Daryl Cumber Dance (born January 17, 1938) is an American academic best known for her work on black folklore.

Biography

Daryl Veronica Cumber was born in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, to Allen and Veronica Bell Cumber. She attended Ruthville High School in Ruthville, Virginia, and earned a bachelor's degree in English from

Virginia State College Virginia State University (VSU or Virginia State) is a public historically Black land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia. Founded on , Virginia State developed as the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of high ...

in 1957. She then taught at Armstrong High School in Richmond until 1962, when she returned to Virginia State College as an instructor. The next year, she completed a master's degree from Virginia State. In 1971, she graduated from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

with a doctorate in English, and was named an assistant professor at Virginia State. She taught at

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...

between 1972 and 1993, when she joined the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

faculty. In 2013, she was appointed Sterling A. Brown Professor of English at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

. Dance has served as advisory editor of the ''Black American Literary Forum'' and editorial advisor of the ''Journal of West Indian Literature''.

Works

*''Shuckin' and Jivin': Folklore from Contemporary Black Americans'' (1978) *''Folklore from Contemporary Jamaicans'' (1985) *''Fifty Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook'' (1986) *''Long Gone: The Mecklenburg Six and the Theme of Escape in Black Folklore'' (1987) *''New World Adams: Conversations With Contemporary West Indian Writers'' (1992) *''Honey, Hush!: An Anthology of African American Women's Humor'' (1998) *''From My People: 400 Years of African American Folklore'' (2002) *''In Search of Annie Drew: Jamaica Kincaid's Mother and Muse'' (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dance, Daryl Cumber 1938 births Living people American women academics African-American academics People from Richmond, Virginia Virginia State University alumni University of Virginia alumni Howard University faculty University of Richmond faculty Virginia State University faculty Black studies scholars 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women