Carter, Gwendolen Margaret, 1906-1991

Professor of political science, Northwestern University.

From the description of Gwendolen Margaret Carter interview summaries, 1973. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 754869983

Gwendolen Carter, who once expressed her sole interest in life as "the world and all it contains," was born in Ontario in 1906. After obtaining her B.A. from the University of Toronto in 1929, she went on to obtain a master's degree at Oxford in 1935 and her Ph. D. at Radcliffe College in 1938. Before coming to Smith College in 1943, she was a lecturer and instructor at McMaster University in Ontario, Wellesley, Harvard, and Tufts, and worked for the Bureau of International Research at Radcliffe College.

Entering Smith as an assistant professor, Carter obtained full professorship in 1951 and held that position until her retirement in 1964, three years after she was made a Sophia Smith Professor. While at Smith she taught within the government department classes such as "Africa, South of the Sahara" and "The Political Structure of Africa." During her first sabbatical year in 1948-1949, Carter toured the British Commonwealth of Nations on visits to representatives of their departments of state, and later that year co-authored Major Foreign Powers, a book about the Commonwealth since the second world war. Several years later, on a leave of absence from Smith, Carter and a student assistant traveled 18,000 miles by car in South Africa doing research for her subsequent book, The Politics of Inequality: South Africa Since 1948, which is her best known work. She published four more books while still at Smith, in addition to a number of journal articles and pamphlets, and gave frequent lectures throughout the United States about the political states of Africa.

Carter was honored by the government of Kenya at its independence celebrations in 1963. The following year she left Smith to head Northwestern University's African Studies Center. By 1968, she had made 16 trips to Africa in 20 years, driven a total of 3,000 miles in the Congo, and authored, co-authored or edited 17 books. Because of the nature of her work, she was banned as an enemy of the state from entering South Africa for eleven years. Carter continued to visit Africa and publish work regarding its political systems throughout most of her life; an interview given in the New York Times in 1987 showed her optimism regarding racial equality in Africa to be undaunted. She died in 1991 at her home in Orange City, Florida at eighty-four years of age.

From the guide to the Gwendolen Margaret Carter Papers RG 42., 1943-1987, (Smith College Archives)

Gwendolen Margaret Carter was born in Hamilton, Ontario in 1906. The daughter of a physician, she completed a B.A. in history at the University of Toronto in 1929. She received a second B.A. from Oxford in 1931 and returned to Hamilton, Ontario to teach at McMaster University until 1935. Carter came to the United States to undertake graduate study at Radcliffe College, where she completed both her M.A. (1936) and Ph.D. (1938) in political science. Naturalized as a US citizen in 1948, she taught political science at Smith College from 1943 to 1964, holding the Sophia Smith chair there from 1961. She was then at Northwestern University from 1964-1974 as Melville J. Herskovits Professor of African Affairs. She taught at Indiana University 1974-1984 and was on faculty at the University of Florida from 1984 until her retirement in 1987.

While Carter's early work focused on European governance, her scholarly attention shifted to Africa following an initial trip to South Africa in 1948. From then on, she specialized in the politics and economy of southern Africa over the course of a career that spanned more than forty years. Carter's many research trips to South Africa culminated in numerous publications, several of which have become classic texts in both political science and African studies. Professor Carter was one of the founders of African Studies in the US and was amongst the most widely known scholars of African affairs in the twentieth century. She was 84 years old when she died at her home in Orange City, Florida on February 20, 1991.

From the description of Gwendolen M. Carter Collection, 1932-1991 (bulk 1970-1987). (University of Florida). WorldCat record id: 70133363

Biographical/Historical Note

Professor of political science, Northwestern University.

From the guide to the Gwendolen Margaret Carter interview summaries, 1973, (Hoover Institution Archives)

Gwendolen Margaret Carter was born in Hamilton, Ontario in 1906. The daughter of a physician, she completed a B.A. in history at the University of Toronto in 1929. She received a second B.A. from Oxford in 1931 and returned to Hamilton, Ontario to teach at McMaster University until 1935.

