A School of One’s Own

Ellen Irene Diggs and the Cuban Politics of Race

authored by: Vanessa Ohlraun
Abstract: The African American anthropologist Ellen Irene Diggs was one of the first scholars to write on African-descendant culture in Latin America. As one of W. E. B. Du Bois’ closest collaborators and a student of the Cuban anthropologist Fernando Ortiz, Diggs was an active contributor to the global exchange of ideas on issues of race and the history of Africa and the African diaspora. This paper focuses on Diggs’ formative starting point as a student of Cuban anthropology, history, and society and asks how her experiences as a participant in the escuela de verano and a doctoral student at the University of Havana in the 1940s shaped her views on these issues. It also investigates the complex intersection of politics and education in the broader context of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Pan-Americanist policies and Diggs’ commitment to the internationalist politics of Black solidarity, showing how Diggs carved out a space for herself in the racially exclusive environment of the university.
Organisation(s): History Department
Centre for Atlantic and Global Studies
Type: Contribution to book/anthology
Pages: 265 – 306
Publication date: 2024
Publication status: Published
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Anthropology, History and Philosophy of Science
Research Area (based on ÖFOS 2012): Cultural anthropology, American studies, Global history, Social history, Cultural history

BibTeX

@inbook{5f35d7b852d04a65a6662eeece401b4e,
title = "A School of One{\textquoteright}s Own: Ellen Irene Diggs and the Cuban Politics of Race",
abstract = "The African American anthropologist Ellen Irene Diggs was one of the first scholars to write on African-descendant culture in Latin America. As one of W. E. B. Du Bois{\textquoteright} closest collaborators and a student of the Cuban anthropologist Fernando Ortiz, Diggs was an active contributor to the global exchange of ideas on issues of race and the history of Africa and the African diaspora. This paper focuses on Diggs{\textquoteright} formative starting point as a student of Cuban anthropology, history, and society and asks how her experiences as a participant in the escuela de verano and a doctoral student at the University of Havana in the 1940s shaped her views on these issues. It also investigates the complex intersection of politics and education in the broader context of Franklin D. Roosevelt{\textquoteright}s Pan-Americanist policies and Diggs{\textquoteright} commitment to the internationalist politics of Black solidarity, showing how Diggs carved out a space for herself in the racially exclusive environment of the university.",
keywords = "Race relations, African Americans - Education, Pan-Americanism",
author = "Vanessa Ohlraun",
note = "The research for this essay was undertaken in the framework of “Connected Worlds: The Caribbean, Origin of Modern World” and has received funding from the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under the Marie Sk{\l}odowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 823846.",
year = "2024",
language = "English",
pages = "265 – 306",
editor = "Christine Hatzky and Lidia Becker and Anja Bandau",
booktitle = "G{\'E}NERO E INTERSECCIONALIDAD en la historia y la cultura de Centroam{\'e}rica y el Caribe (siglos XIX y XX)",
publisher = "Center for Historical Research of Central America",
}