The C. Calvin Smith -Wali R. Kharif Book Award is named for the late C. Calvin Smith
(1943-2009) and Wali R. Kharif (1950-). It recognizes the most distinguished scholarly book on
African American Studies published in the calendar year preceding the SCAASI Annual
Conference. The book may focus on any of the interdisciplinary subject areas addressed by
SCAASI but must relate to African American Studies. Eligibility is open only to books authored
by SCAASI members. Anthologies, encyclopedias and edited works are not considered. The
award recipient receives a plaque and $300 honorarium.

The 2023 C. Calvin Smith-Wali R. Kharif Book Award recipient is Dr. Sonya Y.
Ramsey, author of the book, Bertha Maxwell-Roddey: A Modern-Day Race Woman and the
Power of Black Leadership, published by the University Press of Florida (2022). Dr. Ramsey is
Professor of History and Women’s and Gender Studies, and Director of the Women’s and
Gender Studies Program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
She is also the author of Reading, Writing, and Segregation: a Century of Black Women
Teachers in Nashville, published by the University of Illinois Press (2008). Dr. Ramsey is a
speaker and historical research consultant on themes relating to Black teachers, desegregation,
African American women’s history, oral history, United States history, Women’s and Gender
Studies, and African American Greek-letter sororities. She served as a consultant or provided
information for Axios, Charlotte Magazine, The Daily Show, NPR (National Public Radio),
Lemonadamedia.com, and USA Today. A graduate of Howard University with a BA in
Journalism, she received a master’s and Ph.D. in United States History from the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill.