Annual UGA Mary Frances Early Lecture
Dean of School of Social Work
to Speak at Annual UGA Mary Frances Early Lecture
As the first African-American student to receive a degree from the University of Georgia, Mary Frances Early was not only blazing a path for herself but for many, many others for years to come.
In honor of Early’s mark on UGA history, the University of Georgia Graduate and Professional Scholars (GAPS) established the Mary Frances Early Lecture Series and is pleased to announce the ninth installment of that series, scheduled for 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15, at the University of Georgia Chapel. Early earned a master’s degree in music education from UGA in 1962 and a specialist degree in 1967.
This year’s lecture, entitled Unfinished Business: 21st Century Civil Rights Movement, will be delivered by civil rights scholar Dr. Maurice Daniels. Daniels is dean and professor of the School of Social Work at the University of Georgia and is both founder and director of The Foot Soldier Project for Civil Rights Studies and Research (FSP). He earned both his master’s of social work and his doctorate in higher education administration from Indiana University.
Since joining UGA’s faculty in 1979, Daniels has held several positions, including assistant to the dean of the Graduate School, director of the Master’s of Social Work program, and associate dean. As director of the U.S. Department of Education-funded Patricia Roberts Harris Fellowship program, Daniels helped the University obtain more than $1.5 million for assistance to graduate students. For more than 10 years he served as advisor to the Graduate and Professional Scholars Organization. Daniels was also a co-founder in 1979 of the University’s Black Faculty and Staff Organization (BFSO) and played a key role in the development of the UGA Institute for African-American Studies, Office of Institutional Diversity and African-American Cultural Center. A
Daniels’ research on civil rights in Georgia has resulted in a book and three public television documentary films about key figures in civil rights in the state of Georgia. He is the author of Horace T. Ward: Desegregation of the University of Georgia, Civil Rights Advocacy, and Jurisprudence. Howard University Press reissued a classic edition of the book in 2004. He is also senior researcher and executive producer of the award-winning public television documentaries "Foot Soldier for Equal Justice” and "Hamilton Earl Holmes: The Legacy Continues.” Daniels and FSP researchers are currently completing a documentary film that chronicles the life of legendary civil rights figure Donald L. Hollowell.
In 2004, Daniels received the Outstanding Research Award from the School of Social Work and in 2002 he was selected as the first UGA faculty member to deliver the annual Holmes-Hunter lecture. In 2000, he partnered with Graduate and Professional Scholars to create the inaugural lecture series honoring Early.
As the keynote speaker of the May 2007 UGA Graduate School commencement address, Early credits Daniels as the first person affiliated with UGA who reached out to her 30 years after she received her degree.
“I returned to campus in 1964 to work toward a specialist degree because there were still very few African-Americans on campus. I received that degree in 1967. After that time, I heard nothing from the University of Georgia. It was as though I had never attended,” Early said in her commencement address. “In 1997, I was contacted by Dr. Maurice Daniels, then professor in the School of Social Work—now Dean of the School of Social Work. Dr. Daniels was doing research for his outstanding documentary and book: Foot Soldier for Equal Justice: The Story of Horace T. Ward. After 30 years of feeling like an invisible alumna as far as UGA was concerned—I had been discovered.”
In addition to his scholarly work, Daniels is co-founder of Athens Area Habitat for Humanity and is active in civil rights and social reform organizations such as the NAACP, where he serves as a life member.
Graduate and Professional Scholars (GAPS) was founded in 1984 to support underrepresented minority graduate and professional students on the University of Georgia campus. For more information about GAPS and the Mary Frances Early Lecture please contact Robert Bryant by phone at 706-542-5437, by email at gaps@uga.edu or visit our web site www.uga.edu/gaps.
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