Peggie J. Hollingsworth papers, 1976-2006 (majority within 1980-1997)

Summary

Creator:

Hollingsworth, Peggie J.

Abstract:

University of Michigan Assistant Research Scientist Emerita. Throughout her career, she was dedicated to the recruitment and retention of students and faculty of color, equal pay for female faculty and faculty of color, and was instrumental in establishing the U-M Academic Freedom Lecture series. The collection includes incoming and outgoing correspondence, committee communications and memoranda, Hollingsworth's notes, reports, agenda and minutes of meetings, conference materials, and clippings of articles.

Extent:

4 linear feet

Language:

English

Call Number:

2020002 Aa 2

Authors:

Finding aid created by Olga Virakhovskaya in February 2020.

Background

Scope and Content:

Materials created and collected by Dr. Hollingsworth during her career at the University of Michigan. Records reflect the important role Hollingsworth played in university's efforts to attract and retain students and faculty from historically underrepresented and marginalized groups, her dedication to the cause of equal compensation for university women faculty and staff, and to the issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Biographical / Historical:

Dr. Peggie J. Hollingsworth received a B.S. in biology and chemistry from the University of Toledo (1959) and an M.A. in molecular biology from Bowling Green State University (1970). She received her Ph.D. in toxicology from the University of Michigan in 1982. As a scientist, she worked in the area of substance abuse.

Throughout her career, Hollingsworth was dedicated to the recruitment and retention of students and faculty from historically underrepresented and marginalized groups, and equal pay for female faculty members and faculty of color. She was a mentor and advocate for women and community members of color on campus, faculty rights, and academic freedom. Hollingsworth was instrumental in establishing the U-M Academic Freedom Lecture series.

Hollingsworth joined the U-M faculty as a research investigator in the Department of Pharmacology in 1982. The following year, she became assistant research scientist in pharmacology. Beginning 1985, in addition to her work in pharmacology, she was assistant research scientist in environmental and industrial health. From 1983 to 1994, Hollingsworth also served as assistant research scientist in the Toxicology Research Labs in the U-M School of Public Health. In 1992, and again in 1994, Hollingsworth was a visiting scientist at Hokkaido University Medical School in Sapporo, Japan.

Hollingsworth was faculty advisor and served as an Assistant Director of the Program in Scholarly Research for Urban/Minority High School Students in Detroit. The Program launched in 1980 as the Renaissance High Project, the cooperative venture between the Detroit Public School System and the U-M. Billy Joe Evans, U-M chemistry professor, conceived and led the program. The program prepared high school students with high promise for careers as scholars in their chosen areas of interest. The project encouraged, built-upon, and supplemented the efforts of high school faculty and students by bringing a broad spectrum of curricular and extra-curricular activities to students who anticipate further studies in higher education.

In 1986-1987, Hollingsworth chaired the U-M Minority Student Recruitment and Retention in Health and Biological Task Force. The Task Force was established by the Vice-Provost for Medical Affairs and the Deans of the College of Pharmacy and the Schools of Dentistry, Public Health, Medicine and Nursing. The purpose of the Task Force was to study and make recommendations with regard to the recruitment and retention of students of color in those divisions of the U-M concerned with health and biological sciences. The members of the Task Force came from the College of Pharmacy; the Schools of Dentistry, Public Health, Medicine and Nursing; the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies; the College of Literature, Arts & Sciences; and from the central administration. The Task Force sub-committees dealt specifically with the individual subjects of recruitment, retention, special enrichment programs, finance and program evaluation and data management. The Task Force final report, submitted to the Vice-President for Medical Affairs in December 1987, reviewed the problems associated with the recruitment and retention of students of color in the health and biological sciences, and outlined a series of suggested goals and objectives.

After serving for one year on the U-M Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs (SACUA), the executive arm of the University Senate and of the Senate Assembly, Hollingsworth was elected the 1990-1991 SACUA chair. She was instrumental in establishing the annual Academic Freedom Lecture series that honors three U-M faculty members who, in 1954, refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee and were thereafter suspended or dismissed by the university. The first Davis, Markert, Nickerson Lecture was given on February 18, 1991. Hollingsworth edited "Unfettered Expression: Freedom in American Intellectual Life" (The University of Michigan Press, 2000), a compilation of lectures about academic freedom that were presented at the University of Michigan between 1991 and 1999. During her tenure as SACUA chairperson, Hollingsworth also took efforts to better publicize the U-M faculty's role throughout the state. A faculty committee was formed to advise the administration about the faculty's public service.

Throughout her university career, Hollingsworth was actively involved with and/or led a number of U-M faculty organizations and committees: the Academic Women's Caucus; Women's Research Club; Women In Science; Minority Student Recruitment Initiative in Health and Biological Sciences (chair); Science Research Club (president); Committee on the Economic Status of the Faculty; the Medical School Advisory Committee on Primary Research Appointments, Promotions and Titles; the Financial Aid Advisory Committee; the Presidential Search Faculty Advisory Committee; the Screening Committee for the Director of the Division of Research Development and Administration; Council of Alumni Societies (SACUA Representative); among others.

She was also involved in the University of Michigan's chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society. In addition to participating in the chapter's various committees and as president of the university's chapter (1988-1990), she was also involved in Sigma Xi's national organization. Notably, Hollingsworth served as the national organization's president from 1999-2000. She was the first female African American president of the honor society.

Hollingsworth was among the recipients of the 1990 Academic Women's Caucus Sarah Goddard Power Award, presented to distinguished women of the U-M community for "significant achievement in contributing to the betterment of current challenges faced by women in distinguished leadership, scholarship, [and] other activities related to their professional lives" (U-M Center for the Education of Women website, accessed February 2020). In 1992, she received the Association of Black Professionals and Administrators special award. In 1995, Hollingsworth received the Distinguished Faculty Governance Award. She was a National Institute of Health Fellow, a National Science Foundation Fellow, and member of the Sigma Xi National Council.

Hollingsworth retired from the University of Michigan in 1999. In 2001, the Board of Regents named her Assistant Research Scientist Emerita.

Acquisition Information:

Donated by Peggie J. Hollingsworth (donor no. 11528 ) in two accessions in 2016.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into five series: 1. Alumni Association; 2. Minority Student Recruitment and Retention in Health and Biological Sciences Task Force; 3. Program in Scholarly Research for Urban/Minority High School Students; 4. Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs; 5. Topical Files.

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Related

Additional Descriptive Data:

Related Materials

The Bentley Historical Library houses the following related collections: Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs (University of Michigan) records; Academic Women's Caucus (University of Michigan) records; Science Research Club records; Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, University of Michigan Chapter records.

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

African American scientists -- Michigan -- Ann Arbor.
High school students -- Michigan -- Detroit.
Minority college students -- Michigan -- Ann Arbor.
Minority high school students -- Michigan -- Detroit.
Scientists -- Recruiting -- Michigan -- Ann Arbor.
Women scientists -- Michigan -- Ann Arbor.

Formats:

Sound recordings.
Video recordings.

Names:

University of Michigan -- Alumni and alumnae.
University of Michigan. Alumni Association.
University of Michigan. Department of Pharmacology -- Faculty.
University of Michigan -- Employees.
University of Michigan -- Faculty.
University of Michigan. Minority Student Recruitment and Retention in Health and Biological Sciences Task Force.
University of Michigan. Program in Scholarly Research for Urban/Minority High School Students.
University of Michigan. Senate. Advisory Committee on University Affairs.
Hollingsworth, Peggie J.
Hodapp, William J.