The Blog of Death

Richard Newman

Richard Newman, a well-respected scholar of black studies, died July 7 of a brain tumor. He was 73.

Newman taught at Boston and Columbia universities before taking a job as the director of research at the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African-American Research at Harvard University.

Newman, the son of conservative Republicans who later earned the nickname "America's chief Negro-ologist," wrote essays, books and bibliographies. When asked why a white man would be so interested in African-American history, Newman would reply, ''Would I have to be a 16th-century English woman to study Elizabeth I?''