Rev. Andrew Baskin, a native of Alcoa, Tennessee, is a Professor Emeritus at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky, where he taught for 36 years. In his almost fifty-year undergraduate career, he also taught at Ferrum College in Ferrum, Virginia; Simmons College of Kentucky in Louisville, Kentucky; and Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky. He received a B.A. in History from Berea College and an M.A. in American History from Virginia Tech. He graduated from Alcoa High School in 1969.
He has been married to Symerdar Capehart Baskin, the 2021 recipient of the Berea College Honorary Alumna Award, since 1974. Their family includes two daughters, a son-in-law, and two grandchildren. The Baskins live in Berea, Kentucky.
- Baskin received a B.A. in History from Berea College and an M.A. in American History from Virginia Tech. He graduated from Alcoa High School in 1969.
Baskin edited The Griot: The Journal of African American Studies, the official publication of the Southern Conference on African American Studies. He also edited The American Baptist News, the digital newspaper of the General Association of Baptists in Kentucky.
He has received many awards and honors throughout his career. The recognitions include the Paul S. Hager Award for Excellence in Academic Advising, the Phi Kappa Phi Professor of the Year award, the Seabury Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the Elizabeth Miles Service Award for Community Service from Berea College. In addition, he received the Hurt Faculty Achievement Award from Ferrum College. In 2020, Berea College alumni and friends created the Andrew and Symerdar Baskin Student Research Fund, an endowed scholarship in honor of the Baskins. The scholarship funds will provide financial assistance for Berea College students to research topics in African and African American Studies, prioritizing projects focused on Black Appalachian topics. In 2021, he received the Rodney Bussey Award of Special Merit from the Berea College Alumni Association for his contributions to Berea College.
In 2023, the National Association of Black Storytellers chose Baskin as the recipient of the Black Appalachian Storyteller Fellowship for Kentucky. Funds from the fellowship were used to publish a book titled Dorothy Mitchell-Kincaid: The Consciousness of the 13 Streets of Alcoa, Tennessee. Proceeds from the sale of the book benefit the work of The Beloved Community, a non-profit in Blount County, Tennessee. Symerdar Baskin is the co-author of the work.
Baskin is involved in numerous community organizations. The list includes: The City of Berea Codes Enforcement Board; The Advisory Committee for The City of Berea’s Comprehensive Plan for 2025; The YMCA Youth Achievers; and the Richmond-Madison County NAACP. Additionally, he is a member of the ministry of Bethsaida Missionary Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky.