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Kennedy (Shirley) papers
UArch FacP 67
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Title: Shirley Kennedy papers
Identifier/Call Number: UArch FacP 67
Language of Material:
English
.
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Physical Description:
33.84 Linear Feet;
(25 cartons, and 1 flat box)
Creator:
Kennedy, Shirley
Date (inclusive): 1970-2003
Abstract: Papers of Shirley Kennedy, former University of California, Santa Barbara Black Studies adjunct professor. The papers include
correspondence, photos, notes, and other documents relating to Kennedy's life's projects, which largely centered around Black
studies and activism in Santa Barbara, as well as her research on the Chinese jazz scene.
Physical Location: Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library
The collection is arranged into three series - Series 1: UCSB materials; Series 2: Local and national organization materials;
Series 3: Personal materials.
A/V materials have been pulled and housed separately from manuscript materials.
Shirley Graves Kennedy grew up in Chicago, IL and spent most of her early twenties traveling while her husband was in the
Air Force. In the early 1970s their family settled in Goleta, CA where Kennedy earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees
in Political Science at UC Santa Barbara. Subsequently, in 1986 she also completed a Doctorate in Political Science in Government
at Claremont Graduate School (now Claremont Graduate University).
After Claremont, she became a faculty member in the UCSB Department of Black Studies, teaching Political Science, Black Studies
and Constitutional Law, as well as serving for over ten years as the Center for Black Studies Community Affairs coordinator.
Throughout those years, she strove to connect the university with the greater community and build bridges between "town and
gown," as she called it. She believed that scholarship and research must ultimately lead to societal transformation and worked
relentlessly to transform the Santa Barbara community with her commitment to social justice, activism, and democracy.
Her efforts in Santa Barbara County included the widespread recognition of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, founding the
Santa Barbara Building Bridges Coalition, planning an exhibition of the Henrietta Marie slave ship at the Karpeles Manuscript
Library in downtown Santa Barbara, and lobbying for the incorporation of the city of Goleta.
Her work has been recognized with awards and honors from peers and students on campus, and the wider Santa Barbara community
- such as The Santa Barbara Independent's Local Hero Award, the Santa Barbara News-Press' Lifetime Achievement Award, and
recognition from the County of Santa Barbara, the State of California and the Santa Barbara branch of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People.
Sources: UCSB Center for Black Studies Research website; LA Times online archives; UCSB's The Current online. Accessed August
2023.
The collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
Donation from Shirley Kennedy's family in May 2018 and September 2019.
[Identification of Item], Shirley Kennedy papers, UArch FacP 67. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara
Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
This collection contains materials related to the career of professor and activist Dr. Shirley Kennedy and is primarily comprised
of teaching materials, personal and professional correspondence, and work for various political and social activist groups.
Also included are files related to Kennedy's other professional interests, Chinese jazz and work with the Tuskegee Airmen
Inc., as well as notes and work from her own academic career.
Materials include notes, reference materials, clippings, meeting minutes, correspondence, photographs, promotional materials,
and office files related to Kennedy's many projects, which largely centered around Black studies and activism in the Santa
Barbara area.
Of note, the collection includes planning and promotional materials from several local Santa Barbara community activist organizations,
such as the Building Bridges Community Coalition and the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP).
University of California, Santa Barbara, Department of Black Studies Records. UArch 14. Department of Special Collections, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Sojourner Kincaid Rolle papers. CEMA 55. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
The Sojourner Kincaid Rolle papers contains videotaped interviews of both Shirley Kennedy and her husband James (Jim) Kennedy
as part of her Outragous Women television series, and a letter from Kennedy to Kincaid Rolle.
The collection has plans to be expanded to include materials related to Kincaid Rolle's work with the Martin Luther King Jr.
Memorial Committee and the Santa Barbara Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP),
organizations that Shirley Kennedy also worked with.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
African American civil rights workers -- California -- Santa Barbara
African Americans -- California -- Santa Barbara
African Americans -- Study and teaching -- California -- Santa Barbara
Affirmative action programs in education -- California -- Santa Barbara
Professors
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Beijing (China)
Jazz History
Jazz -- 1941-1950
Cuba
Lecture notes
Community development -- Santa Barbara County (Calif.)
Political activists -- California -- Santa Barbara
Black studies
Air pilots, Military -- Alabama -- Tuskegee -- History