In Memoriam: Patricia Liggins Hill, 1942-2023

Patricia Hill, professor Emerita of English at the University of San Francisco, died on January 23. She was 80 years old.

A native of Washington, D.C., she was a member of the first class to desegregate McKinley High School in Washington. She then earned a bachelor’s degree at Howard University.

Professor Hill moved to the Bay Area in the late 1960s and earned a master’s degree at the University of San Francisco and a Ph.D. in English from Stanford University. Dr. Hill joined the faculty at the University of San Francisco in 1970 as an instructor in English and ethnic studies. She was later named director of the ethnic studies program. She created and taught a wide range of courses including Survey of American Literature, Harlem Renaissance, Survey of Women’s Literature, Survey of African American Literature, as well as courses in drama and women’s studies. Professor Hall was the editor of Call & Response: The Riverside Anthology of the African American Literary Tradition (Houghton Mifflin, 1997).

Dr. Hill retired as a full professor in 2015 after teaching at the University of San Francisco for 45 years.