Augusta Lynn Bolles, professor emerita of women, gender, and sexuality studies at the University of Maryland, passed away on February 8. She was 76 years old.
Born in Passaic, New Jesery, Dr. Bolles earned her bachelor’s degree in English literature and anthropology from Syracuse University in New York. She then earned her master’s degree and Ph.D. in social and cultural anthropology from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. After earning her doctorate, Dr. Bolles joined the faculty of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where she ultimately served as an associate professor of anthropology and director of Africana studies.
In 1989, Dr. Bolles joined the women’s studies program at the University of Maryland. A full professor, she went on to serve as director of graduate studies for what is now The Harriet Tubam Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She also served as chair of the African American studies department and of the committee on Africa and the Americas for the Office of the Dean of Arts and Humanities.
As a scholar, Dr. Bolles focused her research on the complexities of Caribbean women’s labor, employment, and tourism, as well as the work of other Black women anthropologists. She wrote numerous books throughout her career, including Women and Tourist Work in Jamaica: Seven Miles of Sandy Beach (Lexington Books, 2022).