Doris Y. Wilkinson papers

Abstract

The Doris Y. Wilkinson papers (dated 1961-2011; 10.53 cubic feet and 1.12 Megabytes; 9 record storage cartons, 2 document boxes, 2 flat boxes, and 22 electronic documents) primarily comprise correspondence, reports and articles, newspaper clippings, announcements and flyers, research subject files, books, honors and awards, teaching material, and biographical information that document the academic career and professional life of sociologist Doris Y. Wilkinson.

Descriptive Summary

Title
Doris Y. Wilkinson papers
Date
1961-2011 (inclusive)
Extent
10.54 Cubic Feet
Subjects
African American sociologists
Sociology
Women sociologists
Kentucky Authors Collection
Arrangement
Collection is arranged by format into 9 series: Personal; Biographical and Correspondence; Unpublished Writings and Conferences; Exhibits Based in Research Program; Course Notebooks and Research Notes; Courses Taught; University of Kentucky Black Studies Committee/Black Studies/African American Studies and Research Program; Research Subject Files; and Library.
Finding Aid Author
Zhihui Zhang, Madison Kelley, Ruth E. Bryan
Preferred Citation
2010ua023 : [identification of item], Doris Y. Wilkinson papers, 1961-2011, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Repository
University of Kentucky

Collection Overview

Biography / History
Doris Yvonne Wilkinson is a sociologist, a leader in national sociological organizations, and the first full-time female African American faculty member at the University of Kentucky. Her research interests include Critical Race Theory, the sociology of health and illness, class and gender, social change and social movements, and occupations and professions. Wilkinson was born in 1936 in Lexington, Ky. She graduated from Lexington's black high school, Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School, in 1954, where she was valedictorian of her graduating class and homecoming queen. That fall she enrolled at the University of Kentucky (UK) as a member of the first class of African American undergraduate students. She graduated in 1958, the first African American woman to earn an undergraduate degree from UK. Wilkinson earned a master's degree (1960) and a doctorate (1968) in medical sociology from Case Western Reserve University, as well as a master's of public health degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1985. In 1967, she was appointed a professor of sociology at UK, the first full-time female African American faculty member at the university. From 1970-1985, she was on the faculty at Macalester College, St. Paul, Minn., and in 1985, returned to UK. She was a visiting Ford Foundation Fellow at Harvard University, 1989-1990, and has also been a visiting professor at the University of Virginia and Smith College. Wilkinson's books as author or editor include Black Male/White Female: Perspectives on Interracial Marriage and Courtship (1975) and The Black Male in America: Perspectives on his Status in Contemporary Society (1977); Alternative Health Maintenance and Healing Systems for Families (19897); and Race, Class, & Gender: Common Bonds, Different Voices (1997). Her work appears in Imagine a World: Pioneering Black Women Sociologists (2009).
At UK, Wilkinson founded the first social club for Black women, the Forum for Black Faculty, the Carter G. Woodson Lecture Series for untenured faculty, the Black Women's Conference, and was a founder and first director of Black Studies at the university, which she renamed the African American Studies and Research Program. The university has established the Doris Wilkinson Distinguished Professorship in Sociology and the Humanities; the Doris Y. Wilkinson Conference Room in Breckinridge Hall, and the Doris Y. Wilkinson Award for Leadership. She was named to the UK Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 1989 and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the university in 2019.
In 1988, Wilkinson received a grant from the Kentucky Humanities Council to study and plan a community-wide exhibit on early African American physicians from 1890-1950. The resulting 1988 exhibit was titled "Forgotten Pioneers in a Southern Community: Black Physicians in Lexington from 1890 to 1950." In 1989, the exhibit was made into a semi-documentary by Kentucky Education Television and also traveled to local, state, and national libraries and museums. Additionally, this research produced two general education reference resources, the 1998 Directory of African Americans in Lexington, Kentucky, and a "Guide to the African American Heritage Trail in Downtown Lexington, Kentucky."
Wilkinson has been awarded other grants and contracts, including a 1978 grant from the National Institute of Education under the auspices of the American Sociological Association to create a Research Skills Institute for women and minorities. In 1982, she was awarded a contract from the Southern Education Foundation to study Black colleges and universities.
Wilkinson has served in leadership positions in a variety of organizations. In 1972, she was appointed to the Department of Interior Task Force on the National Parks System. In 1976, she was appointed to a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Program review panel. In the same year, she was appointed chair of a social science panel for the National Science Foundation's Women in Science program. From 1980-1984, she served on the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Cancer Institute. In 1982, She was elected Vice President of the Eastern Sociological Society and was appointed to the Board of Overseers of Case Western Reserve University. In 1985, she was elected President of the Society for the Study of Social Problems. She has also served as President of the Eastern Sociological Society and Vice President of the American Sociological Association.
Wilkinson has garnered national and local awards, including the American Sociological Association's Dubois-Johnson Frazier Award (1988) for her exemplary contributions to minority research and the field of race relations; the University of Kentucky Great Teacher Award (1992); the Distinguished Professor Award from the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences (1992); the Public Understanding of Sociology Award from the American Sociological Association (2010); and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Women Leading Kentucky.
Resources:
2018ua031: "Doris Wilkinson," General Reference Faculty/Staff Biographical Files, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
2010ua009: "Wilkinson, Doris, 1989-1996, undated," University of Kentucky Department of Public Relations Records, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
"Doris Wilkinson." University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences: Sociology. https://soc.as.uky.edu/users/dwilkin
"Doris Wilkinson." University of Kentucky College of Social Work. https://socialwork.uky.edu/people/doris-wilkinson/
"Doris Wilkinson Award Statement." American Sociological Association. https://www.asanet.org/news-and-events/member-awards/public-understanding-sociology-asa-award/doris-wilkinson-award-statement
"Doris Wilkinson Receives Honors. " ASA Footnotes, Vol., 36, No. 5 (May-June 2008). https://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/savvy/footnotes/mayjun08/doris.html
"Doris Y. Wilkinson." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Y._Wilkinson
"Hall of Distinguished Alumni: Doris Wilkinson." University of Kentucky Alumni Association. https://www.ukalumni.net/s/1052/18/interior.aspx?sid=1052&gid=1&pgid=1051
"Wilkinson, Doris Y. " Kentucky African American Encyclopedia. https://books.google.com/books?id=-0AoCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA529#v=onepage&q&f=false
Scope and Content
The Doris Y. Wilkinson papers (dated 1961-2011; 10.53 cubic feet and 1.12 Megabytes; 9 record storage cartons, 2 document boxes, 2 flat boxes, and 22 electronic documents) primarily comprise correspondence, reports and articles, newspaper clippings, announcements and flyers, research subject files, books, honors and awards, teaching material, and biographical information that document the academic career and professional life of sociologist Doris Y. Wilkinson. Wilkinson's research interests, professional service and contacts, and graduate school preparation are outlined in the research subject files, unpublished writings and conferences, library, exhibits, and course notebooks and research notes series. Many of the monographs in the library series include her notes and underlines or inscriptions from authors to her (in box 14).
Wilkinson's teaching preparation, content, and approach are documented through the series on courses taught and on the University of Kentucky Black Studies Committee/Black Studies/African American Studies and Research Program. Honors and awards, professional correspondence, clippings and announcements about Wilkinson's scholarly and service activities, and her faculty distribution of effort forms and activity and teaching evaluations are found in the personal and biographical and corresponce series. In particular, there are programs from two Lexington events, "A day of reaffirmation, rededication, and reclamation with the community," East Second Street Christian Church, Lexington, Kentucky, March 15, 1998; and "YMCA Black Achievers Celebrating 21 Years (1985-2006): Raising the Bar, Achieving Excellence," 21st Annual Black Achievers Banquet, Lexington Center, Lexington, Kentucky, April 15, 2006.
Research subjects found throughout the collection include "Diagnosing the Therapist: Race and Gender in Clinical Decision Making;" "Forgotten Pioneers" Series research and work on early African Americans' presence in physics, medicine, and other specific areas; race and gender consciousness; ethnicity; barbershops; and African American heritage, women and feminization, children and families, businesses, and university faculty.
The collection is minimally processed into series. Description is at the series level.
Processing Info
This collection is minimally processed into series. Description is at the series level.

