Shirley Wilson Logan

Shirley Wilson Logan
OccupationEnglish Professor
Academic background
EducationUniversity of Maryland College Park
Alma materUniversity of Maryland College Park

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Johnson C. Smith University
InfluencesKarlyn Kohrs Campbell, Hazel Carby, Frances Smith Foster, Sharon Harley, Lillian O'Connor, Nell Parker, Mary Helen Washington
Academic work
DisciplineRhetoric
InstitutionsUniversity of Maryland College Park
Main interestsNineteenth-Century African American Women's Rhetoric

Shirley Wilson Logan is a scholar of African American women's rhetoric, particularly from the nineteenth century.[1] She served as president of the Coalition of Women Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition from 1998 to 2000.[2] She also served as chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication in 2003.[3] In addition to these positions, Logan has served on the editorial board of College Composition and Communication, Rhetoric Review, and Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers.[1] The Shirley Wilson Logan Diversity Scholarship is named in her honor.[4]

Biography

Logan grew up in South Carolina.[5] She attended Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina for her bachelor's degree.[5] After graduation, she received her masters degree the University of North Carolina with a thesis on Richard Wright.[5] She obtained a doctoral degree from the University of Maryland in Curriculum and Instruction in 1988.[5] Logan began working as Assistant Director of the University of Maryland Professional Writing Program, then transitioned into the main director role.[5] She would go on to serve as the Director of Professional Writing for seven years.[5] Logan published key articles and monographs establishing African American women's rhetoric as a field, writing on Ida B. Wells, Anna Julia Cooper, Victoria Matthews, and Frances Harper, raising awareness of the contributions of these women to rhetorical theory, practice, and pedagogy.[1][5] She served as president of the Coalition of Women Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition from 1998 to 2000.[2] Logan also served as chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication in 2003.[3] Later, she co-chaired the 2014 Maryland Conference on Academic and Professional Writing.[1]

Selected works

  • With Pen and Voice: A Critical Anthology of Nineteenth-Century African American Women (1995)
  • "We Are Coming": The Persuasive Discourse of Nineteenth-Century Black Women (1999)
  • Liberating Language: Sites of Rhetorical Education in Nineteenth-Century Black America (2008)
  • (with Wayne H. Slater) Academic and Professional Writing in an Age of Accountability (2018)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Shirley Wilson Logan | Department of English". english.umd.edu. Retrieved 2026-01-30.
  2. ^ a b "About Us – CFSHRC". Retrieved 2026-01-30.
  3. ^ a b ksuchor (2018-06-06). "CCCC Chairs". Conference on College Composition and Communication. Retrieved 2026-01-30.
  4. ^ "Awards – CFSHRC". Retrieved 2026-01-30.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "An Interview with Shirley Wilson Logan". www.compositionforum.com. Retrieved 2026-01-30.