The Black Town Movement Project : Curriculum Vitae
Rhonda Ragdale: President, The Black Town Movement Project
Rhonda Ragsdale
Rice University- Department of History
P.O Box 1892 MS 42, Houston, TX 77251
832-443-3830
Education
Rice University, Houston, TX
Ph.D. Candidate in Southern History 2007
Major Professor: Dr. John Boles
Fields: Southern History, African American History, Sociology
Certificate Study of Women, Gender, and Sexualities
Dissertation: “Another Way Out: The Black Town Movement, 1870s – 1920s”
Dissertation Committee: John B. Boles, Ed Cox, Michael Emerson
Rice University, Houston, TX 2007
M.A. in Southern History
Completed Fall, 2007; Conferred December 2007
*Passed Comprehensive Exams with Distinction
University of North Texas, Denton, TX
M.S. in American History 2005
Areas of Concentration: Southern History, African-American History
Thesis: “A Place To Call Home: A Study of the Self-Segregated Community of
Tatums, Oklahoma, 1894-1970”
Texas Woman’s University, Denton, TX 2001
B.A. in History with Honors
Major: History
Minors: Sociology and Government
Teaching and Professional Experience
Lone Star College, Houston, TX
Adjunct Instructor of History 2008-Present
Teaching both U.S. History to 1877 and since 1877
University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX
Adjunct Instructor of History, Spring 2009
Taught U.S. History since 1877
Rice University, Houston, TX
Grad Barrel Coordinator 2008-9
Elected graduated representative position coordinating all activities for a series of
professional development workshops
Center for Study of Women, Gender, and Sexualities, Houston, TX
Graduate Assistant, Rice University 2008-9
Provided general office assistance and graduate student tracking
Intercultural Training Seminars, Houston, TX
Resource Consultant (Training Specialist) 2008-9
Training individuals and groups from foreign nations residing in the United States
on various aspects of American cultural and political history
Rice University, Houston, TX
Research Assistant – Dr. John B. Boles 2007-8
Fact-checking collection of essays on Thomas Jefferson
Journal of Southern History
Editing Assistant 2005-7
Fact check submissions to the Journal, submit Book Notes for publication
Editorial Intern - Southern Historical Association (2006)
University of North Texas, Denton, TX
Teaching and Research Assistant 2004-5
Worked in various related capacities for Department of History, History Center,
and History Library; Served as tutor and proctor for department; Held Teaching
Assistant positions for both Texas and U.S. history survey courses
Gainesville Independent School District, Gainesville, TX
Special Education Teacher & TOT (Trainer of Teachers) 2003-4
Taught K-5th grade children with emotional and behavior disabilities in
self-contained classroom; Assisted in teacher education of Texas State Behavior Initiative
Denton High School, Denton, TX
Content Mastery Center 2002–3
Assist high-risk high school students in their successful completion of high school
Related Experience
Pre-Paid Legal service, INc., Albuquerque, NM; Ventura, CA
Regional Vice President 1997-9
Group Training Manager 1998–9
Created and implemented training programs and assessments; Designed targeted marketing programs and leadership systems; Held one-on-one and large, group training sessions in several cities across the United States
Harris Publishing, albuquerque, NM
Corporate Training Manager 1995–6
Responsible for hiring and training 10-15 new employees each week, monitoring
their progress through training program; Oversaw ongoing trainings and new
employee recruitment
Computer Options, Ada, OK
Office and Sales Manager 1992–4
Supervise all employees, handle accounts payable and receivable, oversee advertising,
and implement marketing programs, inventory control, and public training
Los Angeles Times, Ventura County Edition
Consumer marketing and direct client sales 1990–1
Presentations and Papers
“In the Classroom: Easy Tech Resources” Lonestar College, Houston, TX 2009
“Another Way Out: The Black Town Movement, 1870s-1920s” 2009
75th Annual Meeting, Southern Historical Association, Louisville, Kentucky 2009
“Making Your Graduate School Experience Successful” 2009
Eighth Southern Conference on Women’s History, Colombia, South Carolina
“Resistance: African-American Style” Guest speaker for Lonestar College, Houston, TX – Black History Month 2009
“Sex is Work: Scholarship and Historiography in a Moralized Industry” Rice University, Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Graduate Symposium “Bodies of Work/Agents of Change: Interdisciplinary Interventions in the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality” 2008
“Another Way Out: The Black Town Movement, 1870-1920” Paper presented at University of Alabama, Race and Place in the American South Conference 2008
“From Chains to Change: African-American Women’s Roles in Building Community in Cooke County, Texas, 1860-1880” Paper presented at the Texas State Historical Association 110th Annual Meeting 2006
“Strange Bedfellows: The Oklahoma Black Towns and the Klan in the 1920s” Paper presented at the North Texas Regional Conference of Phi Alpha Theta; Awarded Outstanding Presentation in U.S. History 2004
“The History of the Mouth Harp” Presented as Keynote Speaker for Harmonica Organization of Texas 2001
“Sex and Sacrifice: A Tri-Cultural Glance into Ancient Life” Paper presented at Texas Woman’s University Third Annual Student Research and Creative Arts Symposium 2000
Publications
“Preparing for Comprehensive Exams”
Southern Association for Women Historians, ed., Antionette G. Van Zelm, Online Mentoring Toolkit
Book Notes:
Journal of Southern History, Vol. LXXIV, No. 2
"Trumpet Records: Diamonds on Farish Street" by Mare W. Ryan
"Community Memories: A Glimpse of African American Life in Frankfort, Kentucky," Winona Floetcher and Sheila Mason Burton, eds.
Journal of Southern History, Vol. LXXII, No. 4
"Race Work: The Rise of the Civil Rights in the Urban West" by Matthew Whitaker
"South of Main," edited and compiled by Beatrice Hill and Brenda Lee
Journal of Southern History, Vol. LXIII, No. 2
"Fleeing for Freedom: Stones of the Underground Railroad as Told by Levi Coffin and William Still,” edited by George Hendrick and Willene Hendrick
Contributing Writer for Southwest Blues Magazine, since 2000
(Selected Titles)
“The Mother and the Empress: The Story of Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith.”
“The Devil and the Blues”
“The History of the Harmonica”
“Black Towns and the Blues”
Awards
PhD Fellowship, Rice University, Southern History 2005–10
Outstanding Thesis on Oklahoma History, Oklahoma Historical Society 2005
Outstanding Transfer Student Scholarship, Texas Woman’s University 2001
Paul Young Scholarship, Texas Woman’s University 2001-2
Professional Memberships
Ø Southern Historical Association
Ø Southern Association for Women Historians
Ø Phi Alpha Theta
Ø Texas State Historical Association
Ø Oklahoma Historical Society
Ø Urban History Association
Ø Western Historical Association
Ø Western Literary Association
Ø Numerous Local and Political Organizations