Ralph Edlin Luker (March 1, 1940 - August 8, 2015) was an American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, teacher, and the author of several books about race,

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

and the Civil Rights Movement. Luker was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and received his B.A. from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

in 1962, a B.D. from

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey, United States. It has a wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three schools. While affiliated with the Methodism, Me ...

in 1966, and then both an M.A. (1969) and Ph.D. (1973) from the

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

. Ralph Luker founded the Cliopatria history group blog on the History News Network of

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

's Center for History and New Media. He closed Cliopatria in March 2012 after moderating this group blog for eight and a quarter years. Luker had taught in

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Allegheny College Allegheny College is a private liberal arts college in Meadville, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1815, Allegheny is the oldest college in continuous existence under the same name west of the Allegheny Mountains. It is a member of the G ...

Antioch College Antioch College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection and began operating in 1852 as a non-secta ...

, and

Morehouse College Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...

, and in departments of

Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) Lincoln University (LU) is a public state-related historically black university (HBCU) near Oxford, Pennsylvania. Founded as the private Ashmun Institute in 1854, it has been a public institution since 1972. Lincoln is also recognized as th ...

and

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

. Luker lived in Arden, Delaware from 1980 until 1986 when he and his family (wife and two daughters) moved to Atlanta, Georgia to begin work on The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr.leasehold records, Arden Craftshop Museum and Archives, Arden, DE In 1994, when he was assistant professor of history at

, Luker was denied tenure after accusations of racism by some students. Outraged by the charges, Luker underwent a hunger-strike but to no avail. Ralph E. Luker died in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday August 8, 2015.

Writing

Books *''(In progress as of 2003.)'' ''The Man Who Started Freedom: The Essays, Sermons and Speeches of Vernon Johns.'' Critical edition of the papers of Vernon Johns, the father of the American civil rights movement. *1996: ''Historical Dictionary of the Civil Rights Movement, 1941-1995.'' The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Hardcover: . *1996: ''Black and White Sat Down Together: The Reminiscences of an NAACP Founder.'' The Feminist Press at

CUNY The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

. Hardcover: . (See also:

Mary White Ovington Mary White Ovington (April 11, 1865 – July 15, 1951) was an American socialist, suffragist, journalist, and co-founder of the NAACP, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Biography Mary White Ovington was born Apri ...

.) *1992: ''The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Volume I: Called to Serve, January 1929 - June 1951.'' Clayborne Carson, Ralph E. Luker, Penny A. Russell, eds.

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

. Hardcover: . *1994: ''The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Volume II: Rediscovering Precious Values, July 1951 - November 1955.'' Clayborne Carson, Ralph E. Luker, Penny A. Russell, Peter Holloran, eds.

. Hardcover: . :*Sponsored by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change,

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

and the

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. *1991: ''The Social Gospel in Black and White: American Racial Reform, 1885-1912.''

University of North Carolina Press The University of North Carolina Press (or UNC Press), founded in 1922, is a not-for-profit university press associated with the University of North Carolina. It was the first university press founded in the southern United States. It is a mem ...

. Hardcover: . Paperback (1998): . :*Winner of the 1992 Outstanding Book Award from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights. *1984: ''A Southern Tradition in Theology and Social Criticism, 1830-1930: The Religious Liberalism and Social Conservatism of James Warley Miles, William Porcher DuBose, and Edgar Gardner Murphy.'' Edwin Mellen Press. Hardcover: , . Periodicals * '' American Quarterly'' * ''

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

'' * ''Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture'' - published since 1932 by the American Society of Church History. * ''

Journal of American History ''The Journal of American History'' is the quarterly official academic journal of the Organization of American Historians. It covers the field of American history and was established in 1914 as the ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'', the o ...

'' * '' The Journal of Negro History'' * ''New England Quarterly'' - sponsored by the

Massachusetts Historical Society The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. The Massachusetts Historical Society was established in 1791 and is located at 1154 Boylston Street ...

, the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, and Northeastern University, Boston. * ''OAH Newsletter'' - quarterly publication of the

Organization of American Historians The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad incl ...

. * ''Perspectives'' - monthly magazine of the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...

. * ''Slavery & Abolition'' - published by

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

. * ''South Atlantic Quarlerly'' - published by the

Duke University Press Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 ...

. * ''Southern Cultures'' - quarterly publication of the

Center for the Study of the American South The Center for the Study of the American South (CSAS) is an academic organization dedicated to the study of " southern history, literature, and culture as well as ongoing social, political, and economic issues" at the University of North Carolin ...

at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

. * ''Southern Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the South'' - published by the Southern Studies Institute of Northwestern State University of Louisiana in

Natchitoches, Louisiana Natchitoches ( ; , ), officially the City of Natchitoches, is a small city in, and the parish seat of, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. At the 2020 United States census, the city's population was ...

. * '' The Virginia Quarterly Review''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luker, Ralph 2015 deaths 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers People from Yellow Springs, Ohio 1940 births Allegheny College faculty Antioch College faculty Morehouse College faculty Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) faculty Virginia Tech faculty Historians from Ohio American male non-fiction writers