SPOTLIGHT:

Research is Focus for Ford Scholarship Recipient
Beverly D. Stevenson

SANTA BARBARA, California -- As the first recipient of the LaNelle & Dennis Ford Scholarship, HOD doctoral student Beverly Stevenson is grateful for the encouragement the scholarship provides for her research, which explores interracial family histories of persons of African descent.

“I feel that the Ford Scholarship recognizes the relevance of my research and my value as a scholar. That's important to me. I truly appreciate the support and encouragement this gives me. ”

Beverly’s research flows from the collaborative work she and her husband, Major, have been engaged in for the past twenty-four years. “Our responsibility and legacy is to manage and preserve his family’s history and 136-year heritage of family land ownership in Houston, Texas.”

That family history centers on Major’s great grandparents, Edward Taylor, son of a prominent Houston merchant and slave broker, and Ann Taylor, a former slave who had earlier been gifted to Edward by his father . The couple raised six children who were among the first African Americans in Texas to receive a college education.

For her study, Beverly is emphasizing archival research methods and historical content analysis to chronicle and capture the rich history of this early Texas interracial couple in the context of other national and transnational family histories.

The LaNelle & Dennis Ford Scholarship was created by Fielding Psychology alumna LaNelle Ford and her daughters Kathryn and Linda, an alumna of the School of Human & Organizational Change. Established in memory of Dennis Ford—husband, father, and longtime educator—the LaNelle & Dennis Ford Scholarship is dedicated to supporting talented female doctoral students residing in Texas.