Product Code Database
Ellen Irene Diggs (1906–1998) was an American anthropologist, sociologist, and historian. She was the writer of a major contribution to African American history, Black Chronology: From 4,000 B.C. to the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Her academic work aimed to empower and visualize Afro-American chronology as a way to contest the idea that Africans and African Americans had no history and provided no contributions to modern culture. Dr. Irene Diggs (Irene was her preferred name) was the first Black woman to write about race relations and the African diaspora in the Americas. She spent her whole academic career fighting against and researching racism, as well as the cultural and historical contributions of Africans and the African diaspora in the Americas. Alongside her academic mentor W. E. B. Du Bois, she co-founded Phylon: A Review of Race and Culture, and published her scholarly research across multiple journals.
She was also the first Black woman ever to receive a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Havana.
Her parents, Henry Charles Diggs and Alice Scott, always encouraged her reading and intellectualism, as well as enforced the value of education.Deegan, Mary Jo. Women in Sociology: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook. Greenwood Press, 1991. Her outstanding academic achievements in high school that led Diggs to obtain an academic college scholarship. Diggs first enrolled in Monmouth College, and then transferred to the University of Minnesota, where she studied sociology and completed a minor in psychology. She graduated from college in 1928. Afterwards, she enrolled in Atlanta University's MA program in Sociology, having Du Bois as her academic mentor.Boyd, Herb. “Ellen Irene Diggs, Early Anthropologist and Assistant to Du Bois.” New York Amsterdam News (New York, N.Y., United States), October 3, 2024. She later became Du Bois’s research assistant from 1932 to 1942, where she helped him publish multiple research articles and five academic books.
After almost a decade working for Du Bois, she resigned from her position and pursued a doctoral studies in anthropology at the University of Havana, Cuba, earning a Ph.D. in 1945. Later on, she returned to the United States, worked again for a short time with Du Bois, and began extended fieldwork in Latin America.
After returning from her fieldwork, Diggs received her appointment as a professor of Sociology at Morgan State University. She worked from 1947 to 1976. At Morgan State, she encountered wage discrimination; her salary of $5,100 was ineligible for an increase since her doctorate was not granted by an American institution.Holden, Constance. “What Would You Suggest That I Do Next?”: The Rival Geographies of Ellen Irene Diggs. n.d.
A chronology of Afro-American history is important because there is so widespread belief that Africa and Africans have no history, have not achieved, have made little or no contribution to culture; that Africa is dark, mysterious continent, isolated, and insulated from the rest of the world; that what happened in Africa does not matter. Diggs hopes her historical project tackles the incongruences, distortions, and obscurities of the African past, and also the history of Afro-Americans.In addition to creating a compilation of Black life, key milestones, and inventions in Africa, Diggs also connects African history all the way to modernity, in particular around slavery and the slave trade. Black Chronology fills in the gap, systematizes, and revisits the history of slavery, paying attention to the particular systems of violence created, and also to the modes of resistance that were enacted against those systems themselves. Regarding slavery and the slave trade, Diggs makes the case that the struggles in the 1950s and 1960s for racial equality and social justice in the US are an accelerated representation of the struggles that began as soon as the first 20 Black people arrived in the Americas (page X). This becomes crucial considering the understanding that slavery and the slave trade system, particularly in the US, were foundational for the development across the globe, as Diggs articulates (page X).
Some examples that illustrate the breadth and depth of Black Chronology include:
It is important to note that there are very limited academic reviews of Black Chronology and that the relevance and reach of this piece might be limited. While the contribution to African and Afro-American History could be considerable, particularly around her documentation of slavery, salve trade, and resistance, there might be some inconsistencies and issues with this publication. G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville, historian and author of Chronology of African History (1973) and The New Atlas of African History (1991) offers a diverse perspective on Black Chronology. Freeman-Greenville argues that Dr Diggs' work provides disconnected information until the 18th century, and omits key information, including the Bantu expansion.Freeman-Grenville, G. S. P. “Ellen Irene Diggs, Black Chronology: From 4000 BC to the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Boston, Mass.: G. K. Hall, 1983, Xii + 312 Pp.” Africa (London. 1928) 56, no. 4 (1986): 506–7. https://doi.org/10.2307/1160022. Most critically, he challenges her notion that the belief that Africans have no history is widespread across the world. He asserts that History has become a rigorous subject across African schools, libraries, and academia, and that Africans have been active in the teaching and development of their own histories.
She supported and also led major research into the color line in the US and Latin America, becoming a leading expert in both territories on the history and experience of people of African descent and their racialized experience. Some of her most well-known works include "The Biological and Cultural Impact of Blacks on the United States" (1960) Diggs, Irene. “The Biological and Cultural Impact of Blacks on the United States.” Phylon (Atlanta, Ga) 41, no. 2 (1980): 153–66. https://doi.org/10.2307/274968. and "Colonial Sexual Behavior."Diggs, Irene. “Colonial Sexual Behavior.” Negro History Bulletin (United States) 37, no. 2 (1974): 214–16.
However, while they did seem to have a close personal and academic relationship, there is some evidence that shows that Diggs' scholarship lost visibility in part due to sexism, racism, but also due to Du Bois' efforts to invisibilize her work.
