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Creator
Seraile, William, 1941-
Call number
Sc MG 993
Physical description
38.42 linear feet (94 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
[Item], William Seraile papers, Sc MG 993, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

William Seraile (born 1941) is a noted African American historian, pedagogue, writer, and community activist who was one of the earliest scholars to teach African American history within an academic department focused on Black studies. Seraile played a large role in the establishment of Herbert H. Lehman College's Black Studies department, and taught there for 36 years. His papers, dating from 1905 to 2025 (the bulk date from 1956 to 2024), document his academic career, research, writings, activism, and family through correspondence, research files, writings, clippings, flyers, family papers, scrapbooks, journals, posters, and literature and mailings from multiple community and political organizations and activist groups.

Biographical/historical information

William Seraile (born 1941) is a noted African American historian, pedagogue, writer, and community activist who was one of the earliest scholars to teach African American history within an academic department focused on Black studies.

Seraile was born in New Orleans, Louisiana as one of seven children, but his family moved to Washington state and he grew up primarily in and around Seattle. He graduated from Garfield High School in Seattle (1959), and received a Bachelor of Arts in social science from Central Washington University (1963).

Following his graduation, Seraile volunteered as a teacher with the Peace Corps in northern Ethiopia from 1963 to 1965 (his twin brother Wilfred ("Dick," 1941-1984) served with the Peace Corps in Liberia from 1964 to 1966). Seraile's experience in Ethiopia inspired him to want to learn more about African and African American history. After his return to the United States, he moved to New York City and earned a Master of Arts in history from Columbia University Teachers College (1967). Seraile then volunteered to teach English with International Voluntary Services in Cần Thơ, South Vietnam (1967-1968), an assignment cut short by the Tet offensive. Seraile met and befriended the writer John Balaban during his Vietnam service.

Returning to New York, Seraile taught history and worked for the textbook publisher Silver Burdett; he was later a consultant for textbooks and other educational products regarding Black history, advising or writing for the American Book Company, Litton Educational Publishing, and the Anti-Defamation League.

In 1971, Seraile quit his job at Silver Burdett to accept a lecturer position on the faculty of Herbert H. Lehman College, City University of New York (CUNY), working in what would become the Black Studies department (now Africana Studies). The following year, he entered the CUNY Graduate Center, earning his Ph.D in American history in 1977. His dissertation was on the New York State Black regiments that fought in the Civil War, which later became the topic of his last book.

Seraile played a large part in establishing the Black Studies curriculum at Lehman, creating and teaching several courses, such as History of African Americans, the Harlem Renaissance, the 1960s, Blacks in Politics, the Civil Rights Movement, and Black Nationalism. In the early-1990s, following the discovery of the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan, he headed Lehman's African Burial Ground Steering Committee, as well as its Genesis Project, which supported research, education, and community outreach related to the burial ground. Seraile was a popular instructor at Lehman, and was the first Black faculty member to receive the college's Teacher of the Year award in 1991. He was eventually promoted to full professor and retired to the rank of Professor Emeritus in 2007.

Seraile's published books include Voice of Dissent: Theophilus Gould Steward and Black America (1991); Fire In His Heart: Bishop Benjamin Tucker Tanner and the A.M.E. Church (1999); Bruce Grit: The Black Nationalist Writings of John Edward Bruce (2003); Angels of Mercy: White Women and the History of New York's Colored Orphan Asylum (2011); and New York's Black Regiments During the Civil War (2019). He also authored many articles for both academic journals and lay publications on African American people, issues, and historical topics, as well as book reviews. These articles appeared in venues such as Black World, Essence, Encore, The Journal of American History, Pennsylvania History, Big Red News, the New York Amsterdam News, and the New York Historical Society Quarterly.

In addition to his career at Lehman, Seraile advised the Schomburg Center on acquisitions and served on the board of the Schomburg Corporation as historian and archivist. He was also a consultant to the New York public schools and to various community groups in New York City. His long-standing concern was the lack of curricula in the school system regarding African American history. Seraile lectured at public events and libraries, often for the Manhattan branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). He also served as the vice-president of the Manhattan branch of ASALH and president of the Area Council of the New Jersey-New York branches. Other groups with whom he was active include the Association of Black Educators of New York, the Committee to Eliminate Media Offensive to Black People (CEMOTAP), and the progressive New Alliance party. Seraile served on the party's Mid-Atlantic Steering Committee and ran on the New Alliance ticket against Congressman Charlie Rangel in the 1986 election. He appeared frequently as a guest on WLIB radio in New York in the 1980s, and hosted television programs on African American history and culture for New York City local cable outlets.

In addition to Lehman's Teacher of the Year honor, Seraile's many awards include the ASALH Award for "Unsung Historian" (1983), the Marcus Garvey Memorial Foundation-Carter G. Woodson-William Leo Hansberry Award for contributions in history (1989), Central Washington University's Outstanding Alumni award (2009), the ASALH Carter G. Woodson Scholars Medallion (2017), and the Graduate Center Service to City University of New York Alumni Achievement Award (2017).

Seraile was married to Janette Grey Seraile (1945-2011), an attorney, from 1970 until her death from cancer. He lives in Harlem, New York.

Scope and arrangement

The William Seraile papers, dating from 1905 to 2025 (bulk dates 1956-2024) document the academic career, research, writings, activism, and family of the historian, pedagogue, and activist. The largest portions of the collection consist of correspondence and promotional literature, and subject files covering his career as an academic and his involvement in community matters, politics, and local history. The collection also details the research and writing of Seraile's books and articles, and his experiences volunteering in the 1960s in Ethiopia and Vietnam. The papers comprise correspondence, research files, writings, clippings, flyers, family papers, scrapbooks, journals, posters, and literature and mailings from multiple community and political organizations and activist groups.

The William Seraile papers are arranged in five series:

  • Series I: Subject Files
    1959-2025

    The Subject Files document many aspects of Seraile's career, including his teaching at Lehman College, involvement with the New Alliance party, work with the Schomburg Center, and activities with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). It also holds personal files documenting his continued involvement with his alma maters Garfield High School, Central Washington University, and the CUNY Graduate Center, as well as biographical information, awards, and posters. The largest file sets in the series are devoted to CUNY/Lehman College, ASALH, and the New Alliance party. The series also contains Seraile's correspondence with incarcerated individuals.

    The CUNY/Lehman files contain administrative and faculty correspondence and memos; correspondence with students, former students, and alumni; departmental and other meeting minutes; course information, syllabi, and assignments; and flyers, programs, announcements, invitations, publications, and other literature, including those announcing lectures or events featuring Seraile.

    The ASALH files contain meeting minutes, correspondence with other members regarding events and activities, programs, flyers, and other literature produced by the organization.

    The New Alliance files cover the activities of the party from the mid-1980s to the early-1990s, its organizing for elections in 1984, 1986, and 1988, and Seraile's 1986 congressional campaign. The files hold press releases, correspondence, memos, flyers, posters, programs, clippings, and issues of the party newspaper, The National Alliance. The files for Seraile's 1986 campaign hold fundraising solicitations and donation logs; and letters, flyers, clippings, Seraile's notes, and official election documents regarding his candidacy.

    Seraile was concerned with conditions in prisons and maintained a file documenting them through flyers and literature. He also corresponded with several incarcerated individuals at the Federal Correctional Institution in Ottisville, New York, and some of those letters are present here. All this material is filed under Prisons and Incarcerated Individuals.

    The Schomburg Center and Schomburg Corporation files hold meeting minutes, correspondence, programs, and flyers for Schomburg events.

    There are two research-related files in this series. One is on Susan McKinney Steward, a highly-regarded 19th-century New York physician, and the wife of Theophilus Gould Steward; the other is on George Washington Williams, a 19th-century soldier, minister, politician, lawyer, and journalist. Other research files are in Series II.

    Other organizational files include those for the Committee to Eliminate Media Offensive to Black People (CEMOTAP), which holds flyers, correspondence and programs; Children's Art Carnival, a non-profit for which Seraile volunteered; and Landmarks Harlem, Inc.

    The files for Garfield High School and Central Washington University cover alumni reunions and honors, as well as a scholarship program at Central Washington funded by Seraile. The biographical file holds resumes, curricula vitae, autobiographical notes, family notes, school transcripts, passports, clippings, and identification cards. The posters push various organizational, social, and political campaigns, such as the New Alliance party, Lenora Fulani, Jesse Jackson, and Barack Obama.

  • Series II: Writings
    1953, 1971-2023

    Series II documents Seraile's published academic research and lay writings through manuscripts, drafts, finished articles, research materials, correspondence, publication files, reviews of his books, and other contextual and related material.

    The articles and lectures hold some of Seraile's earliest publications as well as articles from throughout his academic career, including many topics that were not large enough for a book. These include an unpublished article on Marcus Garvey's anti-Semitic views; articles on the labor organizer Ben Fletcher, Black American missionaries in Africa, several Civil War-related topics, Black critical reaction to the Korean War, and a comparison of the views of David Walker and Malcolm X. Unless noted otherwise, all the articles and lectures are by Seraile.