Restrictions on Access and Use

Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open to researchers by appointment
Use Restrictions
Property rights reside with the University of Kentucky. The University of Kentucky holds the copyright for materials created in the course of business by University of Kentucky employees. Copyright for all other materials has not been assigned to the University of Kentucky. For information about permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Special Collections Research Center.

Contents of the Collection

Personal, 1964-1997

  • Box 2010ua023-01
Scope and Contents

This is a group of material identified by Wilkinson as "personal." The series includes correspondence; newspaper clippings; reports and reprints of articles by Wilkinson; flyers, pamphlets, and newsletters announcing Wilkinson's professional events, publications, programs, lectures, achievements, honors and awards; and one personal calendar.

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Biographical and Correspondence, 1961-2011

  • Box 2010ua023-01
  • Box 2010ua023-02
  • Box 9, item 2
  • Box 10, item 2
  • Disk 06
Scope and Contents

This series includes biographical information such as Wilkinson's distribution of effort forms, faculty merit evaluations and end-of-year activity reports; teacher course evaluations; teaching and scholarship honors, awards and certificates awarded or earned at University of Kentucky or from outside organizations; newspaper clippings documenting her academic performance and social influence (including one VHS videocassette tape of a UK news report, April 1996); invitations to programs, projects, conferences, and meetings. There is also a variety of correspondence, including congratulation letters and cards; letters from the UK Sociology Department; letters to, from, and about the District of Columbia Sociological Society; letters from university colleagues, students, and friends; from publishers about her writings; and from other university professors mainly about asking for reprints or requesting research materials. There is also a scrapbook from her retirement reception, March 24, 2011 (box 9. item 2), one personal calendar, 1989 (box 10, item 2), and three electronic documents in an unknown format from a disk labeled "screensavers" (disk 06). There are programs from two events in box 1: "A day of reaffirmation, rededication, and reclamation with the community," East Second Street Christian Church, Lexington, Kentucky, March 15, 1998; and "YMCA Black Achievers Celebrating 21 Years (1985-2006): Raising the Bar, Achieving Excellence," 21st Annual Black Achievers Banquet, Lexington Center, Lexington, Kentucky, April 15, 2006.

