tonya thames taylor
Mississippi native and a public servant, dr. tonya thames taylor
(lower case is intentional) is an Associate Professor of American
History for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (West
Chester University campus), Frederick Douglass Scholar, former
Pennsylvania Humanities Live and Learn Scholar, and a Southern Region Education Board
Scholar. In the community, some of her activities includes happily and gratefully serving as a
School Board Director for the Coatesville Area School District, Past Worthy Matron of Eureka
#12 of Deborah Grand Chapter Order of Eastern Star, Prince Hall Adopted, PA, an active
member of the Junior League of Philadelphia, and a committed life member of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and past executive board
member of the NAACP Pennsylvania State Conference. As a Quaker, dr. thames taylor is
committed to justice and it manifests in her campaigns and public lectures: anti-hunger, antiHuman Trafficking and interrogating the expansion and injustices in the Prison Industrial
Complex (PIC). Above all, Dr. thames taylor appreciates the life lessons she received from her
grandmother’s porch. It was there that she learned about community, service, religion, politics,
negotiation, and culture.