Josephine Rosa Beatrice Wright (born September 5, 1942) is an American

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

, recognized for her contributions to the study of

African-American music African-American music is an umbrella term covering a diverse range of music and musical genres largely developed by African Americans and their culture. Their origins are in musical forms that first came to be due to the condition of slaver ...

and

women in music Women in music include women as composers, songwriters, instrumental performers, singers, conductors, music scholars, music educators, music critics/music journalists, and in other musical professions. Also, it describes music movements (e. ...

. Since 1981, she has been a professor of music and the Josephine Lincoln Morris Professor of Black Studies at the

College of Wooster The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian Church as the University of Wooster, it has been officially non-sectarian since 1969 when ownership ties with the Presbyterian Church ...

in Ohio. In 2015, she was presented the

Society for American Music The Society for American Music (SAM) was founded in 1975 and was first named the Sonneck Society in honor of Oscar George Theodore Sonneck, early Chief of the Music Division in the Library of Congress and pioneer scholar of American music. The S ...

's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Biography

Wright was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, Michigan, in 1942. She earned a bachelor's degree in music from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

, a master's degree in music from Pius XII Academy in Florence, a master's degree in music from the University of Missouri, and a doctoral degree in historical musicology from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

. She was the second African American to earn a doctorate in music, after Eileen Southern, her mentor and collaborator. Wright served as an assistant professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

's Department of Afro-American studies from 1976 to 1981. In 1981, she file a suit against Harvard with the

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...

, accusing the institution of race and gender discrimination. That year, she joined the faculty at the College of Wooster, where she was named a professor of music and Josephine Lincoln Morris Professor of Black Studies. As of 2020, she continued to hold this position. Wright is recognized as an expert in African-American music, women in music, black women's history, and Western music history. With Eileen Southern, she co-authored ''African-American Traditions in Song, Sermon, Tale, and Dance, 1600s-1920'' (1990) and ''Images: Iconography of Music in African-American Culture, 1770s-1920s'' (2000). Wright served as editor of '' American Music'' from 1994 to 1997. In 1997, she was named to the national artistic directorate of the

American Classical Music Hall of Fame and Museum The American Classical Music Hall of Fame and Museum is a non-profit organization celebrating past and present individuals and institutions that have made significant contributions to classical music—"people who have contributed to American musi ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. In 2015, the

presented Wright with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2019, she was elected an honorary member of the

American Musicological Society The American Musicological Society (AMS) is a musicological organization which researches, promotes and produces publications on music. Founded in 1934, the AMS was begun by leading American musicologists of the time, and was crucial in legitim ...

"as a pioneer in the study and teaching of women's and African-Americans' participation in musical life."

Selected works

Books

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Book chapters

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Journal articles

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Josephine 1942 births Living people University of Missouri alumni New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science alumni Harvard University faculty College of Wooster faculty American musicologists African-American women academics American women academics 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women