Reclaiming Our Time: A Genealogy of Black Women and Their Influence at an Institution of Higher Education

United States Representative Maxine Waters made the phrase "reclaiming my time'' famous in the wake of explosive U.S. political debates, sparking workplace misogyny that Black women experience often in order to belittle or devalue them simply based on the color of their skin. The cultural genealogy of Black womanhood has been attributed to the divine nurturing of the mother figure and uprooting of their culture of perseverance through adversity. Genealogy provides an account of the origin of a population's ancestry. Prior research has been conducted to examine the impact of faculty members on minority students' sense of belonging at PWIs and HBCUs; however, little research has been conducted on the powerful influence of Black female administrators at predominately White institutions (PWIs) on all students and their historical genealogy of womanhood. The intent of the study aimed to gather insight from the Black female administrators and students how the genealogy of Black women influences the success of diversity at one Maryland PWI. This study was based on a genealogical design to identify the historical descent of Black women and the intersectionality of their lived experiences in their current environment working in higher education. The main findings of this study revealed a genealogical link of the mammy trait in providing nurturing, advocacy, and cultural understanding to the campus culture at Salisbury University. As a result of these findings, recommendations were identified to examine the diversity hiring structure, address existing misogynoir, and acknowledge the genealogical attributes Black female administrators provide to the university. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]