Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Robinson, Cedric J.
- Abstract:
- Papers of Cedric Robinson, former author, political scientist and theorist of Black radicalism, and Professor of Political Science and Black Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
- Extent:
- 18 Linear Feet (12 cartons, 2 flat boxes, and 3 stereo card boxes) and 4 Linear Feet (1 U-Matic tape, 55 VHS tapes, 7 audio reels, 144 audiocassettes, 3 DVDS, 4 hard drives, 15 flash drives, and 100 floppy disks)
- Language:
- English , Spanish; Castilian , French .
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of Item], Cedric J. Robinson papers, Mss 387. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
This collection mostly contains materials pertaining to Cedric Robinson's career as an educator and activist while at SUNY-Binghamton and UCSB, as well as materials related to his writing projects, including books, essays, and articles.
Materials may include reference materials and notes, course materials and lecture notes, publications and drafts, transcripts and audiovisual recordings, correspondence, and other related ephemera.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Dr. Cedric James Robinson (November 5, 1940 – June 5, 2016) was an American professor in the Department of Black Studies and the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Born and raised in Oakland, California, he attended UC Berkeley and received a B.A. in Social Anthropology in 1963. After a short assignment at the Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Robinson returned to work for the Alameda County Probation Department, where he would meet his wife and collaborator, Elizabeth Peters. After marrying in 1967, they travelled nationally and abroad, during which time he earned both an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Theory from Stanford University.
During and immediately after his graduate studies, Robinson held faculty appointments at the University of Michigan, from 1971-1973, and the State University of New York at Binghamton (SUNY-Binghamton), from 1973-1978. In 1978, the Robinsons moved to Santa Barbara, California as Cedric had been hired by UCSB as both a faculty member in the Department of Political Science and as the Director of Center for Black Studies, a role in which he served until 1987. Cedric served as Chair of the Political Science Department from 1987-1990, and in 1994 he also joined the Department of Black Studies where he served as Chair from 1994-1997.
While at UCSB, Professor Robinson and a student, Corey Dubin, started Third World News Review (TWNR) on the UCSB campus and community radio station, KCSB, in 1980. The program offered a dialogue on social, political, and cultural events around the world from sources other than the mainstream media. The show became available on public access television several years later, and remained on the air for more than 30 years.
In addition to teaching and his journalism, Robinson was a prolific writer. He authored essays, articles, and manuscripts on subjects ranging from radical social theory in the African diaspora, political thought in the United States, Africa, and the Caribbean to Western social theory, film, and the press. On top of contributing regularly to academic journals and anthologies, he also authored five books, including The Terms of Order, Black Movements in America, Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition, Forgeries of Memory and Meaning, and An Anthropology of Marxism.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of Elizabeth and Nadja Robinson, 2024.
- Processing information:
-
Digital originals and copies of manuscript drafts, correspondence, and course materials are also included in the collection. Processing of born-digital files is ongoing and must be reformatted for access. The finding aid will be updated periodically.
- Arrangement:
-
The collection has been arranged by topic into four series:
- Series 1: Personal and professional papers
- Series 2: Community activism
- Series 3: Teaching and course materials
- Series 4: Research and manuscript materials
- Physical facet:
-
Manuscript materials
Audiovisual and born-digital materials
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
The collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and are retained by the creator and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.
All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB at special@library.ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or their assigns for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of Item], Cedric J. Robinson papers, Mss 387. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
- Location of this collection:
-
UC Santa Barbara LibrarySanta Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
- Contact:
- (805) 893-3062