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Unpublished Writings and Conferences, 1974-2009

  • Box 2010ua023-02
  • Disk 02
  • Disk 03
  • Disk 04
  • Disk 05
  • Disk 07
Scope and Contents

This series includes programs, memoranda, flyers and newsletters, and correspondence regarding lectures, meetings, presentations, conferences, panels and forums Wilkinson attended, participated in, or organized. There are also unpublished articles, and reports. Program, meeting, conference, and panel topics include race, gender and psychotherapy; "The Afro-American Presence in Medicine;" "The Buffalo Soldiers Captain Frederick Perkins;" Afro-American faculty forum; Annual meeting for the Society for the Study of Social Problems; Eastern Sociological Society; the American Sociological Association; Minority Businesswomen's Roundtable luncheon; Symposium about AIDS and Americans of African Identity; A tribute to William Turner; and The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia Project. UK events represented in this series include the University Initiatives Introduction, "1968: A Dramatic moment in U.S. Political History and Culture;" UK Black Women's Conference; and Afro-Latino Forum and the Writing Experience workshop.

Selected titles of unpublished writing include "The community health worker: delineating rules, roles, and relationships;" "Expanding employment opportunities with a sociology background: a guide for students and teachers;" "A Biographical Directory of Afro-American in Casey County;" "Proverty Has a Black Child's Face: Another Look at the 'Feminization' Process;" "Ethnicity and Breast Cancer: International Comparisons;" "The Minority-Specific Position in a Professional Association;" "The Awakening of American University: a Social Science Renaissance in Problem Solving;" and "The Components of Institutional Effectiveness: A Theoretical Paradigm." There are electronic files of writings in WordPerfect and MicrosoftWord formats on disks 01-04 and 07.

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Reprints and Copies of Published Writing, 1968 November-2002 June, undated

  • Box 2010ua023-03
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Exhibits Based in Research Program, 1988 September-2006 March

  • Box 2010ua023-03
  • Box 11
  • Box 10, item 1
Scope and Contents

This series includes both text and image-based exhibit content as well as announcements, flyers, and newspaper reports about exhibits that Wilkinson created based in her research. There are three main exhibit topics represented in this series. "Forgotten Pioneers: Black Physicians in Lexington from 1890-1950;" "The Afro-American Presence in Medicine" (focusing on Harvard and England); and exhibitions on women: "Celebrating the power of Creativity: African American Women from 1750-1950" and "Warriors in the Shadows: Women of the Underground Railroad."

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Course Notebooks and Research Notes, 1963-1991, undated

  • Box 2010ua023-03
Scope and Contents

This series include notebooks for courses Doris Wilkinson took as a student and notes she took for her professional training in sociology and anthropology. There are also research files from her year as a visiting scholar at Harvard University.

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Courses Taught, 1978-2003

  • Box 2010UA023-04
Scope and Contents

This series includes proposals, descriptions, study guides, handbooks, manuals, instructional material, and evaluations for courses taught by Wilkinson or for guest lectures given by her in other classes. Courses include Introductory Sociology, African American Studies, Black Studies, Society and Health, and Human Relations in the Administration of Organizations.

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University of Kentucky Black Studies Committee/Black Studies/African American Studies and Research Program, 1979-2010

  • Box 2010ua023-05
  • Box 9, item 1
Scope and Contents

This series primarily comprises correspondence and memoranda, project and program proposals, meeting minutes, event announcements, and reports documenting the creation and development of the University of Kentucky Black Studies Committee/ Black Studies/ African American Studies and Research Program.

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Research Subject Files, 1970-2002

  • Box 2010ua023-06
  • Box 2010ua023-07
  • Box 2010ua023-08
  • Box 10, item 3
  • Disk 01
Scope and Contents

This series primarily comprises surveys, statistical notes, drafts, memoranda, proposals, manuscripts, correspondence, publications, and reports Wilkinson collected for her research. Topics include "Diagnosing the Therapist: Race and Gender in Clinical Decision Making;" "Forgotten Pioneers" Series research and work on early African Americans' presence in physics, medicine, and other specific areas; race and gender consciousness; ethnicity; barbershops; and African American heritage, women and feminization, children and families, businesses, and university faculty. There is an electronic copy of the 1893 Lexington City Directory (dated October 26, 1993) in WordPerfect format on disk 01.

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Library, 1964-1993

  • Box 2010ua023-12
  • Box 13
  • Box 14
Scope and Contents

This series comprises published monographs from Wilkinson's office library with text underlined or highlighted by Wilkinson. Many of the monographs also include handwritten notes.

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UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.

Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.

Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.

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You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.

If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.