By Tracy MacKay-Ratliff
Just in time for Shirley Chisholm’s Centennial Birthday Celebration this November 2024, LibraryPress@UF (LP@UF) partnered with Kathleen Benson Haskins to re-release Fighting Shirley Chisholm, originally published in 1975, by award-winning author and University of Florida Professor Emeritus Dr. James S. Haskins (d. 2005). This LP@UF publication features a new preface by Kathleen Haskins, spouse to James Haskins, and an introduction that reflects on the work and offers context for student and scholar audiences by the Director of The Shirley Chisholm Project, Zinga A. Fraser. This publishing partnership retains the integrity of the original works while taking advantage of new scholarship and digital resources unavailable when they were first published.
Shirley Chisholm’s dynamism, intellect, and devotion led her to become the first Black congresswoman and Black woman to run for the presidential nomination. In this carefully woven story, James Haskins tells Shirley Chisholm’s story from childhood to her phenomenally positive impact for her communities and the world.
James Haskins was a prolific author and scholar, writing more than one hundred books for adults and children. Often coauthored with spouse Kathleen Haskins, these titles focused on topics ranging from biography to history, music to language, most centering around the experiences and achievements of African Americans.
Learn more about his work by visiting the James Haskins Collection at UF Smathers Libraries (https://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/haskins). The collection includes over 3,000 books, manuscripts, and papers.
LibraryPress@UF is excited to re-release this and other James Haskins titles through the Smathers Libraries UF Digital Collections (https://ufdc.ufl.edu). This series, which includes The Cotton Club, Barbara Jordan, and Scott Joplin: The Man Who Made Ragtime, is open access, free to download in Fall 2024. Please visit the LP@UF website for updates and other featured publications – go.ufl.edu/librarypress.
Fighting Shirley Chisholm is in paperback for purchase through UF Press at https://upf.com/book.asp?id=9781944455309. ISBN: 9781944455309.