Irma McClaurin ’73, DSS ’23

One of Irma McClaurin’s most treasured possessions is a set of slightly tattered volumes of poetry she wrote as a child. “My mother saved them,” she says. “I thought they’d been lost.”
McClaurin says the books illustrate how the ephemera of our lives are often worth preserving.

In February, McClaurin visited Grinnell as a Mellon Foundation Humanities in Action alumna scholar in residence. She delivered a Scholars’ Convocation, led a Community Friday seminar, made in-class presentations, and more.

McClaurin also collaborated with students to envision plans for a possible future archive of the Black Experience at Grinnell. In 2016, she established the Black Feminist Archives at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, which includes her own archives.

“There is an urgent need to lift up Black women,” McClaurin writes. “This act of preserving Black women’s lives is the responsibility of all of us, if we desire a complete history that will reflect the full range of the events and people who have shaped this country.”

Originally from Chicago, McClaurin graduated from Grinnell with a degree in American studies. She later earned MFA (English/creative writing), MA, and PhD degrees (both in anthropology) from the University of Massachusetts. Grinnell honored McClaurin with an honorary Doctor of Social Studies degree and an Alumni Award in 2023.

An acclaimed poet, during her career McClaurin also held faculty positions at Grinnell and two other universities (both tenured) and served as president of Shaw University. Other roles have included Black feminist activist, philanthropist, consultant, federal employee, and chief diversity officer.

“I’m hoping that what I start here, which is documenting and excavating the Black Experience at Grinnell, becomes a real thing that is tangible so that I can say, ‘Well, I helped to get that started. That came out of the work that I was doing as part of my presence on campus.’”