Cheryl A. Wall (October 29, 1948 – April 4, 2020) was a

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

and professor of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. One of the first black women to head an English department at a major research university, she worked for diversity in the literary canon as well as in the classroom.Associated Press (April 22, 2020)
"Literary scholar Cheryl A. Wall dies at age 71"
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. She specialized in black women's writing, particularly the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African-American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics, and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the ti ...

and

Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American writer, anthropologist, folklorist, and documentary filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-20th-century American South and published research on Hoodoo ...

. She edited several volumes of Hurston's writings for the Library of America. She was also a section editor for '' The Norton Anthology of African American Literature'' and was on the editorial boards of ''

American Literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the British colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also ...

'', ''

African American Review ''African American Review'' is a scholarly aggregation of essays on African-American literature, theatre, film, the visual arts, and culture; interviews; poetry; fiction; and book reviews. It is the official publication of the Modern Language Ass ...

'' and '' Signs''. An award-winning researcher and teacher, she was named the Board of Governors Zora Neale Hurston Professor in 2007. Wall had a lifelong commitment to African-American arts and culture and was the founding board chair of the Crossroads Theater Company, the first Black Theater in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, founded by two Rutgers graduates, Ricardo Khan and Lee Richardson in 1978.

Biography

Cheryl Ann Wall was born in

Manhattan, New York Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, and was raised in

Jamaica, Queens Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It has a popular large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis, St Albans, and Cambria Heights to the ea ...

. Her father, Rev. Monroe Wall, was a pastor of Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Harlem, and her mother, Rennie Ray (''née'' Strayhorn) Wall, was an English teacher in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

public schools. Wall attended Rhodes Preparatory School in Manhattan, and studied piano under

Margaret Bonds Margaret Allison Bonds (March 3, 1913 – April 26, 1972) was an American composer, pianist, arranger, and teacher. One of the first Black composers and performers to gain recognition in the United States, she is best remembered today for her po ...

. She went on to earn a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

degree in English from

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

and her

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

on a

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

scholarship.Roberts, Sam (April 22, 2020)
"Cheryl A. Wall, 71, Dies; Champion of Black Literary Women"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Upon graduating from Harvard, Wall cited a feeling of alienation due to being one of the few Black women in her graduate program. In 1972, Wall started as a professor at

, reflecting that: "When I arrived, I found that there were conversations that I could see myself in, which was very different from my experience in graduate school." At Rutgers, Wall founded the Rutgers English Diversity Institute, a program to encourage greater diversity among graduate students, as a result of which all English majors were required to complete a course in African-American literature. Wall died of complications from an asthma attack, at her home in

Highland Park, New Jersey Highland Park is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, in the New York City metropolitan area. The borough is located on the northern banks of the Raritan River, in th ...

, on April 4, 2020, aged 71. Wall is survived by her daughter, Camara Epps.

Awards and honors

* Policy Makers Award, Executive Women of New Jersey, 2008 * Human Dignity Award, Committee to Advance Our Common Purposes, Rutgers University, 2007 * The Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Research, Rutgers University, 2006

Selected publications

* ''Changing Our Own Words: Criticism, Theory and Writing by Black Women'' (ed., 1989) * ''Women of the Harlem Renaissance'' (1995) * ''"Sweat": Texts and Contexts'' (ed., 1997) * ''

Their Eyes Were Watching God ''Their Eyes Were Watching God'' is a 1937 novel by American writer Zora Neale Hurston. It is considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance and Hurston's best-known work. The novel explores protagonist Janie Crawford's "ripening from a vibran ...

: A Casebook'' (ed., 2000) * ''Worrying the Line: Black Women Writers, Lineage and Literary Tradition'' (2005) * ''On Freedom and the Will to Adorn: The Art of the African American Essay'' (2019)

References

External links

Official web page

The Cheryl A. Wall Collection of Bonds and Price Manuscripts
Center for Black Music Research Collection, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wall, Cheryl 1948 births 2020 deaths American academics of English literature American literary critics American women literary critics Rutgers University faculty Howard University alumni Harvard University alumni People from Jamaica, Queens