About

Francille Rusan Wilson

Associate Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity

Contact Information
E-mail: frwilson@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 740-1667
Office: SOS B15b

 

Biographical Sketch
Francille Rusan Wilson is an Associate Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. She is an intellectual and labor historian whose current research examines the intersections between black labor movements, black social scientists, and black women's history during the Jim Crow era. Her book, The Segregated Scholars: Black Social Scientists and the Creation of Black Labor Studies, 1890-1950, was awarded the Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Prize for the best book in African American Women’s history by the Association of Black Women Historians. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appointed Wilson to the Los Angeles Commission on the Status of Women in December 2007, and reappointed her for a full term in May 2008. She chairs the jobs committee of the Commission on the Status of Women. Wilson was awarded the 2008 Bethune Award for Excellence in Education by Our Author’s Study Club of Los Angeles. She is also on the board of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and a distinguished lecturer for the Organization of American Historians.
 

Education
Ph.D. American History, University of Pennsylvania, 1988
 

Description of Research

Research Specialties
19th-20th Century African American history; labor; race; gender
 

Publications

Book
Wilson, F. R. (2006). The Segregated Scholars: Black Social Scientists and the Creation of Black Labor Studies, 1890-1950. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press.
 

Journal Article
Wilson, F. R. (2008). "Becoming ‘Woman of the Year’: Sadie Alexander’s Construction of a Public Persona as a Black Professional Women, 1920-1950". Black Women, Gender, and Families. Vol. 2 (2 (Fall 2008)), pp. 1-30.
 

Honors and Awards
Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer 2003-2008, 2003-  
Mary McLeod Bethune Excellence in Education Award, Our Authors Study Club, Inc., 2/9/2008. , 2007-2008   
Winner 2007 Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Book Prize, Best book in African American Women’s History by the Association of Black Women Historians, 2007-2008   
 

Service to the University

Other Service to the University
Director, African American Studies, American Studies and Ethnicity, 2008-2009   
 

Service to the Profession

Other Service to the Profession
Commissioner, City of Los Angeles Commission on the Status of Women, 2007-2012  
 
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