Her main focus for her doctoral research was on the survival of West African customs in Cuba.Oxford African American Studies Center. “Diggs, Ellen Irene.” Accessed November 18, 2025. https://oxfordaasc-com.proxy.library.vanderbilt.edu/display/10.1093/acref/9780195301731.001.0001/acref-9780195301731-e-36707. She was interested in particular in how the survival and integration of African culture reduces anti-Black racism. She looked at “African-Survivials.”Harrison, Ira E., and Faye Venetia Harrison. African-American Pioneers in Anthropology. University of Illinois Press, 1999. Her experience in Cuba was foundational for her development as a scholar. It is worth noting that being able to study in Cuba allowed Diggs to forge her own academic path separate from Du Bois, and that most of Du Bois’ perspective in Latin American studies of Black people was indebted to his collaboration with Diggs.“Irene Diggs in Ambas Américas (Both Americas).” https://doi.org/10.1086/738006.
In Havana, she had issues finding housing, encountered multiple forms of discrimination, and differences from white and white US American students at the University of Havana. However, Ortiz, as her mentor, introduced her to a web of academics and other critical people and provided and accompanied her while in her studies.Leibniz Universität Hannover. “Ellen Irene Diggs – Centre for Atlantic and Global Studies – Leibniz University Hannover.” Accessed November 18, 2025. https://www.ceags.uni-hannover.de/en/heroines-of-the-20th-century/ellen-irene-diggs.
As part of her archival historical work, she studied in depth when, how, and on what conditions African slaves were brought to the Viceroyalty of the Rio De La Plata. Diggs traced more than 300 years of the History of slavery and the slave trade, from the first record of Black people being brought to the Rio De La Plata in 1527 to the end of slavery in 1842 in Uruguay and Argentina.Diggs, Irene. “The Negro in the Viceroyalty of the Rio de La Plata.” The Journal of Negro History (Washington, etc) 36, no. 1 (1951): 281-. While she provides a general overview of the changing legal, social, and economic status of enslaved Africans and their descendants, she also looks to shed light on the ways they resisted against slavery, as well as their overlooked social and cultural contributions (from language to music and gastronomy).Diggs marks the legal end of slavery in 1842; however, as she also states, slavery continued long after, particularly in rural areas, and in less wealthy families, as “salves presented their White only fortune.”
In addition to her broader historical work, she also published on specific historical figures. In the 1953 edition of The Crisis, she published about Melitón and Schimu, two salve-gauchos in Argentina. Melitón became a free man by paying his owner, but still wanted to work for him; however, he was kicked out of the farm. Later on, he came back looking to still get the job, and was killed by his ex-owner. She also studied the story of Schimu, another slave-gaucho who became the temporary governor of Santiago Del Estero, and then sold his position for 50 pesos, and got back to his gaucho life.Diggs, Irene. “ARGENTINE DIPTYCH-MELITON AND SCHIMU.” The Crisis (New York, N.Y.) (New York) 60, no. 6 (1953): 352-.
Today, the population of these countries is neither European, colored, nor indigenous—it represents a new species which is well on the road to homogeneity. The new species seems committed to the proposition that all citizens shall be equal, designated as South Americans and distinguished one from another only by their countries. South Americans today are much more proud to be Uruguayans, Argentines, Brazilians, than Spaniards or Portuguese.Importantly, particularly considering the historical context, Diggs publishes a version of her theory of amalgamation in "Attitudes Towards Color in South America," where she states that race was not a biological fact, rather a social reality, and that the way Black people, and other gender minorities, are treated changes depending on the context.Diggs, Irene. “Attitudes Toward Color in South America.” Negro History Bulletin 34, no. 5 (1971): 107–8. She argued that Black people in the US encountered more violence than Black people in South American countries. This paper was published in Negro History Bulletin, May 1971.
She wrote a paper titled "Zumbi and the Republic of Os Palmares" in Phylon (1953).Diggs, Irene. “Zumbi and the Republic of Os Palmares.” Phylon (1940–1956) 14, no. 1 (1953): 62–70. https://doi.org/10.2307/272426. In this paper, she explored the story and history of Zumbi and in Brazil, particularly in Os Palmares. Zumbi was presented both as a folk hero and an actual historical figure who died fighting for his freedom and as a symbol of the anti-savery movement. Zumbi escaped his owners and fought to be free, landing in one of the biggest quilombos (a place of active anti-slavery resistance where African slaves would reside and organize) in Brazil, where he would later become the main leader. He died on November 20 of 1695, fighting against the Portuguese colonial rule. Diggs argued the quilombo of OS Palmares led by Zumbi was not just a simple isolated revolt but rather marks the beginning of the Independence of Brazil (page 69).
In a paper titled "Israel", Diggs begins to explore the question of cultural and identity amalgamation in the formation of the country of Israel. She was interested in how, through understanding the cultural relationships development in Israel, she could better understand those in the US. Diggs analyzed what type of artistic, scientific, and socio-economic organizational practices people who were coming to Israel, from across cultures, were inventing or reproducing from their country of origin. Music development, for example, is mentioned to have been in an early stage, and that it might be future generations, those born in Israel, and not migrants, who might be best equipped to develop it. In terms of the political economy, Diggs argues that they had chosen mutual aid and an equitable distribution of services and goods. (422–426)Diggs, Irene. “ISRAEL.” Phylon (Atlanta, Ga) 14, no. 4 (1953): 422-.
|
|