    Seraile's lay articles include many he wrote for Black-interest publications, such as the newspapers Big Red News, The City Sun, and the New York Amsterdam News; and for magazines such as Black World, Essence, and Encore.

    The book reviews include both published pieces and those written for peer-review purposes only. The published reviews appear in academic and historical journals such as The Journal of American History, Afro-Americans in New York Life and History, and The New England Quarterly.

    Each of Seraile's five books has documentation here, but not all have his research files. (See the Related Materials note regarding his research files on Theophilus Gould Steward, held separately by the Schomburg Center.) The book with the most content is Angels of Mercy: White Women and the History of New York's Colored Orphan Asylum, but all the book files have correspondence regarding various aspects of Seraile's research, writing, and publication process. Manuscript drafts are present for Angels of Mercy, Bruce Grit, and Fire in His Heart.

  • Series III: Ethiopia and Vietnam Volunteering Files
    1962-2024

    Series III covers Seraile's volunteer service in Mekele, Ethiopia and Cần Thơ, South Vietnam through Peace Corps and International Voluntary Services (IVS) documents and correspondence; identification cards; paper copies of photographs; correspondence with fellow alumni of the Peace Corps and IVS; newsletters from alumni organizations; clippings; publications; and Seraile's writings about his experiences in both nations. The files from later years are primarily correspondence with other alumni. The alumni correspondence and literature often discuss reunions, some of which Seraile attended.

    The papers regarding Ethiopia include an essay about Seraile's meeting the Emperor Haile Selassie during his service, and paper copies of photographs of that meeting. The Vietnam files include Seraile's correspondence over many years with the writer John Balaban, who became a close friend of Seraile's, as well as writings by Seraile and Balaban about the IVS experience within the greater context of the Vietnam War. One of Seraile's essays is titled "Disillusion in the Delta."

    The Vietnam files also hold a transcript of an oral history conducted with Seraile in which he discusses the IVS experience, as well as his life prior to going to Vietnam. The publications include a book or pamphlet in Vietnamese, and a book about the history of IVS, with Seraile's notes.

  • Series IV: Correspondence and Promotional Literature
    1970-2025

    Series IV contains letters from some of the persons or organizations that appear in Series I, and many more. The letters are interspersed with hundreds of mailings, flyers, publications, clippings, and other literature from a wide range of African American community and cultural organizations and political entities in the New York City metropolitan area, offering a wide view of the events and issues in which Seraile was interested. Some letters or items contain Seraile's retrospective notes providing contextual information or dates. Many flyers advertise lectures or panel discussions featuring Seraile. The letters often consist only of acknowledgements of monetary contributions and memberships, but can also include occasional correspondence regarding an event or issue. This series is best accessed by browsing, as it is minimally arranged. A few scholarly correspondents have folders of their own at the top of the series.

  • Series V: Family Papers and Personal Files
    1905-2025

    Series V holds some of Seraile's personal files, and correspondence, official documents, and other documentation regarding his wife (Janette Grey Seraile), parents, grandparents, siblings, children, and other members of the extended Seraile and Grey families.

    Seraile's personal files consist of his journals from 1989 to 2025, and scrapbooks covering his high school and college life. One of the scrapbooks is devoted to his baseball career in high school and college, and includes clippings, photographs, and other memorabilia. Also present is an analysis of Seraile's genetic ancestry from the company 23andMe. See Series I for more files regarding Garfield High School and Central Washington University.

    Files regarding Janette Grey Seraile include clippings; correspondence between her and William Seraile, as well as other Grey relatives; obituaries; the guest book for her funeral; condolence letters and cards; and an autograph book belonging to her father, Maurice Grey, dating to his school days. Clippings and obituaries discuss her career in real estate law.

    Other family members with correspondence and documentation include Seraile's parents, in particular his father, Octave Seraile Sr., his later life, and estate; William Seraile's two children and grandchildren; and his siblings and their children. There are a few documents regarding his grandparents, dating back to 1905.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by William Seraile in 2020 and 2025.

Processing information

Processed by Matthew Snyder in 2025.

Separated material

See the Photographs and Prints Division for the William Seraile photographs, Sc Photo William Seraile Collection.

See the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division for audio and moving image recordings.

See the Art and Artifacts Division for buttons.

Related Material

Theophilus G. Steward research collection, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library.

Using the collection

Location

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Second Floor

Access restrictions

Access to William Seraile's personal journals from 2010 to 2025 is restricted until March 12, 2031. Access to one manuscript by Seraile found with his family papers is restricted until March 12, 2041.