Josephine Rosa Beatrice Wright (born September 5, 1942) is an American

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

, recognized for her contributions to the study of

African-American music African-American music is a broad term covering a diverse range of musical genres largely developed by African Americans and their African-American culture, culture. Its origins are in musical forms that developed as a result of the Slavery in ...

and

women in music Women in music play many roles and are responsible for a broad range of contributions in the industry. They continue to help shape movements, genres, and trends as composers, songwriters, instrumental performers, singers, conductors, and mu ...

. Since 1981, she has been a professor of music and the Josephine Lincoln Morris Professor of

Black Studies Black studies or Africana studies (with nationally specific terms, such as African American studies and Black Canadian studies), is an interdisciplinary academic field that primarily focuses on the study of the history, culture, and politics of ...

at the

College of Wooster {{Infobox university , image = College of Wooster seal.png , image_upright = .6 , name = The College of Wooster , former_names = University of Wooster (1866–1915) , motto ...

in Ohio. In 2015, she was presented the

Society for American Music The Society for American Music (SAM) was founded in 1975 and was first named the Sonneck Society in honor of Oscar George Theodore Sonneck, early Chief of the Music Division in the Library of Congress and pioneer scholar of American music. The S ...

's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Biography

Wright was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, Michigan, in 1942. She earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in music from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

, a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in music from Pius XII Academy in Florence, a master's degree in music from the University of Missouri, and a

doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in historical musicology from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. She was the second African American to earn a doctorate in music, after Eileen Southern, her mentor and collaborator. Wright served as an

assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...

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 ...

's Department of Afro-American studies from 1976 to 1981. In 1981, she file a suit against Harvard with the

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...

, accusing the institution of race and gender discrimination. That year, she joined the faculty at the College of Wooster, where she was named a professor of music and Josephine Lincoln Morris Professor of Black Studies. As of 2020, she continued to hold this position. Wright is recognized as an expert in African-American music, women in music, black women's history, and Western music history. With Eileen Southern, she co-authored ''African-American Traditions in Song, Sermon, Tale, and Dance, 1600s-1920'' (1990) and ''Images: Iconography of Music in African-American Culture, 1770s-1920s'' (2000). Wright served as editor of '' American Music'' from 1994 to 1997. In 1997, she was named to the national artistic directorate of the American Classical Music Hall of Fame and Museum in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. In 2015, the

presented Wright with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2019, she was elected an honorary member of the

American Musicological Society The American Musicological Society (AMS) is a musicological organization which researches, promotes and produces publications on music. Founded in 1934, the AMS was begun by leading American musicologists of the time, and was crucial in legiti ...

"as a pioneer in the study and teaching of women's and African-Americans' participation in musical life."

Selected works

Books

* *

Book chapters

* * *

Journal articles

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Josephine 1942 births Living people University of Missouri alumni New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science alumni Harvard University faculty College of Wooster faculty York College, City University of New York faculty American musicologists African-American women academics American women academics 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women