Daryl Cumber Dance


Daryl Veronica Cumber Dance is an American academic best known for her work on black folklore.
She was born in Richmond, Virginia, to Allen Cumber and Veronica Bell Cumber. Dance attended Ruthville High School in Ruthville, Virginia, and earned a bachelor's degree in English from Virginia State College in 1957. Dance then taught at Armstrong High School in Richmond until 1962, when she returned to Virginia State College as an instructor. The next year, she completed a master's degree from Virginia State. In 1971, Dance graduated from the University of Virginia with a doctorate in English, and was named an assistant professor at Virginia State. Dance taught at Virginia Commonwealth University between 1972 and 1993, when she joined the University of Richmond faculty. In 2013, Dance was appointed Sterling A. Brown Professor of English at Howard University. Dance has served as advisory editor of the Black American Literary Forum and editorial advisor of the Journal of West Indian Literature.

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