Academic Historian

Clarence Spigner is a native of Orangeburg, South Carolina where he was raised in poverty and segregation. He is presently an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Services in the School of Public Health & Community Medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. He has joint appointment in the International Health Program, the African Studies Program, and in the American Ethnic Studies Department. Spigner teaches and conducts research in the areas of health and race/ethnic relations and popular culture. He has published on tobacco-related behaviors among Asian youths and on knowledge and perceptions about organ donation among minority populations.

In the Heat of the West: Woody Strode, Sergeant Rutledge, and the Buffalo Soldier

In the article below independent historian Clarence Spigner analyzes Sergeant Rutledge and the other major films of the college football star, early National Football League player, and actor Woody Strode. Sergeant Rutledge is a 1960 western film from Warner Brothers and the director John Ford … Read MoreIn the Heat of the West: Woody Strode, Sergeant Rutledge, and the Buffalo Soldier

COVID-19: The Myth and the Reality for Black America

In the article below, Dr. Clarence Spigner, an epidemiologist and professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Washington, assesses the early African American responses to COVID-19. COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory pandemic disease, stands for coronavirus disease, 2019. Symptoms for possible … Read MoreCOVID-19: The Myth and the Reality for Black America

Laquan McDonald (1997-2014)

On October 20, 2014, Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old African American teenager, was shot 16 times within 14 seconds by Jason Van Dyke, a 36-year-old white Chicago, Illinois policeman.  McDonald’s death was another catalyst for the growing national Black Lives Matter Movement.  It also had significant local ramifications including the defeat … Read MoreLaquan McDonald (1997-2014)

Patient Zero: Thomas Eric Duncan and the Ebola Crisis in West Africa and the United States

In the following article Dr. Clarence Spigner, Professor of Public Health at the University of Washington, Seattle, describes the life of the first patient to die of Ebola on U.S. soil and the larger crisis of Ebola in West Africa.  He views it as a … Read MorePatient Zero: Thomas Eric Duncan and the Ebola Crisis in West Africa and the United States

Henrietta Lacks and the Debate Over the Ethics of Bio-Medical Research

In the article below Clarence Spigner, DrPH., Professor of Health Services in the School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, briefly describes the saga of Henrietta Lacks whose cells have been used without her family’s permission for over sixty years of bio-medical research.  Dr. … Read MoreHenrietta Lacks and the Debate Over the Ethics of Bio-Medical Research

Nat “King” Cole (1919-1965)

Jazz pianist and popular singer Nathaniel Adams Coles was born into a musical family in Montgomery, Alabama on March 17, 1919.  His mother Perlina was a choir director in his father Edward’s Baptist church.  His three brothers, Edward, Ike, and Freddy, became professional musicians.  Cole … Read MoreNat “King” Cole (1919-1965)