ALUMNI STORY: A HISTORIAN REFLECTS ON THE GIFT THAT ROCKFORD GAVE HIM

In September 1963, Charles Russell Branham ‘67/’05 L.H.D, arrived at then-Rockford College as change swept across America. Days prior, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C., following months of violent attacks on civil rights demonstrators in the South.

Branham was one of seven black students in the incoming freshman class. He had earned a full scholarship to attend Rockford after graduating from high school in Memphis, Tennessee. Branham was far from home in more ways than just miles. His high school had been segregated. “I had never spoken to a white person until that first day at Rockford,” he recalled. In his dorm room, Branham had a bed—not a cot like back in Memphis. And on campus, there was beauty in the modern buildings and treelined paths. “It was like heaven,” he recalled.

Four years later, Branham graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Rockford College and went on to earn a Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago, where he was a Ford Foundation Fellow.

For more than five decades, Branham was a professor of history at Chicago State University, Roosevelt University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Northwestern University, and Indiana University Northwest. He served as a Senior Historian at the DuSable Museum of Afro-American History in Chicago and authored publications on African American history and politics. He also won an Emmy Award as the writer, co-producer, and host of “The Black Experience,” the first nationally televised series on African American History. In 2017, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Chicago. Branham credits Rockford with putting him on a path to “a satisfying career devoted to what I am passionate about.” Faculty sparked his passion for history and teaching, especially professors Russell Planck and Gordon Ross. “Both were inspiring in different ways,” Branham said. “They emphasized excellence and exploration, and the community was small enough that you could really get to know people.” A standout memory was a week-long celebration on campus called “Creativity of the Negro.” It featured accomplished African American artists, actors, musicians, writers, and scholars from across the country and world. “They would perform or meet with small groups of students,” Branham said. “Here was this small college introducing African-American art and history as another example of American Genius in a way you wouldn’t find on larger campuses.”

Student life in the dorms offered another kind of education. “Whether it was a late-night card game or sneaking off campus, you learned about the rest of America by meeting students from all over the country. I remember someone putting headphones on me and playing the Beatles. My mind was blown!”

Now retired, Branham lives in Chicago with his wife, Evelyn. He sat on the Rockford College Board of Trustees from 1990 to 1992. In 2005, Rockford University bestowed on him an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

Last February, Branham delivered the keynote address for the Charter Day Convocation to kick off the university’s 175th anniversary. He talked about how his mother sat him down to discuss college. It was expected that Branham and his two sisters would pursue higher education, but he would need a scholarship. His mother, a second-grade teacher, was a single parent. She raised her children to be curious and hard-working.

He said, “The scholarship from Rockford College changed my life. I got an excellent education, was introduced to the world, met lifelong friends, and was inspired to devote my life to teaching others. I am eternally grateful.”