The establishment of community for African Americans in the Bay Area

Adjunct professor of English, Comparative Literature and Creative Writing, at San Jose City College, Jan was born in Pullman, Washington, and grew up in Portland, Oregon. She is the author of African Americans of San Francisco, African Americans of Monterey County, and African Americans of San Jose and Santa Clara County, all published by Arcadia Publishing company, Images of America Series.  

Each of these books are a pictorial historical account of the leaders of Bay Area African American communities since the 1780s to present. Jan holds a master’s degree in comparative literature from San Jose State University and a master's degree in Education from National University.  She received her BS degree from the University of Oregon. For the last twenty-five years, Jan Batiste Adkins has taught English throughout California high schools.