world to her, as well as her students. These affected her scholarship as well.

Duncan: Part of Terborg-Penn's legacy was cross-cultural conversation and not just being comparative but linear. Also the "collective kinfolk network" not just biological but chosen. Putting your words down is as important as speaking. She meant to #citeblackwomen. #asalh2020

Harris: Remember Dr. Penn as someone who made a lasting imprint on Black history. She was able to pull together a number of different threads. She was able to synthesize and analyze large bodies of material. #asalh2020

Bracey: Honor her by not forgetting her, talking about her, reading her books. Her legacy is her ongoing impact. We are just at the beginning of this thing. She pushed us pretty far down the road but we have a long way to go in Black history. #asalh2020

Collier-Thomas: Best way to remember Rosalyn Terborg-Penn is to keep her scholarship alive. Cite her, quote her. Get in the habit of doing that. Refer to our work. "Say my name." #asalh2020

Harley: For Rosalyn, it was never about Rosalyn. It was about the next generation. Younger scholars can benefit from that idea and practice. #asalh2020

Toya Corbett: "We will always remember Dr. Rosalyn Terborg-Penn." #asalh2020

Duncan thanks @ASALH, panelists, Madame President Higginbotham, Van Horn and Penn families.

"Yes, I am standing on the shoulders of Dr. Rosalyn Terborg-Penn." #asalh2020