Emory Scholar Dr. Rudolph Byrd, Leaves Legacy of African-American Studies and Civil Rights Movement

By Rose Scott

Atlanta, GA –
Funeral services for Emory University's Dr. Rudolph Byrd were held, Friday, October 28th in Atlanta,GA.
Byrd was the founder of Emory's James Weldon Johnson Institute now considered a premier establishment for the study of the modern civil rights movement.
But his renowned achievement in African American studies was just one of his many accomplishments.

It's now called the James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race And Difference.
Dr. Earl Lewis says the institute is a blueprint of Rudolph Byrd's overall vision.

LEWIS:
"this is where universities and scholarship and scholars can make a really formal tie to the history of both the city and the region and ultimately the nation"

Lewis is Emory's executive vice president for academic affairs and provost.
He calls his colleague and friend,Rudolph Byrd a builder.

LEWIS:
"he understood that institutions particularly universities are really not completely organic that is things don't happen because they happen, they happen because someone had a vision and plan and the dedication to the execution of that plan"

One of those plans was a shaping the partnership between Emory and noted author Alice Walker.
In a 2009 WABE interview, she talked about her exhibit: A Keeping of Records: The Art and Life of Alice Walker.

WALKER:
"I love the exhibit, I think it's beautiful and I'm so grateful to the people especially, Rudolph Byrd"

Provost Lewis says Byrd, right to the end, helped plan for the institute's future without him.

LEWIS:
"he was sort of planning the last stages of his life but also realizing that one claim a legacy by making sure the things that were important to you in life will be there after you pass"

Dr. Rudolph Byrd died last Friday after a long battle with cancer.
He was 58 years old.