My Story | Dr. TaKeia N. Anthony

By Dr. TaKeia N. Anthony

Attending and graduating from Howard University was a dream come true. As a fourth-generation college graduate, my elders believed that Howard University was the epitome of higher education.  So, when I told my great grandmother that I was attending in the fall of 2010 as a PhD student, she was pleased and assured me that my great grandfather would have been proud.  I was unaware that my graduation in 2014 from the Department of History with a PhD in the African Diaspora and Public History, would make me the first African American woman from my hometown Bowling Green, Kentucky, to earn a PhD in history.

Looking back my matriculation through Howard is a beautiful and adventurous story about faith: faith in God, faith in my country up bringing, and faith in the lessons learned from my mentors from North Carolina Central University Department of History, where I earned my BA and MA. However, as I was experiencing the journey, it was tough.  My passion to become a history professor fueled me and my Howard mentors poured into me.  I am grateful for their tough love and guidance; it not only prepared me for a glass ceiling shattering career, it equipped me with the knowledge to carry the torch and preserve their legacies. 

I have served Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) for over a decade. I currently serve as the Director of the Freddye T. Davy Honors College at Hampton University.  Previously, I served as the Executive Director of the A. Philip Randolph Social Justice Center and Dean of the Honors College at Edward Waters University and as the youngest and only woman Dean of the Honors College and Graduate School at Kentucky State University (KSU).  It was in this role at KSU, where I was the youngest member of the President’s Cabinet, that my Howard University training was most beneficial.  Similar to my PhD oral defense, where I passed with distinction, I was thoroughly prepared for every meeting because my mentors Drs. Elizabeth Clark-Lewis, the late Selwyn H.H. Carrington,  the late Emory Tolbert, Jean-Michael Mabeko-Tali, and advisor Quito J. Swan did not tolerate mediocrity. 

My latest publication, Delta Research and Educational Foundation: 55 Years of Black Women’s Intellectualism and Philanthropy, 1967-2022, is also evidence of my Howard University education.  I was unanimously selected as the 2021 Vivian A Ware Research Fellow where my task was to write the history of the Delta Research and Educational Foundation (DREF) and create a digital repository.  I learned public history, specifically archiving at Howard University at the Moorland- Spingarn Research Center under the tutelage of Mrs. Joellen Elbashir and Dr. Ida Jones.  When I accepted the position, DREF’s papers were not processed; however, my training allowed me to process the papers, digitize them, and then write the history.  It was an honor as a Howard University graduate and member of Delta Sigma Theta, Sorority, Inc., to use my expertise to preserve and write the history of the sorority’s foundation.  

I am eternally grateful for my time at Howard University and the education that I earned.  It not only prepared me for a career as a professional historian, but it also prepared me for a career in Higher Education Administration.  Thank you to my mentors in the Department of History and in Moorland-Spingarn Research Center for your tough love, protection, guidance, and for passing the torch; I hope you are proud.  HU…….U Know!