Connecting the Dots: Processing the Howard F. Taylor Black Leadership Network Study Papers, 1984-1992

During the first month of my fellowship in the Mudd Manuscript Library at Princeton University, I have had the pleasure of arranging and describing the Howard F. Taylor Black Leadership Network Study Papers. Located in Mudd’s Public Policy collection, The Black Leadership Network Study Papers is a research initiative spearheaded by Sociologist Howard Taylor, Emeritus professor in the Department of Sociology at Princeton University. This study, spanning between 1984 and 1992, sought to examine the policy attitudes and opinions of influential black leaders. Through funding provided by the Cornerhouse Fund of New York City,—a foundation that allocates resources for social research in race and ethnic relations—Taylor was able to conduct interviews with nearly 170 African American leaders, including mayors, congresspersons, federal judges, military officials, media representatives, academicians, executives of predominately black and predominately white corporations, presidents of national associations, foundation executives, civil servants, political appointees and party officials. In doing so, this broad sample provides unique insight into the U.S. political landscape of the 1980s and early 1990s, intra-racial social and economic issues, structural and demographic data related to black leadership, and the interconnections within this elite group. Ultimately, Professor Taylor wanted to use the findings for scholarly articles and a manuscript project provisionally entitled “The Black Elite Network in America.

In my view, this collection will allow students, scholars, and researchers alike to examine  the African American leadership establishment in the 1980’s and 1990’s and the issues of importance to the communities they served. However, it has also led me to think more critically about the cadre of black leaders in the 21^st century and how they have OR have not informed public policy. Perhaps, another study of this kind is due in the forthcoming years, especially as we enter the 2012 presidential election season.

Brenda Tindal,
IMLS Fellow
Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library
Princeton University