First Black Woman Prof Honored With Portrait

Students in the Adams House dining hall can ignore the noise of people eating and remind themselves of jazz and blues by looking at the newest painting on the wall. A portrait of music scholar Eileen Jackson Southern was unveiled yesterday night in an event sponsored by the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations and the Association of Black Harvard Women (ABHW).

In 1976, Southern became the first black woman to receive tenure at Harvard. She held a joint appointment in the Music Department and in the Afro-American Studies Department, which she chaired from 1975 to 1979.

Knafel Professor of Music Thomas Forrest Kelly was among the music professors present at the event. He spoke highly of Southern’s achievements and her impact on music.

“She distinguished herself absolutely without reference to gender or color. She was good at what she did,” he said. Southern’s portrait was created by Stephen E. Coit ’71. An applied math and computer science concentrator during his undergraduate years, Coit worked as a venture capitalist before dedicating himself to painting. Coit said Southern’s painting was one of the most challenging portraits because it was posthumous.

“I was working with a black and white photograph and had to think about what color her shirt would be,” Coit said last night.

He settled on a “creamy, yellow white” in honor of the dress worn by the dancer Judith Jamison in “Revelations.”

ABHW’s president, Natasha S. Alford ’08, was happy to see Southern’s portrait unveiled.

“It’s not a reminder just for us, but for everyone, that all people of all ethnic backgrounds can make a contribution,” Alford said.

The portrait is part of the Foundation’s Minority Portraiture Project, which seeks to introduce more portraits of diverse individuals who have served the College with distinction. The Foundation received $100,000 dollars from the University President’s Office in 2002, and was originally planning on funding ten paintings.

Due to Coit’s interest in the project and willingness to charge significantly less than his usual rate, the Foundation might now be able to fund a total of twenty portraits.

Foundation Director S. Allen Counter said that the portraits’ subjects are chosen by a committee of two students and three faculty members.

In past months, the Portraiture Project has unveiled paintings of L. Fred Jewett ’57 and Archie C. Epps III, both of whom were deans at Harvard.

—Staff writer Doris H. Hernandez can be reached at dahernan@fas.harvard.edu.