Elizabeth Clark-Lewis

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Faculty

Professor

eclark-lewis@Howard.edu

(202) 806-9330

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Department/Office

History

School/College

College of Arts & Sciences

Biography

Elizabeth Clark-Lewis, Ph.D. is Professor of History at Howard University. Since 1990 she has directed its Public History Program. The former Director of Graduate Studies has served on the Executive Board of the Organization of American Historians and as the National Director of the Association of Black Women Historians. She is one of the founders of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Association.

A founder of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Association, Clark-Lewis has published extensively in the areas of African American and Public History. Among her publications are Keep It Locked: 106 Tributes to AJ Calloway (2014); Synergy: Public History At Howard University (2011); Emerging Voices and Paradigms: Black Women's Scholarship [Co-editor] (2008); First Freed: Emancipation in the District of Columbia (2002); Living In, Living Out: African American Domestics in Washington, DC (1996); Northern Virginia Community College: An Oral History, 1965 - 1985 [Co-author] (1987); and, The Transition From Live-in to Day Work (1985). Elizabeth Clark-Lewis has written twenty-one articles for scholarly publications. As a co-producer of Freedom Bags, a 1990 WETA/PBS documentary, she received the Oscar Micheaux Best Documentary Award.

Elizabeth Clark-Lewis has served as the primary investigator (PI) for research grants from government agencies (the National Park Service, the District of Columbia government, National Endowment for the Humanities and the State of Virginia); educational organizations (the Smithsonian Institution, WETA-Channel 26, the DC Community Humanities Council, and the DC Arts and Humanities Council); non-profit organizations (the Peoples Involvement Corporation, the Hattie Strong Foundation, and the Hechinger Foundation); private grantors (the American Express Company, Washington Post and the Martin Marietta Corporations); and, educational institutions (Clark University [Massachusetts] and two Howard University Faculty Research Grants).

Education

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

American Studies
University of Maryland

Master of Arts (M.A.)

History
Howard University

Bachelor Arts (B.A.)

History
Howard University

Advanced Research Certification - Modern Archives Institute

National Archives and Records Administration

Expertise

United States History

African American Women's History

Public History

Museums and Archives

History of the District of Columbia

Migration History

Emancipation

Academics

United States History to 1877

African American Women In United States History

Public History

Museums and Archives

History and Preservation

Internship

Research

Specialty

Oral History projects, Local History Museums, Community Historic Preservation, Women's History - GRANTS -

Funding

2018 - "The Service of Col. Charles Young and the Buffalo Soldiers at Mt Whitney and Sequoia National Parks," (Three Rivers, California), National Park Service;

Harriet Tubman-Caroline County (Maryland) Grant, National Park Service [2016];

"Hand Dance Culture in Northern Virginia," Virginia Foundation for the Humanities [2015];

Quaker/Colored Cemetery Project (Washington, DC), National Park Service [2012];

DC Emancipation History, District of Columbia Government [2007];

"Community Historic Preservation," DC Community Humanities Council Grant [2004];

Terrell Museum/National Trust for Historic Preservation Grant (Scholar) [2003];

Center for the Advancement of Service Learning, Washington, DC [2001];

Developing Waysides and Outdoor Interpretive Exhibits Grant, Peoples Involvement Corporation, Washington, DC [2000];

Mary McLeod Bethune National Council House Study, National Park Service, Washington, DC [1998];

Slavery at Oxon Hill Farm (Maryland), National Park Service, Washington, DC [1998];

Fund for Academic Excellence Grant, Howard University [1998];

Howard University Faculty Research Grant [1997];

"Footsteps From North Brentwood (Maryland)," Community History Grant, Smithsonian Institution [1995];

Calvert County African American Teachers' Oral History Project, Maryland Humanities Council [1994];

"In Search of Common Ground," Potomac Gardens Public Housing Oral History Project, D C Community Humanities Council [1993];

“Emancipation Day Heritage Programs“ D C Arts and Humanities Council [1992];

Oral History Project, 25th Anniversary of the Anacostis Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC [1992];

“Women and Migration” Faculty Research Grant, Howard University [1991];

Minority Producers Grant, W.E.T.A. Television (PBS-Channel 26) [1989];

Hechinger Foundation Documentary History Production Grant [1988];

Washington Post Foundation, Documentary History Production Grant [1988];

Martin Marietta Corporation, Documentary History Production Grant [1988];

