Cassandra
Newby-Alexander
Dr.
Cassandra Newby-Alexander has always tried to integrate
teaching, research, and public service in the greater
service of learning. Her philosophy about teaching
is best stated by writer Robert Hutchins: “It
must be remembered that thepurpose of education
is not to fill the minds of students with facts...
it is to teach
them to think, if that is possible, and always to
think for themselves.”
Norfolk,
Virginia native Cassandra Newby-Alexander received
her B.A. from the University of Virginia and her
Ph.D. from the College of William and Mary in May
1992. Since then she has focused much of her research
and writing on the history of African Americans
in Virginia. Her publications have appeared in edited
books and major biographical series, such as the
Dictionary of Virginia Biography.
Her co-authored books, Black America Series:
Portsmouth (2003) and Hampton Roads: Remembering
Our Schools (2009), were the first to examine
the history of African Americans in Portsmouth and
the emergence of public schools in the Norfolk area.
She also co-edited a book based on a democracy conference
held at Norfolk State University during the 400th
Anniversary of the nation’s founding entitled,
Voices from Within the Veil: African Americans
and the Experience of Democracy (2008).
Currently,
Dr. Newby-Alexander is working with two other historians
on a city-commissioned history of African Americans
in Norfolk, Virginia entitled, I Too, Sing Norfolk
(anticipated publication in late 2009). Her next
project, which will be the first one to examine
the Underground Railroad in Virginia, is tentatively
entitled “Waterways to Freedom: Virginia
and the Underground Railroad.” This project
will connect with a March 2009 workshop that focuses
on the Underground Railroad in Hampton Roads, sponsored
by Norfolk State University and the National Underground
Railroad Network to Freedom.
Shortly
after Newby-Alexander joined the faculty at Norfolk
State University (NSU) in 1992, she was selected
for “Who’s Who Among America’s
Teachers.” In the year 2000, she was awarded
Multiple Year Honoree for “Who’s Who,”
which she has received each year since. Moreover,
in 2005 she was selected by American Legacy magazine
as one of the nation’s top teachers in African
American history at a Historically Black College
or University (HBCU).
Since
arriving at NSU, Dr. Newby-Alexander has been a
pioneer in the application of technology to the
teaching history. From 1993 to 1995, she cocreated
televised courses for African American and American
History surveys. In 1999, she created the digitally-based
history project, “Race, Time, and Place:
African Americans in Tidewater Virginia.”
To enhance her research interests and university
service to students, Newby-Alexander has received
grants totaling over $250,000. She is also working
as the oral historian for the Supreme Court of Virginia,
documenting the history of the court’s retired
justices and lawyers who played roles in the evolution
of the court and Virginia’s judicial history
in the 20th century.
In
addition to her grant and scholarly activities,
she is civically active, serving on numerous community
boards (including the Virginia Foundation for the
Humanities, the Historical Commission of the Supreme
Court of Virginia, and the Norfolk Sister City Association),
making historical presentations to local schools
and community organizations, and appearing on local
television and radio programming about the United
States, Hampton Roads, and local African American
history.
