Richard Blackett joined the University of Houston's History Department this fall as the John and Rebecca Moores Chair in History and African American Studies. Professor Blackett's teaching experience includes Indiana University and the University of Pittsburgh. His book publications include: Building an Anti-Slavery Wall: Black Americans in the Atlantic Abolitionist Movement, 1830-1860 (1983); Beating against the Barriers: The Lives of Six Nineteenth-Century Afro-Americans (1986); and Thomas Morris Chester, Black Civil War Correspondent: His Dispatches from the Virginia Front (1989).
An NEH Challenge Grant, awarded in December 1992, made Professor Blackett's hire possible. The $2.66 million grant, when completed, will also include an endowed chair in African American literature. The largest benefactors to the Challenge Grant, John and Rebecca Moores, attended a celebration held in honor of the Blackett family and sponsored by UH President Glenn A. Goerke in April. As we are striving to meet a deadline of July 1997 for approximately $750,000, we encourage you to contribute to this significant milestone for UH by sending in donations for the grant or volunteering to work with others in raising the remaining funds.
Blackett's presence at UH adds tremendously to our school's national and international stature. History Department Chair Tom O'Brien comments, "Richard Blackett ranks among the very best scholars in the field of African American culture, along with such distinguished figures as Orlando Patterson at Harvard."
Blackett is a very modest person when it comes to the praise and accolades of his accomplishments to date. He understands that individuals do not live by intellect alone. He cherishes his family who helped him to decide to move to Houston. His spouse, Mrs. Cheryl Blackett, said that once the decision was made to move, the couple began to organize for it in March. Just bear in mind that as you enjoyed 80 degree weather in Houston, Bloomington, Indiana, still had snowfall as late as March.
For the most part, the move itself was fairly uneventful, the couple says. However, the beginning got off to a rough start. Having organized for the move since March, the couple was concerned when movers called and canceled the pre-arranged two-day packing and loading. The company decided that all could be done in a single day. The next "uneventful" thing was when the movers' large truck could not get to the Blackett's home, which was located on great acreage down a road off the main thoroughfare. The solution was that they sent for a shuttle truck, began the job five hours later than planned, and finished up at midnight.
In late July the Blacketts: Richard, Cheryl, Victor and Peter (their sons, 14 and 12, respectively), and their nephew, David (18), set out for the drive to Houston. The drive was great, but this is the part of the trip which was most uneventful. The couple drove a van occupied by their 100 pound dog, a parrot, and 3 teenagers. The kids sat on the last seat while the animals, particularly Cruso, the dog, "took" the middle space. For the first few hours of the two-day drive, the kids mostly slept because the Blacketts got a very early start. Along the way, except for the front two seats where Richard and Cheryl sat, the animals and kids negotiated space. Cheryl says, "the dog thought he should take the seat the kids had so he just got up . . . and stood staring at them. Later he just went up and took the seat and knocked the kids over, and Victor fell against the door. So, once we worked it out, that he [the dog] could not have the seat, he understood and settled down. . . . His tail kept going into the parrot's cage. The parrot kept trying to bite the dog's tail, and he kept evading the parrot." This went on for at least an hour and a half. "What a happy bunch," she says.
Once in Houston, all has gone very smoothly for the Blacketts. They unpacked and settled into their new home within a week. School started within the next couple of weeks; so the kids were able to adjust right away. In Bloomington, they said with their home being so far out and with the large acreage, the kids did not have friends "in the neighborhood, so to speak." In Houston, excuse me, Pearland, the kids have friends in the neighborhood. Cheryl has to get used to seeing her sons' friends at the front door. The Blacketts are really enjoying south Texas, and along with their friends and neighbors in Pearland, we greet them once more with a hearty welcome. UH hired a terrific scholar, but we all have also enjoyed meeting and getting to know his wonderful family.