Department of History

University to honor 12 outstanding graduates at May 26 Commencement

Alexis Cabrera — Tue, 16 May 2023 17:01:02 +0000

University to honor 12 outstanding graduates at May 26 Commencement

Author: Strategic Marketing and Communications

May 10, 2023

Photo Credit: Strategic Marketing and Communications

A dozen outstanding graduates will be honored during San Francisco State University’s 122st Commencement ceremony, to be held at Oracle Park Friday, May 26. They will represent their more than 7,900 graduating peers in the Class of 2023.

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Study by professor, students finds over 600 LGBTQ+ protests occurred in U.S. in 1965 – 1973

Leticia Luna — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 21:44:29 +0000

Study by professor, students finds over 600 LGBTQ+ protests occurred in U.S. in 1965 – 1973

Author: SF State News

March 20, 2023

Photo Credit: Greg Gaar Photography/Courtesy of OpenSFHistory.org wnp72.085

The researchers say their study documents the very civil rights events that politicians seek to ban from school curricula today.

In the first comprehensive survey of its kind, a San Francisco State University History professor and three graduate students have discovered that more than 600 LGBTQ+ protests took place in the United States between 1965 and 1973. The researchers say that the study documents the very direct-action events for civil rights — demonstrations, marches, parades, rallies, riots and sit-ins — that some politicians seek to ban from being taught in schools.

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New study documents over 600 early LGBTQ protests in US

Leticia Luna — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 20:16:25 +0000

New study documents over 600 early LGBTQ protests in US

Author: Bay Area Reporter

March 1, 2023

Photo Credit: LCA

With the help of student researchers, Professor of History Marc Stein published a new study that documents over 600 early LGBTQ protests.

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Campus community pays tribute to women of Iran through music, poetry

Christopher Clark — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 20:06:33 +0000

Campus community pays tribute to women of Iran through music, poetry

Author: Matt Itelson

March 2, 2023

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Farnaz Zabetian/Clarion Alley Mural Project

San Francisco State University students, faculty and alumni are coming together for several events this month supporting women’s rights in Iran. Admission is free.

Professor Persis Karim, director of the San Francisco State Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies, organized the events with Music Professor Hafez Modirzadeh. Karim says the events are a tribute to the “brave women, girls and youth of Iran and, more importantly, students, who continue to fight for their rights even in the midst of severe state violence.”

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Rights and Wrongs: A Constitution and Citizenship Day Conference (Day 2)

Christopher Clark — Wed, 17 Aug 2022 19:26:19 +0000

Friday, September 16, 2022

10:30 a.m. - 03:45 p.m. PT

Free

Library 121

marcs@sfsu.edu

Overview

San Francisco State University has a proud tradition of organizing conferences for Constitution and Citizenship Day, a national holiday that commemorates the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. The 2022 conference provides multiple opportunities to reflect critically on the past, present, and future of constitutional rights, freedoms, citizenship, democracy, equality, and justice. Unless otherwise noted, all sessions will take place in Library 121.

For programing information, visit the Department of History's website.

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Department of History

2022 Rights and Wrongs: A Constitution and Citizenship Day Conference (Day 1)

Christopher Clark — Wed, 17 Aug 2022 19:13:56 +0000

Thursday, September 15, 2022

09:30 a.m. - 01:45 p.m. PT

Free

Humanities Building 133, Library 121

marcs@sfsu.edu

Overview

For programing information, visit the Department of History's website.

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Faculty-Student History Team to Create Graphic Novel Exploring First Black Marines

Christopher Clark — Thu, 30 Jun 2022 18:27:22 +0000

Faculty-Student History Team to Create Graphic Novel Exploring First Black Marines

Author: Matt Itelson

December 1, 2021

Photo Credit: Illustration by Liz Clarke

San Francisco State University Professor Trevor Getz will again bring an overlooked piece of history to light through a nonfiction comic book. Created with History undergraduate Robert Willis, the “The Montford Point Marine Project” will tell the stories of the first Black U.S. Marines, who served in World War II. The story is based on new oral histories of their experiences. It will be published by Oxford University Press in 2024.

Aimed at a high school and undergraduate audience, “The Montford Point Marine Project” will foreground the meaning and lessons the veterans themselves draw from their service and experiences. In a unique design, the book will include digital resources linking readers to interviews with Montford Point Marine veterans. These interviews are possible thanks to a contribution from The Boeing Co., and will be filmed in December by a team led by Cinema Professor Daniel Bernardi and San Francisco State alumnus Jesse Sutterley. Members of the National Montford Point Marine Association will also help direct the writing and design of the graphic novel.

In 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt outlawed racial discrimination in war industries, allowing Black men and women to serve in a segregated fashion. The Marines recruited Black men and sent them to Jacksonville, N.C., at Camp Montford Point, where about 20,000 African Americans trained between 1942 and 1949. The Montford Point Marines, as they came to be known, remain active in public service, support for their veterans and preservation of their legacy.

“The Montford Point Marine Project” is the follow-up to Getz’s award-winning “Abina and the Important Men: A Graphic History” (Oxford University Press, 2011). That book depicts the life and trial of Abina Mansah, a woman living in 19th-century colonial West Africa who escapes slavery and takes her former master to court. Like “Abina,” the new book is designed to be a guide to historical research, in this case focusing on community-based oral history methods.

The team bringing this story to life includes Getzand Willis along with Montford Point Marine historian Gunnery Sgt. Joe Geeter III and artist Liz Clarke. “Through the life stories of the Montford Point Marines, we hope to train and inspire teachers and students to collect, interpret and value the memories, experiences and wisdoms of earlier generations,” Getz said. “The Montford Point Marine Project” has also received funding through the Marcus Undergraduate Research Assistantship Grant.

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University co-hosting second Queer History Conference June 12 – 15

Christopher Clark — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 18:02:40 +0000

University co-hosting second Queer History Conference June 12 – 15

Author: Strategic Marketing and Communications

June 9, 2022

Photo Credit: Teachers and school workers march in a Gay Freedom Day parade in San Francisco in 1978.

Incoming Provost Amy Sueyoshi helped launch the conference, first held at SF State in 2019

June is Pride Month, which means more rainbow flags are flying than ever. Yet in some parts of the country, lawmakers are trying to bury LGBTQ history by forbidding teachers to discuss it and banning books about it. Despite that pushback, incoming San Francisco State University Provost Amy Sueyoshi says the time is right for the Queer History Conference 2022, to be held on campus and at other locations around the city June 12 – 15, because the field of LGBTQ history has never been stronger.

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