Cheryl Johnson-Odim

Cheryl Johnson-Odim is an American historian. She worked at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Northwestern University and Loyola University Chicago. She became dean at Columbia College Chicago and in 2007 was made provost of Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois.

Early life

Cheryl Johnson-Odim was born 30 April 1948, in Youngstown, Ohio, USA. Her parents were Robert Dawson and Elayne Jeffries. After the family moved to New York City, she went to Andrew Jackson High School then studied at CCNY and Youngstown State University, before taking her PhD at Northwestern University. She graduated in 1978 after spending time in Nigeria in 1975 on a Fulbright scholarship, which inspired her interest in African history. She had first heard about apartheid in South Africa in 1963, when she sang on the radio with Harry Belafonte and met South African dancers that Belafonte had brought to the USA.

Career

Johnson-Odim lectured at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and then Northwestern University; at the latter she was assistant director of the African Studies program between 1980 and 1986. She moved to Loyola University Chicago the following year and chaired the department of history from 1995 until 2000. She was the first woman and the first African-American person to do so. She then held the post of dean at Columbia College Chicago and in 2007, she was made provost of Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois. Her research focus was African American and West African history.

In 1995, she edited the volume Expanding the Boundaries of Women's History: Essays on Women in the Third World together with Margaret Strobel. This book examined various histories of women in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Two years later, she published For Women and the Nation: Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti of Nigeria with Nina Emma Mba. The book gives a full account of Ransome-Kuti's life.

As a community activist in the Chicago area, Johnson-Odim campaigned against apartheid and her materials are now held as a special collection at Columbia College; she addressed the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid. She participated in the Free South Africa Movement, TransAfrica and the Coalition for Illinois Divestment from South Africa. She was on the Chicago organizing committee for the 2017 Women's March.

Personal life

Johnson-Odim is twice married and has three children: Chaka Patterson, artist Rashid Johnson, and Maya Odim.

Selected works

• Johnson-Odim, Cheryl (1997). For women and the nation: Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti of Nigeria. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0252066139.
• Johnson-Odim, Cheryl (1992). Expanding the boundaries of women's history : essays on women in the Third World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253330970.