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Black Members at Two of America's Most Prestigious Learned Societies
- Article from:
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The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
- Article date:
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July 1, 2008
- Author:
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Copyright informationCopyright CH II Publishers, Inc. Summer 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Over the years, blacks have been largely excluded from membership in America's learned societies. But radical changes have occurred in recent years paralleling the admission of blacks to posts in the academic world.
Established in 1780 by John Adams, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is America's most prestigious honorary society. From the time of its founding in 1780 by John Adams, and for at least a century afterwards, no blacks were admitted as fellows to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Today, 228 years later, it appears that of the academy's 4,000 fellows, 84, or about 2 percent, are black.
African Americans make up 4.8 percent of the membership of the American ...