Hortense J. Spillers was born on April 24, 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee, where she grew up with two brothers and one sister. She attended Melrose High School before going on to earn her Bachelor of Arts and Master's degrees from the University of Memphis in 1964 and 1966 respectively. While at the University of Memphis, she served as a disc jockey for the all-Black radio station WDIA. Spillers then attended Brandeis University where, in 1969, she participated in the takeover of Ford Hall. Students who were dissatisfied with the racial climate on campus held an 11-day takeover that ultimately led to the establishment of the Department of African and African American Studies at Brandeis. After earning her Ph.D. in 1974, she went on to hold positions at Wellesley College, Haverford College, Cornell University, Emory University, and Vanderbilt University.
Spillers' research addresses psychoanalysis and race; the African diaspora; African-American literature and criticism; the representation of race in literature; linguistics; Black culture; and sexuality. She is best known for her 1987 article, "Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: An American Grammar Book," one of the most cited essays in African-American literary studies today.
She is a member of the Modern Language Association and the Society for the Study of Narrative. Spillers has received numerous awards during her career, including most recently the Caribbean Philosophical Association's Nicolás Guillén Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, and the Brandeis University Alumni Achievement Award in 2019. Brandeis' Provost, Lisa Lynch described Spillers as a "pioneering professor, feminist scholar and critic whose contributions have influenced the landscape of African American literary studies and advanced Black feminist theory."
includes entry re: Robert Kennedy's assassination
Side 1: church service [24:11] Side 2: blank
Side 1: church service [4:08] Side 2: blank
Please note that it was determined that there is no recording on this tape
Please note that it was determined that there is no recording on this tape
Side 1: church service [16:11] Side 2: blank
Side 1: church service [16:11] Side 2: blank
Side 1: church service [15:58] Side 2: blank
Features Clyde Taylor [44:16]
Features Clyde Taylor [45:21]
Features Clyde Taylor, Toni Cade Bambara, and Haile Gerima [45:32]
Features Toni Cade Bambara and Haile Gerima [14:26]
Features Toni Cade Bambara and Haile Gerima [45:15]
Features Haile Gerima, St. Clair Bourne, and James Snead [44:50]
Features St. Clair Bourne and James Snead [46:31]
Features St. Clair Bourne, James Snead, Spike Lee, and Hortense Spillers [47:22]
Features Spike Lee [42:07]
Features Clyde Taylor and possibly Toni Morrison [44:32]
Side 1: features Hortense J. Spillers discussing Toni Morrison's play "Dreaming Emmett" [45:56] Side 2: blank
Side 1: features a sermon for "Shalom Baptist Church Men's Day." [31:33] Side 2: blank.
Side 1: soundtrack [22:15]
Side 2: soundtrack [24:19]
Please note that this tape has not been reformatted
Side 1: features Hortense J. Spillers, Nellie McKay, John Wideman, and Abdul McWorter [01:02:29]
Features Nellie McKay, John Wideman, and Abdul McWorter (aka Abdul Alkalimat or Gerald A. McWorter) [01:02:29]
Features Hortense J. Spillers, Robert Stepto, Marcia Lloyd, Daniel Windham, and Fred Woodard [01:02:24]
Features Robert Stepto, Marcia Lloyd, Daniel Windham, Fred Woodard, and Hortense Spillers
Side 1: features Hortense J. Spillers, Robert Stepto, Marcia Lloyd, Daniel Windham, and Fred Woodard [26:20] Side 2: blank
Please note that these tapes have not been reformatted
Please note that these tapes have not been reformatted
This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Hortense J. Spillers, American literary critic, Black feminist scholar, and Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor Emerita in English at Vanderbilt University. The collection includes handwritten diaries, notebooks, and draft writings; personal and professional correspondence; and conference and teaching materials, dating from 1941 to 2024. Materials are arranged into 13 series.
Series 1, PERSONAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL, 1941-2024, includes calendars, diaries, graduate student papers, funerary documents for friends and family, and photographs. Diaries contain handwritten entries regarding personal and professional experiences, as well as notes on national events including the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Photographs include black and white photos of Spillers with members of her congregation throughout her life, as well as photos of Spillers with Flo Kennedy. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type.
Series 2, NOTEBOOKS, 1966-2008, contain notebooks with handwritten entries. Entries vary in nature from personal diary entries to research notes and draft writings. This series is arranged chronologically by year, then by topic.
Series 3, CORRESPONDENCE, 1969-2010, contains personal and professional correspondence. This series is arranged into 2 subseries.
Series 3, subseries 1, PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1969-2007, contains greeting cards and handwritten and typed letters from friends and family members. Correspondents include Spillers' brothers, Curtis Jr. (deceased) and Ira; her sister Theaster; and her parents Curtis Sr. and Evelyn. There is also personal correspondence from Gayatri Spivak and Ruth Simmons. This subseries is arranged chronologically and then alphabetically by sender.
Series 3, subseries 2, PROFESSIONAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1972-2010, includes general correspondence regarding talks and conferences; institution-specific correspondence related to meetings, organizations, and administrative tasks; and correspondence with scholars related to shared projects and research interests. Correspondents of note include Claudia Tate, Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Toni Morrison. Additional correspondence can be found throughout the collection. This subseries is arranged chronologically, then by institution, then by sender and topic.
