An important member of Kent State University’s academic and social legacy joined the ancestors last winter. However, his contributions, and impact on students, university policy, and even the national recognition of African American achievement will never be forgotten.
Dr. Edward W. Crosby, B.A. ’57, M.A. ’59, and Professor Emeritus, was the founding chair of the Department of Pan African Studies at Kent State University and known as the “Father of Black History Month.” In many ways, he was also the conscience of the university at a time when African American students challenged the status quo, demanding equity and inclusion in education, recognition of their rights and needs, and more. When he passed away in February 2021 he left an incredible legacy to this university, and to generations of students.
Born during the Depression on Cleveland’s east side, it was not an easy—or even straightforward path to higher education for Crosby. “My dad first came to Kent State in the early 1950s,” according to Kofi Khemet, Crosby’s son. “He didn’t stay long due to failing grades. He was drafted into the Army and two years later, following an honorable discharge, he returned to Kent State and used the G.I. Bill to resume his studies. This time he not only made the grade, he made all A’s.” Crosby was the first to admit that his motivation was his childhood sweetheart and wife, Shirley. By all accounts she was the woman of his dreams and his inspiration.
When he returned to study at Kent State, Crosby received both a Bachelor of Arts (‘57) and Master of Arts (’59) in Medieval German Language and History. He later obtained his PhD from the University of Kansas. Crosby was a talented multilinguist and became an expert in Germanic languages. He became fluent in Spanish, and also gained proficiency in French, Russian, Kiswahili, and even computer hypertext markup language (HTML in his later years. After earning his PhD, Crosby went on to teach at several universities, including Hiram College, University of Kansas, and Tuskegee Institute.
A New Consciousness at KSU
In 1968, Black United Students, an organization created to advocate for the needs and rights of Black students as well as create opportunities to explore and celebrate African American culture, arts, and achievement, walked off campus in protest. Why? The university invited the Oakland Police Department, then known for targeting and brutalizing Black residents, to campus to recruit Kent State students as police officers. Following the walkout, students negotiated with the university for their return. Among their demands was the creation of a Black Studies curriculum and establishment of a Black cultural center. They also wanted to participate in the selection of the faculty member who would spearhead these efforts. Crosby was selected by the university and the students, and he returned to Kent State in 1969.
As Crosby began his career at Kent State University one thing was clear: African American students faced multiple roadblocks to education and to enjoying the full university experience that others took for granted. Once on campus, he, along with his colleague, the late Wiley Smith III, founded the first Black Studies program in August 1969. The first diversity-intensive curricular program of its kind, it is today known as the Department of Africana Studies.
Crosby is also credited with working with Black United Students and the Center for Human Relations to coordinate the first Black History Month on campus in February 1970. At the time, Black history was celebrated during one week in February, as started by Carter G. Woodson. To Ensure that Black History Month was officially recognized by the university, it was placed on the academic calendar. This laid the groundwork for the national advocacy necessary to make it a federal holiday in 1976. Black History month is currently formally celebrated in the US, Canada, UK, and several other countries worldwide.
“My dad always said he would not have been nearly as successful without the cooperation of successive generations of student leaders who often became faculty members and administrators,” Khemet said. “Anyone who knew him knows he always credited the role played by my mom. They were quite a team, with my dad focused on academics and my mom focused on the operation of the cultural center.”
Crosby encouraged his students to support the fight for racial and economic equality. He also helped his students recognize and develop their gifts, and to understand they could accomplish anything through dedication and hard work. Former student, Mwatabu Okantah, an associate professor and Interim Chair in the Department of Africana Studies, told the Akron Beacon Journal that Dr. Crosby, “…truly saw things in us that I didn’t, and that we often didn’t see in ourselves. He was an excellent educator.”
Crosby retired from Kent State in 1994 but remained an active advocate in African American education his entire life.
His meaningful legacy and his memory will live on through his family, the many lives he enriched, and through the Edward W. and Shirley R. Crosby Founder’s Scholarship Fund. This fund was established nearly twenty (20) years ago, and the renewable scholarship is available to any student with a GPA of 3.0 or better. If you’d like to support this fund, you can make your donation to this scholarship online. If you would prefer to send a check, make the check payable to the Kent State University Foundation and mail it, along with a note including your name, address, phone number and indication that your donation is to be applied to the Edward W. & Shirley R. Crosby Founder’s Scholarship Fund. This can be mailed to Kent State University Foundation, 350 S. Lincoln Street, Kent, OH 44242.