Sandra Sandiford, a native of Boston, did her undergraduate work in history at the University of Massachusetts's Boston-Harbor Campus. In 1997 she received an MA from Boston College with a concentration in American History, and is currently working on her Ph.D. dissertation entitled "A Different Journey: John Brown Russwurm 1799-1851". John Brown Russwurm was the first African American admitted to a college [Bowdoin] and co-editor of Freedom's Journal, the first national black newspaper.
Ms Sandiford's research focuses upon the cultural history of African Americans and her interest in Whoopie Goldberg is an outgrowth of her studies. She lectures on Irish and Black relationships in Boston and on the diversity of African American societies in the Western hemisphere. Ms Sandiford is a lecturer at Boston College and the administrator of its Black Studies Progam.