Gwendolen Margaret Carter (1906–1991)

Gwendolen Margaret Carter was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She contracted polio as a child and was unable to walk again for the rest of her life. In 1929, she completed her B.A. in history at the University of Toronto and then received a second B.A. from Oxford University in 1931. She returned to Hamilton and taught at McMaster University until 1935, when she moved to the USA to to undertake graduate study at Radcliffe College. There she completed her M.A. (1936) and Ph.D. (1938) in political science. From 1943 to 1964, she taught political science at Smith College, holding the Sophia Smith chair from 1961. From 1944 to 1945, during World War II, she worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in the Research & Analysis Branch as an analyst. From 1964 to 1974, she was Melville J. Herskovits Professor of African Affairs at Northwestern University. From 1974 to 1984, Carter taught at Indiana University. From 1984 to 1987, when she retired, she taught at the University of Florida. Prof. Carter was among the reknowned scholars of African affairs in the 20th century, and wrote several books that became classics in both political science and African studies, including The Politics of Inequality: South Africa Since 1948 (1958). She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1965