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.
A small donation would help us keep this available to all. Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone.
BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. Your donation is fully tax-deductible.
CITE THIS ENTRY IN APA FORMAT:
Ruffin II, H. (2025, October 10). Quintard Taylor, Jr. (1948-2025). BlackPast.org. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/quintard-taylor-jr-1948-2025/
Blackpast Staff, “Quintard Taylor,” Blackpast (September 21, 2025). Accessed December 11, 2022. https://blackpast.org/author/quintardjr/.
Herbert G. Ruffin II and Dwayne A. Mack, Freedom’s Racial Frontier: African Americans in the Twentieth-Century West (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2018), pp. 3-4.
BlackPast.org 2024 Annual Report. Seattle, WA, 2024. https://blackpast.org/wp-content/uploads/BP-ANNUAL-REPORT-2024-.pdf.
March 24th, 2018
October 15th, 2010
April 28th, 2022
January 11th, 2008
January 24th, 2007
July 19th, 2016
January 18th, 2018
November 8th, 2010
Contact Us
Write For Us
How You Can Help Us
Accessibility
©2007–2025 BLACKPAST.ORG. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
BLACKPAST.ORG IS A 501(C)(3) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION. THE EIN IS 26-1625373. ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
Donate today to help us advance Black history education and foster a more inclusive understanding of our shared cultural heritage.
Are you passionate about Black history and storytelling? Join our team as a content contributor to share powerful stories, highlight key events, and celebrate the legacy of Black communities worldwide!
Teacher strategies for effectively incorporating the website into everyday instruction
Find useful resources and websites to help further research and explore Black history.
Explore popular & historically significant entries specially tailored for a children’s audience (7-12 yrs).
BlackPast.org pages that we think would be particularly valuable to share with young people
This editorial page is part of an ongoing effort to present the ideas and opinions of individuals both within and beyond BlackPast.org that address the pressing issues and challenges facing African Americans and people of African Ancestry around the world, which are rooted in their historical experiences.
Explore the legacy and leadership of Africa’s past and present heads of state, showcasing the visionaries who have shaped the continent’s history and future.
Discover the rich and inspiring stories of Black history through our interactive timeline, highlighting key moments and figures that have shaped our world. Dive in and explore how history connects to the present and inspires the future!