James Millette, professor emeritus of African American studies at Oberlin College & Conservatory in Ohio, passed away on October 12. He was 92 years old.
Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Millette earned his bachelor’s degree in history from the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. He received both his master’s degree and Ph.D. in history from King’s College London.
After earning his doctorate in 1964, Dr. Millette returned to Trinidad to teach history at the University of the West Indies’ St. Augustine campus. Over the next 26 years, he held various positions such as senior lecturer of history and dean of the College of Arts and General Studies. He conducted extensive research on local and broader Caribbean politics, leading him to author several publications, including Society and Politics in Colonial Trinidad (Zed Books, 1985).
While in Trinidad, Dr. Millette became an active member of the New World Group and served as an editorial member of the New World Journal, which focused on Caribbean current affairs and opinion. In the 1970s, he founded the newspaper MOKO and served as the general secretary of the United Labor Front political party.
Dr. Millette moved to the United States in 1990 to teach history at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. One year later, he was named a professor of history at Oberlin College, where he would stay for the next 19 years.
During his tenure at Oberlin, Dr. Millette taught courses on Caribbean, African, African American, and imperial history, as well as the core course Introduction to Black Studies. He also helped to establish the comparative American studies program and the Oberlin College Dialogue Center. From 1999 to 2003, he served as chair of the department of African American (now Africana) studies. Additionally, Dr. Millette was a leader of the Association of Black Concerns, a group of Black staff and faculty at Oberlin that advocated for fair and equitable treatment.
