Tufts mourns passing of Gerald R. Gill, historian of Boston’s Civil Rights movement

Historian Gerald R. Gill died in his home in Cambridge on July 26. A scholar of 20th-century African-American history, Gill was Tufts University’s most honored and distinguished teacher.

Gerald Gill was born in New Rochelle, N.Y., on Nov. 18, 1948, the son of Robert and Etta Gill. He graduated with a major in history from Lafayette College in 1970, and completed his doctorate in United States history at Howard University, Washington, D.C., in 1985. His scholarly interest in history of African-American opposition to the United States wars in the 20th century began with his dissertation and continued with publications on African-American men’s and women’s opposition to the Vietnam War.

Professor Gill was as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. He secured that status with help from U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm.

He initiated his more recent research on “The Civil Rights movement in Boston from 1915 to 1970” as a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (1997-1998). He has also held Research Fellowships at the W.E.B. DuBois Institute at Harvard University and the Center for Afro-American Studies at the University of California at Los Angeles. In November 2006, he was the keynote speaker for the “conference “Power, and Protest: The Civil Rights Movement in Boston, 1960-1968” at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston.

During his nearly three decades at Tufts, Gill worked very hard to build a truly multicultural, diverse campus community, deeply interweaving in his teaching and public speaking the richness of heritage among Euro-American, Asian-American, Native American and African-American peoples. He closely followed new literature in his field. As more work on women’s experiences and contributions in African-American history came into print, he incorporated that into his courses. His “Sport in America” courses explored women’s and men’s sports. Through his innovative teaching and voracious reading in his field, he developed new courses, introducing some through the Experimental College, that eventually became embedded in the Arts and Sciences curriculum in American Studies and Peace and Justice Studies.

In both 1995 and 1999, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education named Gill Massachusetts College Professor of the Year. He swept all of Tufts University’s teaching and service awards. He was the inaugural recipient of many such awards and because his standard was so high, his colleagues joked that he simply should have held all the awards “in perpetuity.” Among his many teaching and advising honors, he was the inaugural winner of Tufts Community Senate’s Professor of the Year Award (1999), the Lerman-Neubauer Prize for Outstanding Teaching and Advising (1998) and the Distinguished Service Award (2000).

Since joining the Tufts History Department in 1980, Gill taught and mentored thousands of students. He was associate professor of history, and a founding and core faculty member in American Studies and Peace and Justice Studies. His courses in African-American history, the Civil Rights movement, and most recently sports in American history, always filled to capacity. Students were always impressed by the breadth of his knowledge, the creativity of his assignments and his capacity to make the past come alive for them. Gill cared for his students as individuals. Never forgetting his students’ names, he would, over the years, also learn the names of his students’ partners and children. Students and colleagues quickly realized that he asked how they were doing, because he really wanted to know.

Gill’s generosity and accessibility as a teacher and scholar carried beyond his classroom and into the Tufts and greater Boston community. He was a frequent speaker and interpreter of African-American history and culture in the greater Boston area, appearing frequently on Boston area public radio and television. Since 1988, Gill served as a consultant for many WGBH and Blackside Inc. productions including “The American Experience,” “Africans in America,” “This Far by Faith,” “I’ll Make Me a World” and “Eyes on the Prize.” He was strongly committed to helping teachers in elementary and secondary schools improve their curriculum and teaching of African-American and 20th century America history topics. Despite a heavy teaching and advising load, he unfailingly led workshops and seminars with public school teachers.

Everyone’s favorite professor and a role model for many students and faculty, Professor Gill had a particularly important place within the university’s small black community. Again, Gill embraced this role as scholar, teacher, mentor and friend. He researched and compiled an exhibit at the Tufts Gallery entitled “Another Light on the Hill: A History of Black Students at Tufts University, 1900 to the Present.” He helped teach the entire university about the distinction of its black alumni. The Pan African Alliance and Tufts University Black Alumni Association honored him for his contributions.

Since 1998, Gill served as deputy chairman of the History Department. He was also a member of the American Historical Association, the Association for the Study of Afro-America History and Life, the Organization of American Historians and the Museum of Afro-American History, Boston.

Gerald Gill was preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Mamie Landrine; and his aunt, Hellman Long. He leaves a daughter, Ayanna Ettann Gill-McGee of Jackson, Miss; a grandson, Coty James McGee; his sisters, Willie Butler and Mary Smith of Germantown, Md; Andrew Carter Jr. and Edward Carter, his uncles. He had many nieces and nephews.

A private family gathering will take place at the Doherty Funeral Home in Powder House Square, Somerville. Friends are welcome to attend a Memorial Service in the Goddard Chapel at Tufts University at 11 a.m. on Thursday Aug. 2.

In lieu of flowers, people may make contributions to the Gerald R. Gill Scholarship Fund, c/o the Africana Center, Tufts University.