Composition: History & Theory: 1980 - 1989
Maxine Hairston
Description
Maxine Cousins Hairston, professor emerita of English, born April 9, 1922, to Louise Hennessy Cousins and Richard Clyde Cousins in Ironwood, Michigan, died July 22, 2005. She attended public schools in Ironwood and graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in English in January of 1944. After college, she worked for Time, Inc. in New York City, moving from there to San Francisco in June of 1945, where she met James Walter Hairston. After having two children, Maxine Hairston returned to school, earning an M.A. in English at The University of Texas at Austin in 1958 and a Ph.D. in 1968. In 1986 she met David Cooper, Professor of Education and Linguistics at Hunter College in New York City; they were married in June of 1987.
In a remarkable career, Hairston examined the role of rhetoric and writing programs across the country and challenged assumptions about the roles women might play in the academy. Her dissertation focused on the work of Texas writer George Sessions Perry. In Texas, she was elected president of the Conference of College Teachers of English (CCTE) in 1983. Active nationally in both the National Council of Teachers of English and the Conference of College Composition and Communication, she chaired the latter organization in 1985, and, in a much-quoted convention address, entitled “Breaking our Bonds and Reaffirming Our Connections,” called for the separation of writing programs from departments of English. At UT, Hairston rose from instructor to full professor. She served as director of freshman English and later as associate dean of liberal arts. She returned to graduate school in 1999 to pursue a master’s degree in European history, which she earned in 2003. In 2002, former graduate students honored her by publishing Against the Grain: A Volume in Honor of Maxine Hairston, a collection of her major articles, as well as essays recounting her achievements and scholarly life.
Date of Upload
11/03/09