Q+A: Jim C. Harper II
Associate Dean for the School of Graduate Studies and Professor of History at North Carolina Central University (NCCU), Faculty Affiliate with the Duke Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity
Dr. Jim C. Harper II is the Associate Dean for the School of Graduate Studies and Professor of History at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). Dr. Harper received both BA and MA degrees from North Carolina Central University’s Department of History, and his PhD from Howard University.
At the Cook Center, Dr. Harper has taught multiple iterations of the History of Inequality course in the Inequality Studies Minor, and he had contributed to a number on other Cook Center projects. He recently received a Fulbright U.S. International Education Administrators Award that will take him to France and Senegal during the 2025-2026 academic year. He is also on the Board of Directors at the Museum of Durham History.
In this Q&A with Cook Center research associate Rachel Ruff, he shares his experience working on his recent co-authored book, With Faith in God and Heart in Mind: A History of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity (UNC Press).
Can you talk about your current and previous historical work?
My first book, Western-Educated Elites in Kenya, 1900-1963: The African American Factor, explores African students who came to the United States, went to college and went back home during the African independence movement. Many of them became professors, medical doctors, ministers in their government.
Beyond writing, I have done oral history projects and exhibits. I have an ongoing oral history project where I interview members of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., who have been in the fraternity 50 or more years. It’s amazing, some of the things they have been able to do in their lifetime and the people they have worked with. My other public history projects are with the Department of History at NCCU and the city of Durham. These projects include Durham Beginnings, 1865–1885, The Digital Mapping Project, and Durham’s Black Wall Street Exhibit.
I’ve also led public history projects within my department to transform the space visually, and both alumni and students—whether history majors or not—appreciate the exhibits we’ve created in our hallways and conference rooms.
Right now, I’m working on documentaries. I finished what I call a mini documentary about my chapter, Beta Phi which is located here in Durham, which celebrated 100 years on December 14, 2024. I also made a documentary for the Sixth District of Omega Psi Phi, Inc., and it’s a full documentary. As a matter of fact, this year that district turns 90 years old, and it represents all of the undergraduate and graduate chapters in North and South Carolina.
Can you give us a background on the fraternity and its mission?
Omega Psi Phi was founded on November 17, 1911, by three undergraduates and one faculty member at Howard University. They had a concept in mind: “Friendship is essential to the soul.” And they built the fraternity based on the cardinal principles of Manhood, Scholarship, Perseverance, and Uplift.
When we talk about “uplift”, we don’t just mean members of the fraternity— it extends to local, statewide, national, and international communities. Omega Psi Phi has chapters around the world, including China, a few in Africa, South America, the Caribbean, Canada, and England. Like most Divine Nine organizations, we’ve had quite a bit of global expansion.
How did you come to this opportunity to write about Omega Psi Phi?
Being part of this organization has allowed me to work on many meaningful projects, including interviewing all the living Grand Basilei (national presidents) beginning in 2018. That same year, my co-authors and I were commissioned to update the fraternity’s history book by Grand Basileus David Marion—which hadn’t been updated since 1961.
After six years of research and writing, our book was officially released on January 28, 2025, through UNC Press. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we remained committed, and the response has been phenomenal. We’ve sold nearly 4,000 copies in the first month, holding a #1 bestseller spot on Amazon in our category for a few weeks. Our Grand Basileus, Ricky Lewis, has been incredibly supportive, often reading the book during his travels. The response from our Fraternity brothers, the Divine Nine, and the community has been astonishing.
This project is a testament of perseverance and collaboration. Since 2018, my co-authors—Dr. Eddie Cole, now a professor of Education and History at UCLA; Dr. Derrick Alridge, founding director of the Education Center at the University of Virginia; and Dr. Maurice Hobson, an associate professor at Georgia State who is featured in numerous documentaries on Black history—have been instrumental in bringing this book to life.
Looking back, I am grateful for the timing of the opportunity. While I would have welcomed it earlier, I realize now that it happened at the right time. The experience has deepened my understanding of our fraternity’s impact and reinforces the value of our collective history.
I know you said the last time that the fraternities’ history books had been updated was in the 1960s. Could you give us more context to the concept of it being long overdue, and the recognition that this book brings to the fraternity’s work?
