Wiggins has seen 30 years of Afro-American studies history in the making

By Susan Williams

Wiggins’ proudest moment as a faculty member was seeing the master’s program being approved for the fall of 1999. The department will graduate its first class of master’s degree students in May.

At least since 1966, black students on the Bloomington campus had organized in an effort to convince the university to create a program for African-American studies. In 1970, efforts paid off, and by 1971, the fledgling program became a department with the ability to hire tenure-line faculty. Wiggins was one of the original faculty members and is the only one still teaching full time today.

"As a poor--and I do mean poor--graduate student, I sought to supplement my Folklore Institute fellowship by serving as the first associate instructor in Afro-American studies," said Wiggins. He also collaborated with Rozelle Boyd, then dean of University Division, and history graduate student John F. Moe, to develop the A150 Survey of the Culture of Black Americans, a course that remains the basic introduction to the department's curriculum. Wiggins also created another course that remains a staple offering, A255 The Black Church in America.

Wiggins' academic career began at Texas College in Tyler, Texas, where as an ordained minister of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, he served as director of religious life from 1965 through the summer of 1969. He came to IU for two reasons.

"As the father of three-year-old Mary Ellyn, and husband of a woman who has given direction and unfailing support to all that I have attempted to do, the former Janice Louise Slaughter (who currently directs IU’s GROUPS program), I wanted to move closer to our families, which were in Indianapolis and Louisville," said Wiggins. "But I also wanted the opportunity to round out my education in a secular setting. My previous academic training had been religious in nature: Ohio Wesleyan University (B.A.; pre-theology), Phillips School of Theology (B.D.) and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary (M.Th.)."

The establishment of a Department of Afro-American Studies was extremely important at that particular time. Wiggins arrived in Bloomington barely six months after an arsonist threw a bomb through an open window of the Black Market Bookstore. The shop was located in a building at Kirkwood Avenue and Dunn Street, the site which now is People’s Park. According to sources at the time, black students going to the store had been harassed, and the building's owner had received bomb threats because he allowed a black-oriented business to exist there. The new program would go far toward creating a more welcoming sense of community for African-American students at IU.

"It's sad to say, that there is still a perception by some perspective students, as well as alumni,that IU has not been an optimal place for minority students," said Wiggins. "When potential students raise the topic with me, I ask these questions, 'Is there any place in America which is free of racism? And is it possible to achieve anything worthwhile without undergoing some risk?'

"The department has helped create a welcoming--dare I say nurturing--atmosphere for students with its film showings, lectures, essay contests and by providing students with ready access to understanding faculty who will hear them out and help them in myriad ways"”

Wiggins said that his proudest moment as a faculty member was seeing the master's program being approved for the fall of 1999. The department will graduate its first class of master’s degree students this spring.

"This has re-energized all of us--staff, faculty and students alike," said Wiggins. “Now I'm looking forward to the department enhancing its collaborative efforts with other academic and research units on campus. In sum, I'm looking forward to the department becoming a Ph.D.-granting area within the College of Arts and Sciences."