Series 4, ADMINISTRATIVE, 1973-2016, includes files from Spillers' time as English Department Chair and member of the Educational Policy Committee at Haverford College, as well as files from her service on the Commission on the Status of Women with the Modern Language Association. The files include handwritten notes, correspondence, and meeting materials. This series is arranged alphabetically by institution then by record type.
Series 5, CONFERENCES, 1977-2020, includes papers, handwritten notes, correspondence, and planning materials for several conferences organized or attended by Spillers. Conferences of note include, "The Birth of Black Cinema," organized by Toni Morrison; "Black Women in the Academy," for which Spillers served on the steering committee; and "Works in Progress" organized by Spillers. This series is arranged alphabetically by conference then by record type.
Series 6, TEACHING, 1973-2012, includes handwritten lecture notes, syllabi, and course evaluations. Courses include "Afro-American Literature," "American Literature since 1945," "Black Literature in America," and "English Literature: The Major Works." This series is arranged alphabetically by course then by record type.
Series 7, TALKS AND LECTURES, 1979-2010, contains typed and handwritten drafts of various talks given by Spillers. Talks of note include, "Dreaming Emmett," "Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe," and "Writing and the Self: Re-Positioning the Margins on Paule Marshall." This series is arranged alphabetically by title.
Series 8, WRITINGS, 1969-2009, includes typed and handwritten drafts, correspondence, and offprints of others' writings. This series is arranged into 2 subseries.
Series 8, subseries 1, WRITINGS BY SPILLERS, 1970-2009, includes typed and handwritten drafts of articles, books, edited books, plays, and reviews. Works of note include, "Bro. Isom's Funeral," "Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: An American Grammar Book," "Sunday of Indulgence," "Conjuring: Black Women, Fiction, and Literary Tradition: A Collection of Criticism," and "Sparebone." This subseries is arranged alphabetically by type of writing, then by title of the work, then by record type.
Series 8, subseries 2, WRITINGS BY OTHERS, 1969-2008, includes correspondence and typed and handwritten drafts by other scholars. Scholars of note include Jane Gallop, Ann Z. Leventhal, Gayatri Spivak, and Claudia Tate. Toni Morrison's "Statement to the Presidential Task Force on the Arts and the Humanities," and "Dreaming Emmett" are also included. "Dreaming Emmett" was Morrison's first play which debuted in 1986. This copy, annotated by Spillers for a symposium on Morrison's works, is the only known copy outside of the Toni Morrison papers held at Princeton University. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by author's last name then by title of their work.
Series 9, RESEARCH, 1966-2009, contains notecards and readings and is arranged into 3 subseries.
Series 9, subseries 1, NOTECARDS, n.d., contains 5-inch by 8-inch notecards with handwritten citations of books, articles, and periodicals.
Series 9, subseries 2, RESEARCH BY SUBJECT'S NAME, 1967-2005, contains articles and photocopied readings about individuals including Christopher Columbus, Ralph Ellison, and Toni Morrison. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by subject's last name.
Series 9, subseries 3, RESEARCH BY TOPIC, 1966-2009, contains articles and photocopied readings about specific topics such as "Black feminist criticism and Black women writers," lesbian identity, MOVE (Black liberation group), and "Uncle Tom's Cabin." This subseries is arranged alphabetically by topic.
Series 10, PRINT MATERIALS, 1969-2022, includes books, journals, magazines, and newspapers. Notable titles include, "The Black Scholar," "Gourmet: The Magazine of Good Living," "New Women's Times Feminist Review," and "Petits Propos Culinaires: Essays and Notes on Food, Cookery, and Cookbooks." This series is arranged alphabetically by record type then by title.
Series 11, AUDIO VISUAL RECORDS, 1972-2002, includes 5-inch reel-to-reel magnetic tapes, audio cassette tapes, and VHS tapes. Of particular note are the 5 tapes from Toni Morrison's "Birth of Black Cinema" symposium, and the 3 tapes from the "Archimedes in Harlem Symposium" regarding Toni Morrison's play, "Dreaming Emmett." This series is arranged by record type then by tape number as assigned by the processor prior to reformatting. Reformatted recordings are available through the Brown Digital Repository and are linked in each item title.
Series 12, ELECTRONIC RECORDS, n.d., contains one 3.5" floppy disk titled "PVN68.doc". Advance notice is required to view born-digital records. Born-digital materials in this collection may not have been reformatted yet. Researchers may request access to copies by contacting the John Hay Library with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed to hay@brown.edu.
Series 13, RESTRICTED, 1968-2004, includes personal correspondence and administrative materials. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type and is closed until January 1, 2039 at which point the materials will open without restriction.
Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Hortense J. Spillers papers, Ms.2019.013, Box [#], Folder [#], Pembroke Center Archives, John Hay Library, Brown University.
This collection is arranged into 13 series.
There are some restrictions on access, though most of the collection is open for research. Series 12, Restricted, is closed until January 1, 2039 at which point the materials will open without restriction. The collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested. Advance notice is required to view born-digital records. Born-digital materials in this collection may not have been reformatted yet. Researchers may request access to copies by contacting the John Hay Library with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed to hay@brown.edu.
Gift of Hortense J. Spillers in 2019 and 2023 as part of the Black Feminist Theory Project.