Several books have been written on the fraternity such as Herman Dreer’s The History of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity: A Brotherhood of Negro College Men, 1911-1939 and Robert Gill’s A History of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. However, our team represents the first group of professional historians to take on this project. It aligns the fraternity’s history with major events in African American and U.S. history, highlighting both organizational milestones and individual contributions. We cover everything from the fraternity’s founding in 1911 to its role in World War I, World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam, and beyond.
One of the things people ask me is what is the most important thing you learn? And I say, I learned the difference between a reaction and a response. I learned that from researching how the fraternity’s leadership and members strategically responded to historical challenges rather than simply reacting to them. This looked like developing plans, influencing policies, and serving as leaders of Black communities and organizations. They collectively and strategically got together with other leaders, and they created responses. And as a result, some of the things that could have been a much worse, and harsh reality for black people in many spaces was not—because they created strategies and small rural places in urban settings. Their strategies often created opportunities to gain leadership positions at the local, state, and federal levels where they leveraged influence. In other instances, they collaborated to form legal teams as part of the NAACP legal defense fund to litigate and win landmark cases.
I even think about individuals we found like James L. Farmer Jr., founder of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), who was an Omega man. His father was also a member, but he never spoke about it publicly or wore paraphernalia. While conducting the research we found out that he was a member of our beloved Fraternity. It only became clear when we examined historical photographs and found him in the company of other Omega men. He was such a leading figure during the Civil Rights Movement—how many other influential figures remain undocumented in our fraternity’s legacy?
And even more recently, you mentioned Jim Clyburn and his review of the book. He’s a ranking member in Congress at the moment and the work that he’s been doing politically will likely be viewed historically significant for times we are currently living. At times people may see only one Omega man leading and effort or serving in various organizations, but history shows that Congressman Clyburn is one of many Omega men who are maintaining the legacy of leadership and service in the same way that many Omega men before him have been engaged in.
Although I thought I knew a lot of the history of the Fraternity, I learned quite a bit about the ties of the fraternity’s founders and collaborations with other organizations. The research conducted by the other authors also provided insight into the untold fraternity history. This journey has been incredible, and with the support of my co-authors, we were able to see it through. Our Fraternity has a rich history that sheds light on the value and contributions of black people throughout the long freedom movement from 1911 until present. It is compelling and we, the authors, hope that this book will continue to add to the scholarship of the Divine Nine fraternities and sororities efforts to overcome, connect, and uplift our communities.
How has being a member influenced you, and how is that influence reflected in your life today?
I am from Mount Olive, North Carolina, and named after my father. My father was a sharecropper until he was 28 years old, and only completed school to the eighth grade. My mother was an orphan, and obtained an associate’s degree in bookkeeping, what we now know as accounting. My parents deeply valued education, and because of their encouragement, my siblings, cousins, and I were able to attend college.
My father had an outstanding reputation in our community. I remember one time the sitting Mayor was about to leave office and he asked my father if he wanted to run for mayor. And I was like, Wow, that’s a big deal. But he said no because that wasn’t something that interested him. And I say that to say, I got a solid foundation from my parents, because everything that we had as a family, they created from what they had within them.
I was first introduced to Omega Psi Phi through my cousin, Jerry L. Harper, who was initiated through the Tau Psi Chapter at North Carolina Central University in 1981. He and my older sister and would bring me to NCCU from time to time for homecomings and to help her move in the dorm. It was at NCCU I would see all of the brothers and the brotherhood in action. Their bond and shared purpose inspired me. So, in 1996, I joined the Beta Phi chapter in Durham, NC, and it was an experience that profoundly shaped my life.
And through Omega, I’ve connected with accomplished men who have overcome significant obstacles to achieve great things. This was a space, and quite possibly the only space, where I found myself with many men from rural backgrounds who were accomplished in their personal and professional lives. They were leaders in the community and the fraternity. We had a common bond, and even to this day, they pour into me if I call them. I’ll say it’s one of the best things I’ve done in my lifetime, to have and maintain those kinds of connections. Even as I grow older, they still have valuable insights to give to me.
