Bethune-Cookman University receives Dr. Helen Taylor Greene’s book collection

By Dr. Anne T. Sulton, Esq.

JA Senior International Correspondent

Dr. Helen Taylor Greene is a nationally renowned criminologist. Until last week, she was owner of one of the most impressive privately-held collections of books on race and crime. 

Dr. Greene just donated this outstanding collection of books to Bethune-Cookman University’s Carl S. Swisher Library. When asked why this library, she discussed her years of experience teaching criminal justice at Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU) during the early 1980s.

Prior to teaching at B-CU, Dr. Greene worked as a Senior Research Associate for the National Urban League in Washington, DC, and as a Graduate Legislative Fellow for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

In 1988, she received her doctorate degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland-College Park. Before retiring in 2017, Dr. Greene served as Professor in the Department of Administration of Justice in the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University. 

Among the awards she has received are: “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Division of People of Color and Crime of the American Society of Criminology in 2010; W.E.B. DuBois Award for Contributions to the Study of Race and Crime in 2014; and the Sage Cornerstone Author Award in 2018.

Dr. Greene is a preeminent race and crime scholar having authored dozens of articles and presented scores of papers at professional criminology and criminal justice conferences. 

Among the books she has authored, co-authored, or edited are: Race and Crime (published by Sage Publications); A Comprehensive Bibliography of Criminology and Criminal Justice Literature by Black Authors from 1895 to 1978 (published by Ummah Publications); African-American Criminological Thought (with Dr. Shaun L. Gabbidon and published by the State University of New York Press); African-American Classics in Criminology and Criminal Justice (with Gabbidon and Dr. Vernetta D. Young and published by Sage Publications);   Encyclopedia of Race and Crime (with Gabbidon and published by Sage Publications); and Race and Juvenile Justice. (with Dr. Everette B. Penn and Gabbidon and published by Carolina Academic Press).

Pictured with Dr. Greene (left) are Helen Morey (center) and Dr. Kideste Yusuf (right). 

Ms. Morey is the Swisher Library Collections Development/Acquisitions Librarian. 

Dr. Kideste M. Yusef is B-CU Associate Dean of Research, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, and Director of the Center for Law and Social Justice. Dr. Yusef is a former student of Dr. Greene. 

In 2022, Drs. Greene and Yusef established a consortium of Historically Black Colleges and Universities criminal justice graduate school programs. These graduate school programs, offering master and doctorate level degrees, now are part of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Criminal Justice Collective.

Dr. Greene, based in Florida, currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Criminal Justice Collection (HBCU-CJC). The HBCU-CJC is headquartered in Jackson, MS.

She is a founding member of the Black Criminologists Forum (BCF). The BCF is a national association of Blacks holding a Ph.D. degree in criminology, criminal justice, juvenile justice, or a closely related academic discipline. Dr. Greene is among BCF members appearing on Jackson Advocate podcasts.