Nick Aaron Ford
{{Short description|American author}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Nick Aaron Ford Jr.
| image =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1904|08|04}}
| birth_place = Ridgeway, South Carolina
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1982|07|17|1904|08|04}}
| death_place = Baltimore, Maryland
| nationality =
| other_names =
| alma_mater = {{ubl|Benedict College|Iowa State University}}
| employer = Morgan State College
| occupation = {{hlist|Academic|Author}}
| years_active =
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| notable_works =
| relatives = Sanders Ford (maternal grandfather)
}}
Nick Aaron Ford Jr. (August 4, 1904 – July 17, 1982) was an American writer. A native of South Carolina, he was educated at Benedict College and Iowa State University. Ford then joined the faculty of Morgan State University, eventually accepting the Alain Locke Distinguished Professorship of Black Studies.
Life and career
Ford was born in Ridgeway, South Carolina, to a former slave, Nick Aaron Ford Sr., and his wife Carrie, a substitute teacher.{{cite journal |last1=Venture Young |first1=Ann |title=Nick Aaron Ford: Teacher, Critic, Scholar, Writer "Seeking a Newer World" |journal=College Language Association Journal |date=June 1992 |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=467–487 |jstor=44322514}} Sanders Ford, a member of the South Carolina Senate, was the maternal grandfather of Nick Aaron Ford Jr. Between the ages of ten and sixteen, Ford was educated at a segregated school in Winnsboro, Louisiana. He then attended a high school affiliated with Benedict College, and subsequently earned a bachelor's degree from Benedict in 1926. Subsequently, Ford was principal of the Schofield Normal School in Aiken, South Carolina, until 1928, when he enrolled at Iowa State University for graduate study in journalism. Ford earned his master's degree in 1934, and his doctorate in 1945.{{Cite web |date=2022-03-09 |title=Nick Aaron Ford (1904-1982) |url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/people-african-american-history/nick-aaron-ford-1904-1982/ |access-date=2022-10-11 |language=en-US}} He taught at Morgan State College from 1945 and later became Alain Locke Distinguished Professor of Black Studies in 1973.{{Cite web|url=https://researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/collection/data/28413019|title=Nick Aaron Ford papers, 1935-1984|website=researchworks.oclc.org}} He also served as president of the College Language Association from 1961 to 1963.
He chaired Morgan State University's English Department for 23 years from 1947 to 1972.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/373036193/|title=The Evening Sun 20 Jul 1982, page 29|website=Newspapers.com}} He advocated for African American studies.{{Cite web|url=https://www.studysc.org/sc-people/nick-aaron-ford|title=Nick Aaron Ford | studysc|website=www.studysc.org}} He married Janie Etheridge in 1927, with whom he raised a son.{{Cite web|url=https://snaccooperative.org/view/24146090|title=Ford, Nick Aaron. - Social Networks and Archival Context|website=snaccooperative.org}} Ford married for the second time to Ola Scroggins Ford in 1968.{{Cite web |title=Ola Scroggins Ford, 93, taught 65 years, including 5 at Morgan |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1997-12-28-1997362074-story.html |access-date=2022-10-11 |website=Baltimore Sun|date=28 December 1997 }} Nick Aaron Ford died in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 17, 1982.{{Cite web|url=https://scafricanamerican.com/nick-aaron-ford/|title=Nick Aaron Ford – South Carolina African American History Calendar}}
Books
- {{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Nick Aaron |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/10412401 |title=Seeking a newer world : memoirs of a Black American teacher |date=1983 |publisher=Todd & Honeywell |isbn=0-89962-277-1 |edition=1st |location=Great Neck, N.Y. |oclc=10412401}}
- {{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Nick Aaron |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/702863 |title=Black studies: threat-or-challenge |date=1973 |isbn=0-8046-9034-0 |location=Port Washington, N.Y. |oclc=702863}}Review:{{bulleted list|{{Cite journal|last=Perry |first=Thelma D.|journal=Negro History Bulletin |location=Washington |volume=37 |issue=4 |date=1974-06-01 |page=273 |title=Nick Aaron Ford BLACK STUDIES: THREAT OR CHALLENGE (Book Review) |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/885273e92f1e6f36dd83f0b5e58dcdd6/1 |access-date=2022-10-11 |language=en}} }} A signed copy of this book is in the catalogue of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.{{Cite web |title=Black Studies: Threat or Challenge? |url=https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2013.189.1 |access-date=2022-10-11 |website=National Museum of African American History and Culture |language=en}}