American Express Company, Documentary History Production Grant [1988];

Hattie Strong Foundation, Documentary History Production Grant [1987];

"Migration in Washington, DC" District of Columbia Community Humanities Council [1986];

Gum Springs Museum Development Grant , Virginia Humanities Council [1984];

State of Virginia Local History Development Grant [1980];

National Endowment for the Humanities/Clark University, Teaching Methodologies Grant [1979];

Accomplishments

2015 Letitia Brown Lecture, Historical Society of Washington, DC

Dr. Elizabeth Clark-Lewis delivers an introductory, biographical lecture for the 42nd Annual DC Historical Studies Conference on the late Prof. Letitia Woods Brown for the occasion of the scholar's 100th birthday. Clark-Lewis describes how Woods Brown encouraged the development of African American history research and scholarship in the 1970s, especially on African American history in the District of Columbia.

2011-2014 Organization of American Historians, first person elected from an HBCU

The Organization of American Historians is the largest professional society dedicated to United States history, guided by the principles of advocacy, professional integrity, and the advancement of scholarship.

2009 Williams Leadership Award - Association of Black Women Historians

The Lorraine A. Williams Leadership Award is a distinction that honors a Black woman in education or related areas, such as archives, libraries, historical societies, museums, etc.

2008 Outstanding Educator, Pennsylvania Urban Education Conference, Philadelphia, PA

2007-2011 National Director, Association of Black Women Historians (ABWH)

The ABWH constitution outlines four organizational goals: to establish a network among the membership; to promote Black women in the profession; to disseminate information about opportunities in the field; and to make suggestions concerning research topics and repositories.

2006 Bethune Service Award - Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History

The recipient of this award is one whose career has been highlighted with service to education, African American history, and the community.

2000 Pogue Award - Oral Historians of the Mid-Atlantic Region - Public Housing Series

An annual award for outstanding and continuing contributions to oral history

1995-1998 National Council on Public History: Executive Board;

1995 Letitia Brown “Best Book” Prize - Association of Black Women Historians

1992 Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History - Executive Board

1992 Public Humanities Award - District of Columbia Community Humanities Council

1992 - 2011 Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History, Executive Council

1991 Program Excellence Award - American Association of University Women

1991 Oscar Micheaux Best Documentary Award - Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame

1991 Gold Apple Award - N E A; First Place American Film and Video Festival

1988 Distinguished Public Service Award - Council of the District of Columbia

1986 “Best Article” Prize - Association of Black Women Historians

1986 Smithsonian Institution Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Washington, DC

1985 J. R. Clark Award - American Association of Community and Junior Colleges

1977 - Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Founder (One of the seven founding members )

Other Service: Executive Board: African American Experience Fund, National Park Foundation; Landmarks Committee, NPS.

Other Service: D C Emancipation Commission; Howard University Alumni Association (National): Membership Committee.

Other Awards :Ford Foundation Research Fellowship

Shomacher Fellowship

Featured News

Read: NBC News | Descendants fight to maintain historic Black communities

Read: Washington City Paper | Life as a Live-In: Elizabeth Clark-Lewis’ Domestic History

Read: WUSF | Descendants fight to maintain historic Black communities. Keeping their legacy alive is complicated

Read: Washington Post | 'Freedom Bags' Carried Hope of a Better Life

Publications and Presentations

Living In, Living Out: African American Domestics in Washington, DC, 1910–1940

This oral history portrays the lives of African American women who migrated from the rural South to work as domestic servants in Washington, DC in the early decades of the twentieth century. In Living In, Living Out Elizabeth Clark-Lewis narrates the personal experiences of eighty-one women who worked for wealthy white families.

Keep it Locked

Keep it Locked: 106 Tributes To AJ From The Mecca

Entertaining, insightful and candid, this book highlights 106 & Park as a positive agent-of-change in viewers' personal lives and perceptions of style, as well as media format and educational innovations.

First Freed

First Freed: Washington, D.C., in the Emancipation Era

This revised edition of award-winning author and historian Clark-Lewis's 1998 volume, published to commemorate the 140th anniversary of Emancipation in the District of Columbia, provides readers with critical research and information about this often overlooked and underexamined aspect of local and national history.

Duty and "Fast Living"

Duty and "Fast Living": The Diary of Mary Johnson Sprow, Domestic Worker

Featured in Washington History, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Spring/Summer, 1993), pp. 46-65