tonya thames taylor

Trustee

tonya thames-taylor is a civil and social historian, professor, environmentalist, and human rights activist. She is an Associate Professor of History (American), founding director of the African American Studies Program, member of the Executive Committee of the Frederick Douglass Institute, and currently the interim director of Rustin Urban Community Change AxiS (RUCCAS) at West Chester University. In April 2022, she was recognized as one of the 150 Most Influential Women at West Chester University. In May 2023, the Frederick Douglass Institute recognized her creation of the Brown Bag (now “Lunch Encounters” series). At WCUPA, her last name is on one of the six benches that surround the campus’ Frederick Douglass statue. She is a specialist in the 19th and 20th centuries. Her research focuses on gender, race, human rights, and Southern histories. She has received numerous fellowships and grants. She served as a Pennsylvania Live and Learn Scholar for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council. A Mississippi native and granddaughter of former sharecroppers, she is a Trustee for the Friends Publishing Corporation (publishers of Friends Journal and QuakerSpeak), Kennett Underground Railroad Center (KURC), and People’s Hall. She is a member of the social justice committee of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). She recently ended a six-year tenure as a board member of the Friends Historical Association (FHA). She serves as the Chair of the PA State Women in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (WIN). She is also an active member of Association of Black Women Historians, American Association of American University (AAUW), National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), National Coalition of 100 Black Women (NCBW), Order of Eastern Stars, Junior League of Philadelphia (Sustainer) and her sorority. A native of the coastal town of Gulfport, Mississippi, dr. thames taylor is a magna cum laude graduate of Tougaloo College, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), in Tougaloo, Mississippi (MS). She earned her Master of Arts in history and a Ph.D. in American History from The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in Oxford, MS. She has life memberships in both alumni associations. She is an environmentalist and thrifter. She enjoys her life with her spouse, Anthony, and American pit bull rescues.