Dr. Daphne Chamberlain is a native of Columbus, Mississippi. Sitting at the feet of her grandparents, she gained a wealth of knowledge on the black experience in Mississippi under the system of Jim Crow. At the age of 9 or 10, her eyes confirmed what her ears had only heard after reading an anniversary edition of Jet magazine, which featured a story on the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till. Learning about Till was one of many events that solidified her passion for history and desire to change to world.
Dr. Chamberlain attended historic Tougaloo College where she completed her undergraduate studies in History in 2001, and she subsequently received her Master’s and Ph.D. in History from the University of Mississippi. Before returning to Tougaloo as a faculty member, Dr. Chamberlain taught History and African American Studies at the University of Mississippi and was also the founding Director of the COFO Civil Rights Education Center at Jackson State University.
Dr. Chamberlain serves on the boards of several social justice non-profit organizations, has served in the planning of several national and local civil rights commemorations, served as a scholar-consultant to several history documentaries and also to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, and has been invited to present her research across the country. One of her favorite quotes is that of human rights activist Nelson Mandela: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” This quote has become a central part of the work she has done inside and outside the classroom, incorporating it into the work she has done at the COFO Center, with youths in the community, and now with students at Tougaloo College – the “Cradle of the Civil Rights Movement.”
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