Dr. Gloria Wade-GaylesBeacon Press
Born on July 1, 1937, in Memphis, Tennessee, to Bertha and Robert Wade, Wade-Gayles would become one of the most influential voices in comparative women's studies and African American literary criticism, building a career that seamlessly wove together scholarship, teaching, and an unwavering commitment to social justice.
Her educational journey took her from LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, where she earned her B.A. in English in 1959, to Boston University, where she completed her M.A. in American literature as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow in 1962. She would later earn her Ph.D. in American studies from Emory University in 1981, returning to academia after years of activism and teaching.
Wade-Gayles first joined the faculty of Spelman College in Atlanta in 1963 as an instructor of American literature. Her tenure there was abruptly interrupted when she was dismissed due to her civil rights activism, a badge of honor that marked her as someone willing to sacrifice professional security for the cause of justice. In 1964, she participated in Freedom Summer as a teacher, bringing education to those long denied it.
Following her dismissal from Spelman, she joined the faculty of Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1964, before returning to Atlanta in 1969 as an instructor of African American literature at the Atlanta University Center. After completing her doctorate in 1981, she triumphantly returned to Spelman College in 1983 as a professor of English and women's studies, beginning a second chapter that would define her legacy.
Over more than four decades at Spelman, Wade-Gayles profoundly shaped generations of students through her scholarship, teaching, and visionary leadership. Named Eminent Scholar's Chair in Independent Scholarship and Service Learning in 2000, she founded the Spelman Independent Scholar (SIS) program in 2001, followed by the SIS Oral History Project and RESONANCE—an African American literature, history, and culture choral program—in 2002. From 2018 to 2022, she served as project director of a National Endowment for the Humanities grant supporting the SIS Oral History Project, ensuring that transformative teaching and learning in the humanities would continue to flourish.
Her scholarly contributions were prolific and profound. Among her numerous books were No Crystal Stair: Visions of Race and Sex in Black Women's Fiction (1984), a pioneering critical examination of Black women novelists; Pushed Back to Strength: A Black Woman's Journey Home (1993), a deeply personal memoir that resonated with readers across generations; and My Soul is a Witness': African-American Women's Spirituality (1995), which brought attention to the spiritual dimensions of Black women's experiences.
The honors throughout her career reflected both scholarly excellence and community impact. She received Georgia's Professor of the Year Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education in 1991, along with the Presidential Award for Scholarship from Spelman College that same year. In 1994, she was awarded the Emory Medal from the Association of Emory Alumni. She also received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Meadville-Lombard Theological School of the University of Chicago, and was recognized with the Malcolm X Award for Community Service in the City of Atlanta for her activism during the Civil Rights Movement and her continued work for justice.
As a DuBois Fellow at Harvard University and Eminent Scholar's Chair at both Dillard University and Spelman College, she influenced scholarship at institutions across the nation.
For Wade-Gayles, scholarship and activism were inseparable—each informing and enriching the other. Her dismissal from Spelman in the 1960s for standing up for civil rights only strengthened her resolve to use education as a tool for liberation and justice.