Carter came to the United States to undertake graduate study at Radcliffe College, where she completed both her M.A. (1936) and Ph.D. (1938) in political science. Naturalized as a US citizen in 1948, she taught political science at Smith College from 1943 to 1964, holding the Sophia Smith chair there from 1961. She was then at Northwestern University from 1964-1974 as Melville J. Herskovits Professor of African Affairs. She taught at Indiana University 1974-1984 and was on faculty at the University of Florida from 1984 until her retirement in 1987.

While Carter's early work focused on European governance, her scholarly attention shifted to Africa following an initial trip to South Africa in 1948. From then on, she specialized in the politics and economy of southern Africa over the course of a career that spanned more than forty years. Carter's many research trips to South Africa culminated in numerous publications, several of which have become classic texts in both political science and African studies. These canonical works, which detail the dynamics of political change in Africa, include: The Politics of Inequality: South Africa Since 1948 (1958); Independence for Africa (1960); South Africa's Transkei: The Politics of Domestic Colonialism (1967); and Which Way is South Africa Going? (1980). She edited several works about Africa, including the four-volume From Protest to Challenge: A Documentary History of African Politics in South Africa 1882-1964 (1972-1977).

Professor Carter was one of the founders of African Studies in the US and was amongst the most widely known scholars of African affairs in the twentieth century. She was 84 years old when she died at her home in Orange City, Florida on February 20, 1991.

From the guide to the Gwendolen M. Carter Collection, 1932-1991, 1970-1987, (Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida)

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, on July 17, 1906, Gwendolen Margaret Carter was the daughter of Charles Carter, a physician, and Nora Ambrose Carter. After she completed a B.A. in history at the University of Toronto in 1929, she attended Oxford. There she received a B.A. in 1931 and, after teaching at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, from 1932 until 1935, an M.A. in 1935.

Carter came to the United States to do graduate work at Radcliffe, where she earned an M.A. (1936) and a Ph.D. (1938), both in political science. She held instructorships at Wellesley and Tufts Colleges before being appointed assistant professor at Smith College in 1943. Smith promoted her to associate professor in 1947 and professor in 1951 and then named her Sophia Smith Professor in 1961. In 1964, Carter was appointed Melville J. Herskovits Professor of African Affairs and Director of the Program of African Studies at Northwestern University, a position she held for a decade.

Carter's early work concentrated on European governments; after doing her dissertation on aspects of the League of Nations, her first book, published in 1947, was The British Commonwealth and International Security. Major Foreign Powers, a text she co-authored with John Herz, has been through several editions. While working on a study of the British Commonwealth after the war, Carter first visited Africa in 1948.

Her scholarly interests immediately turned to that continent, and she returned to South Africa for a yearlong study in 1952. Succeeding trips resulted in a number of publications concerning African affairs, including The Politics of Inequality: South Africa Since 1948 (1958); Independence for Africa (1960); South Africa's Transkei: The Politics of Domestic Colonialism (1967); and Which Way is South Africa Going ? (1980). She edited several works about Africa, including the four-volume From Protest to Challenge: A Documentary History of African Politics in South Africa 1882-1964 (1972-1977).

In addition to receiving Ford and Rockefeller Foundation grants for her work, Carter served on the advisory council of the African Bureau of the Department of State (1862-1967), was a State Department lecturer in Africa in 1966, and directed an Office of Education seminar for American teachers in Africa in 1967. She was active in professional activities, serving as president of the African Studies Association (1958-1959), vice-president of the American Political Science Association (1963-1964), president of the New England Political Science Association (1959-1960), and trustee of the African American Institute (1964). She also served on various boards and committees of these and other organizations.

Carter's awards and honors began in 1935, when she received the George V Medal for Public Service. She also received an achievement award from the American Association of University Women and a medal for distinguished achievement from Radcliffe College, both in 1962, and was named a fellow of the American Academy of Sciences in 1965. She was granted honorary degrees by Wheaton College (1962); Russell Sage College (1963); Western College for Women (1964); Goucher College (1964); Carleton University (1965); McMaster College (1966); Boston University (1966); the University of Toronto (1970); Northwestern University (1977); Smith College (1979); and Stetson University (1981).

After retiring from Northwestern in 1974, Carter (who became a naturalized American citizen in 1948) taught part-time at Indiana University. She was active as a traveler and a scholar until her death in 1990.

From the guide to the Gwendolen M. Carter, (1906-1990) Papers, 1915-1991, (Northwestern University Archives)