Richard A. Long (February 9, 1927 – January 3, 2013) was an American cultural historian and author, who has been called "one of the great pillars of

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

arts and culture". As an academic, he taught at

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

University of Poitiers The University of Poitiers (UP; , ) is a public university located in Poitiers, France. It is a member of the Coimbra Group. It is multidisciplinary and contributes to making Poitiers the city with the highest student/inhabitant ratio in France ...

Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded on September19, 1865, as Atlanta University, it was the first HBCU in the Southe ...

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 ...

Morgan State College Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1890, the university, then known a ...

and

West Virginia State College West Virginia State University (WVSU) is a public historically black, land-grant university in Institute, West Virginia, United States. Founded in 1891 as the West Virginia Colored Institute. It is one of the original 19 land-grant colleges a ...

, and had worked as a visiting lecturer at universities in Africa and India.Richard A. Long website.
/ref>

Early life and education

Richard Alexander Long was the fourth of six children born to Thaddeus B. Long and Leila Washington in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. He graduated from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

, where he received his B.A. in 1947 and M.A. in 1948. He did doctoral studies at the

, was a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

at the

, and received his Ph.D from the University of Poitiers in France in 1965.

Career

Having begun his teaching career as a graduate assistant at Temple University, Long subsequently taught at

. He also spent a decade and a half as a teacher at

(now University). He taught English and French at the

Hampton Institute Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missiona ...

and was also director of its College Museum.Richard Long
at the Historymakers. At Hampton in 1968 he founded the Triennial Symposium on African Art, now an annual conference at

's Center for African and African American Studies. In 1968 he became a Professor of English at

(now Clark Atlanta University), where he was founder of the African American Studies program.Valentine, Victoria (October 8, 2014).
Culture Talk: Amalia Amaki on Collector Richard A. Long.
Culture Type. Retrieved June 6, 2025. From 1971 to 1973 he was visiting lecturer at

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 ...

. In 1973, he began a long and distinguished tenure at

.Rangus, Eric (November 1, 2004)
Celebration honors Long's distinguished career.
''Emory Report''. Volume 57, Number 10. Retrieved June 6, 2025. In 1987, he was named the Atticus Haygood Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies in the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts. In 2001, he retired from the Emory faculty and received

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

status. In October 2004, Long was the featured guest at Emeritus College’s Alumni-Emeriti Teacher Appreciation Celebration at Emory. To honor his legacy, the Richard A. Long / HBCU Fellowship was established to assist graduate students conducting research at Rose Library's African American collections at Emory. Long served as a consultant and as a committee member of many cultural organizations and institutions, including the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, both the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

and the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, the Smithsonian Museum of African Art, the

High Museum of Art The High Museum of Art (colloquially the High) is the largest museum for visual art in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta, Georgia (on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district), the High is 312,000 square feet (28, ...

, the

Society of Dance History Scholars The Society of Dance History Scholars (SDHS) was a professional organization for dance historians in the United States and internationally. Founded in 1978, it became a non-profit in 1983. SDHS became a member of the American Council of Learned Soc ...

, and the Zora Neale Hurston Festival. In addition, Long served on the editorial boards of several publications, including the ''Langston Hughes Bulletin'', ''Phylon'' and the ''Zora Neale Hurston Bulletin''. Long died at home on January 3, 2013, at the age of 85.

Writings

Long began his literary career in 1985 with ''Black Americana'', and later published books such as ''The Black Tradition in American Dance'' (1989), ''African Americans: A Portrait'' (1993), ''Grown Deep: Essays on the Harlem Renaissance'' (1998) and ''One More Time: Harlem Renaissance History and Historicism'' (2007). He was co-author with

Marcia Ann Gillespie Marcia Ann Gillespie (born 10 July 1944) is an African-American magazine editor, writer, professor, media and management consultant, and racial and gender justice activist. She previously served as editor-in-chief of ''Essence'' magazine and '' ...

and Rosa Johnson Butler of ''Maya Angelou: A Glorious Celebration'' (2008). His papers are deposited at the Atlanta Fulton Public Library's Auburn Avenue Research Library.Johnson, Veronica Fields (January 11, 2013). "Richard A. Long, 85, scholar and historian". ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution''.

Art collection

Long maintained a notable art collection that included works by Amalia Amaki, William Artis,

Radcliffe Bailey Radcliffe Bailey (November 25, 1968 – November 14, 2023) was an American Contemporary art, contemporary visual artist noted for Mixed media, mixed-media, paint, and sculpture works that explore African-American history. He was based in Atlanta, ...

Romare Bearden Romare Bearden (, ) (September 2, 1911 – March 12, 1988) was an American artist, author, and songwriter. He worked with many types of media including cartoons, oils, and collages. Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bearden grew up in New York C ...

Beauford Delaney Beauford Delaney (December 30, 1901 – March 26, 1979) was an American modernist painter. He is remembered for his work with the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as his later works in abstract expressionism following his move ...

Sam Gilliam Sam Gilliam ( ; November 30, 1933 – June 25, 2022) was an American abstract Painting, painter, Sculpture, sculptor, and Visual arts education, arts educator. Born in Mississippi, and raised in Kentucky, Gilliam spent his entire adult life in ...

Henry Ossawa Tanner Henry Ossawa Tanner (June 21, 1859 – May 25, 1937) was an American artist who spent much of his career in France. He became the first African-American art, African-American painter to gain international acclaim. Tanner moved to Paris, France, ...

Alma Thomas Alma Woodsey Thomas (September 22, 1891 – February 24, 1978) was an African-American artist and art teacher who lived and worked in Washington, D.C., and is now recognized as a major American painter of the 20th century. She is the first Afric ...

, Mildred Thompson,

Hale Woodruff Hale Aspacio Woodruff (August 26, 1900 – September 6, 1980) was an American artist known for his murals, paintings, and prints. Early life, family and education Woodruff was born in Cairo, Illinois, on August 26, 1900. He grew up in a black fa ...

, and others. Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America: Long, Richard A.
The Frick Collection. Retrieved June 6, 2025. In October 2014, pieces of his collection were

deaccessioned Deaccessioning is the process by which a work of art or other object is permanently removed from a museum's collection to sell it or otherwise dispose of it.Report from the AAMD Task Force on Deaccessioning. 2010. ''AAMD Policy on Deaccessioning ...

by his estate and auctioned at

Swann Galleries Swann Galleries is a New York City auction house founded in 1941. It is a specialist auctioneer of antique and rare works on paper, and it is considered the oldest continually operating New York specialist auction house. The company has separate ...

Selected bibliography

* ''Black Americana'', 1985 * ''The Black Tradition in American Dance'', Rizzoli, 1989 * ''African Americans: A Portrait'', 1993 * ''Grown Deep: Essays on the Harlem Renaissance'', 1998 * ''One More Time: Harlem Renaissance History and Historicism'', 2007 * With

and Rosa Johnson Butler, ''Maya Angelou: A Glorious Celebration'', 2008

References

External links

Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
Emory University
Richard A. Long posters, 1933–2011
* Britton Rogers
"Celebrating Black History Month: Dr. Richard A. Long and the Glenn House"
The Glenn House Restoration, February 28, 2018. {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Rivhard 1927 births 2013 deaths 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people Academic staff of the University of Paris Academic staff of the University of Poitiers African-American historians 20th-century American historians American academics of English literature Clark Atlanta University faculty Emory University faculty Hampton University faculty Historians from Pennsylvania Morgan State University faculty Temple University alumni University of Pennsylvania faculty West Virginia State University faculty Writers from Philadelphia