- {{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Nick Aaron |title=Cultural Integration through Literature |date= }}Review:{{bulleted list|{{Cite journal |last=Ford |first=Nick Aaron |date=January 1965 |title=Cultural Integration through Literature |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/016146816506600403 |journal=Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education |language=en |volume=66 |issue=4 |pages=1–5 |doi=10.1177/016146816506600403 |s2cid=246491161 |issn=0161-4681}} }}
- {{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/310463688 |title=Language in uniform : a reader on propaganda |date=1967 |publisher=Odyssey Pr |others=Nick A. Ford |isbn=0-672-63054-0 |edition=5th |location=Indianapolis |oclc=310463688}}Review:{{bulleted list|{{Cite journal |last=Kelley |first=Delores G. |date=1967 |title=Review of Language in Uniform: A Reader on Propaganda |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44328259 |journal=CLA Journal |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=175 |jstor=44328259 |issn=0007-8549}} }}
- {{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2818672 |title=Best short stories by Afro-American writers, 1925-1950 |date=1977 |publisher=Kraus Reprint Co |others=Nick Aaron Ford, Harry Lee Faggett |isbn=0-527-04930-1 |location=Milwood, N.Y. |oclc=2818672}}
- Extending Horizons: Selected Readings for Cultural EnrichmentReview:{{bulleted list|{{Cite journal |last=Palmer |first=R. Roderick |date=1969 |title=Review of Extending Horizons: Selected Readings for Cultural Enrichment |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44324829 |journal=CLA Journal |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=379–380 |jstor=44324829 |issn=0007-8549}} }}
Selected publications
- {{Cite journal |last=Ford |first=Nick Aaron |date=1950 |title=A Blueprint for Negro Authors |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/272373 |journal=Phylon |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=374–377 |doi=10.2307/272373 |jstor=272373 |issn=0885-6818}}
- {{Cite journal |last=Ford |first=Nick Aaron |date=1954 |title=A Teacher Looks at Integration |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/272814 |journal=Phylon |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=261–266 |doi=10.2307/272814 |jstor=272814 |issn=0885-6818}}
- {{Cite journal |last=Ford |first=Nick Aaron |date=December 1953 |title=A Maryland Project in Articulation |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/356018 |journal=College Composition and Communication |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=126–128 |doi=10.2307/356018|jstor=356018 }}
- {{Cite journal |last=Ford |first=Nick Aaron |date=1950 |title=Walt Whitman's Conception of Democracy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/272002 |journal=Phylon |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=201–206 |doi=10.2307/272002 |jstor=272002 |issn=0885-6818}}
- {{Cite journal |last=Ford |first=Nick Aaron |date=1946 |title=Henry David Thoreau, Abolitionist |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/361971 |journal=The New England Quarterly |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=359–371 |doi=10.2307/361971 |jstor=361971 |issn=0028-4866}}
- {{Cite journal |last=Ford |first=Nick Aaron |date=2014 |orig-date=Text of speech given on April 18, 1963, published posthumously |title=Language and Literature as Aids to Cultural Integration |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44325874 |journal=CLA Journal |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=255–261 |jstor=44325874 |issn=0007-8549}}
Legacy
In 1983 Morgan State University initiated the Nick Aaron Ford and Waters Edward Turpin Symposium on African-American Literature named in honor of Ford and Turpin,{{Cite web |title=Nick Aaron Ford and Waters Edward Turpin Symposium on African-American Literature |url=https://www.morgan.edu/english/programs-and-organizations/ford-turpin-symposium |access-date=2022-10-11 |website=www.morgan.edu |language=en}} a collaborator of Ford's who joined him at Morgan State at Ford's request.{{Cite journal |last=Ford |first=Nick Aaron |title=Waters Turpin: I Knew Him Well |date=1977 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44329321 |journal=CLA Journal |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=1–18 |jstor=44329321 |issn=0007-8549}} Ford's papers including letters, book drafts and other writings are located at the University of South Carolina.
References
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Category:Black studies scholars
Category:Benedict College alumni
Category:20th-century American male writers
Category:African-American schoolteachers
Category:Iowa State University alumni
Category:American school principals
Category:Writers from South Carolina
Category:Schoolteachers from South Carolina
Category:Morgan State University faculty