My chapter, Beta Phi, is now the fourth largest chapter of the organization in the world. I’m happy to be a part of this organization and I have served the fraternity in several capacities including Advisory for the Tau Psi Chapter, Basileus of my chapter, Assistant District Keeper of Records and Seal and District Keeper of Records and Seal. The brothers in my chapter played a big part in my immersion into the Durham community. Half of my line brothers are from Durham, and people always ask if I graduated from Hillside High School because I’ve just been around for so long.
I’ve been in Durham since 1989 when I got out of the United States Marine Corps. And I’ve only left the city for three years, when I was working on my PhD at Howard University. The fraternity has helped me to understand Durham’s history and the Omega men who were leaders here in Durham and continue to lead different spaces in Durham.
C.C. Spaulding, a President of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company had a nephew, Asa Spaulding, who was an Omega man who helped transform North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company into the wealthiest black owned businesses in the United States. Bro. John H. Wheeler was a driving force behind the success of Mechanics and Farmers Bank, which became so financially stable that during the Great Depression, the state of North Carolina allowed it to be the first and only bank to reopen at that time. Those are just a few examples.
There are approximately 10 historic sites in Durham named after Omega men. These naming recognitions speak to the legacy, leadership, and commitment of the work that the men of Omega Psi Phi have been doing since 1911.
How would you advise people or emerging historians, or people aspiring historians, how would you advise them on building and curating their experiences?
I’ve been fortunate in my career, but it wasn’t always planned. Initially, I wanted to research the Black Jews of Ethiopia, but when I had the chance to travel, Ethiopia was at war with Eritrea, and the U.S. State Department restricted entry. That’s how I ended up in Kenya, which ultimately led to my dissertation topic.
Before leaving, my mentors—Dr. Aziz Batran and Dr. Joseph Earl Harris—advised me to connect with a Professor Godfrey Muriuki at the University of Nairobi. When I arrived, I waited an hour outside his office. When he finally invited me in, he grilled me with questions for two hours before laughing and saying, “Yes, you have been trained by Joseph Harris and Aziz Batran. Now you can ask me some questions.” That meeting led me to Dr. Julius Gikonyo Kiano, the first Kenyan to earn a PhD in the United States. His story introduced me to the African student airlift movement and its connections to the Civil Rights Movement, which became the foundation of my dissertation, which was published by Routledge Press in 2006.
So, I was able to curate a project that I was interested in—studying African independence movements and the civil rights movement—even if it was not my original plan.
I tell this story because my advice is that students should be open to where the research takes them. There are a plethora of untold historical accounts that need to be told. Choose a topic, person, event that captures your interest and start the research phase. Once students select a topic, they have to be consistent with the research and writing. Usually, the toughest part is choosing a topic, but once they know what they want to do they understand that there is nothing more powerful than a made-up mind.
I always try to serve as a source of inspiration to younger people, no matter if you want to be a historian, medical doctor, attorney, teacher, etc. Whatever it is that you want to do, it can be done. Sometimes we talk ourselves out of doing things because we say, “I don’t have the money, I don’t know the right people.” Just make up your mind and you will find a way.
And to date, the Department of History at North Carolina Central university has continued to push students forward through the legacy of Dr. Helen G. Edmonds’ vision to send students to obtain Ph.D.’s in history and write black history which started in the 1950s. To date, there are nearly 100 History Department Alum who have earned the Ph.D. with 21 currently enrolled in Ph.D. programs across the country.
Are there any books or research papers that have significantly influenced your approach to studying history?
A book that resonates with me is Carter G. Woodson’s book, The Miseducation of the Negro. I read it as an undergraduate at NCCU, and it sounded off alarms in my head. I thought, Wow, he wrote this decades ago and it still resonates. That was one of the first moments I felt connected to history, and it allowed me to see the discipline in a different way. I realized I could learn more about history not only through facts, but through connections that tell the story as well. History provided the context I needed to better understand the complexities and nuances of the world.
Rachel Ruff works to disseminate research findings and current events to media materials for the Cook Center past, current, and ongoing projects. She is also responsible for crafting engaging news stories and articles that highlight the events and achievements within the Cook Center. Additionally, Rachel manages and oversees content on the website, updates program information, and leads social media efforts.
