Quintard Taylor, Jr. (1948-2025)

[Vik Bahl]

https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/quintard-taylor-jr-1948-2025/

Quintard Taylor, Jr. (1948-2025)

October 10, 2025 

/ Contributed By: Herbert G. Ruffin II

Quintard Taylor delivering the 2016 Denny Lecture at the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, WA.

Photo by Joe Mabel (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quintard Taylor Jr., historian, author, and professor, was a leading scholar in the fields of African American history and the history of the American West, as well as the visionary founder of BlackPast.org, the world’s largest online African American and Global African encyclopedia. Born in Brownsville, Tennessee, in 1948, to Quintard, Sr. and Grace Taylor, Taylor discovered his lifelong passion for Black history while a student at George Washington Carver High School. He earned his B.A. in American history from St. Augustine’s College in 1969 and became a lifelong member of both Alpha Phi Alpha and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Taylor earned his M.A. (1971) and Ph.D. (1977) degrees in American history from the University of Minnesota, where he trained under noted scholar Allan Spear.

Taylor’s early career included teaching in Black Studies at Washington State University, where an in-class conversation with Black Portlander Billy Ray Flowers inspired his groundbreaking commitment to uncovering the African American experience in the American West. The insight that Black westerners had a rich history and were historically significant shaped Taylor’s scholarly trajectory.

He went on to hold faculty appointments at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (1977–1990) and served as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Lagos, Nigeria (1987–1988). His influence expanded further during his tenure at the University of Oregon (1990–1999) and as the Scott and Dorothy Bullitt Professor of American History at the University of Washington (1999–2018), from which he retired as professor emeritus in 2018. Taylor edited over a dozen books, primarily for his Race and Culture in the American West Series for the University of Oklahoma Press. He also published more than 75 articles, 20 book reviews, and gave over 50 conference presentations. Among his major works are: The Making of the Modern World: A Reader in 20th Century Global History (1990); The Forging of a Black Community: Seattle’s Central District from 1870 through the Civil Rights Era (1994); In Search of the Racial Frontier: African Americans in the American West, 1528–1990 (1998), nominated for the Pulitzer Prize; Seeking El Dorado: African Americans in California: 1769-1997 (2001, coauthored with Lawrence de Graff and Kevin Mulroy); African American Women Confront the West: 1600-2000 (2003, coauthored with Shirley Ann Wilson); and the forthcoming Urban Archipelago: African Americans in the Twentieth Century Urban West (with Herbert G. Ruffin II) to name a few.

Beyond his scholarship, Taylor was a public intellectual and a pioneer in digital public history. Around 2000, he began exploring ways to make Black history accessible to broader audiences. These efforts culminated in the launch of BlackPast.org in 2007, a nonprofit, open-access scholarly resource built on contributions from hundreds of volunteer researchers. By 2025, the site had grown to nearly 9,000 entries and surpassed 60 million visits worldwide. In addition, Taylor gave more than 300 public lectures and has appeared in numerous documentaries like History Channel’s, Kevin Costner’s The West (2025). He also served on many community advisory boards and had consulted on countless projects like Smithsonian Institution’s, “A Quest for Freedom: African Americans in the West” (2001) in which Taylor keynoted.

Taylor’s leadership was recognized across the historical profession. He became the first Black president of the Western Historical Association in 2011 and received numerous honors, including the Carter G. Woodson Award from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, the Carter G. Woodson Memorial Award from the National Education Association, Honorary Lifetime Membership in the Western Historical Association, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pacific Northwest Historians Guild, the New York Public Library, and the Washington State Jefferson Award for Public Service.

Quintard Taylor passed away on September 21, 2025, in Pearland, Texas. He is survived by his wife, Phylisha Agbor-Taylor; and his children from a prior marriage, Quintard III, William, and Jamila, a member of the Washington State Legislature.

 

About the Author

Herbert G. Ruffin II

Herb Ruffin is Associate Professor of African American Studies at Syracuse University. He holds a Ph.D. in American History from Claremont Graduate University, California. His research examines the African American experiences in Silicon Valley (California), San Antonio (Texas), and in particular, the process of Black suburbanization in the American West from 1945-2010. Professor Ruffin’s book Uninvited Neighbors: African Americans in Silicon Valley, 1769-1990 was published by the Oklahoma University Press in 2014. In addition, he has authored numerous articles, book reviews, and online academic publications that focus on African Diaspora History and Culture, the Black West, Urban Studies and Social Movements. Moreover, Ruffin serves as an appointed committee member on the Organization of American Historians Committees of Committees, and on BlackPast.org’s advisory board. He has also been an active consultant in regard to organizing curriculum, public exhibits, and historical presentations on Africa and African Diaspora history and culture, including work with the Smithsonian Institution, Africa Initiative, and serving as U.S. Historian Delegate to South Africa.