Researching Walter N. Ridley: The University of Virginia’s First African American Graduate

• In Event: How Historians Think: Researching African American Education, Thought, and Activism

Abstract

Purpose
This paper examines the research methodology used to study the life, social activism, and educational thought of Walter N. Ridley, who was the first black graduate of the University of Virginia. The objective of the paper is to provide insight into research methods used in educational and intellectual biography and history. This study of Ridley, it should be noted, goes beyond Ridley’s desegregation of UVA. It examines Ridley as the prototypical educator “race man” of his day who navigated Jim Crow and the southern educational system and fought the black freedom struggle in the halls of academia.

Perspectives
As UVA’s first black graduate, Walter N. Ridley has been largely overlooked in the historical literature. Ridley graduated with his Ph.D. in education from the Curry School of Education at UVA in 1953. He also served as a professor at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, an administrator at Virginia State College in Petersburg, VA., an academic dean at St. Paul's College in Lawrenceville, Va., and as president of Elizabeth City College in North Carolina. Despite Ridley’s many accomplishments, there is not a published monograph or scholarly article about him.

Methods
To bring Ridley’s story to life the author discusses relevant archives, but he also highlights oral history as an invaluable tool for gathering information on Ridley. In addition, the author discusses his approach of tracking down fugitive sources and piecing together disparate information to begin constructing a long view of Ridley’s life.

Data Sources
Thus far, the most pertinent archival collections include The Papers of Walter Nathaniel Ridley at the University of Virginia and the Walter Nathaniel Ridley Papers at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina. The author also shows how several recent autobiographies serve as guides (theoretical frames) for further developing a research approach for his study. Those recent biographies include Manning Marable’s Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention and Randall Jelks’ Benjamin E. Mays: Schoolmaster of the Movement. Both books tackle tricky methodological issues regarding sources and interpretation.[6]

Substantiated Conclusion
A concluding argument is that even with limited sources historians can construct substantive narratives on the life and ideas of an individual—in this case the life of a largely unknown African American educator. This article shows the author’s step-by-step process and elucidates his response to various methodological challenges.

Scholarly Significance
In terms of significance, this paper responds to the question often asked about historians: Do historians not have methods? The answer is a resounding, yes. While historians may begin with a carefully outlined approach, they always encounter challenges that force them to rethink their methods and go in alternative directions. This essay hopes to give insights on the organic methodological approach of historians.

Author

• Derrick Alridge, University of Virginia