Greetings from the Richards Center! 

 

We hope you enjoy our latest newsletter below.

 

Interested in becoming a member of the Richards Center? Click here!

 

Best regards, 

 

Matt Isham 

Managing Director 

The George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center 

Penn State

June 2021 Newsletter
Center News
Richards Center director Rachel Shelden recently spoke with Penn State News about the history and meaning of Juneteenth. Juneteenth commemorates emancipation and enslaved people's efforts to destroy slavery during the Civil War. AnneMarie Mingo, assistant professor of African American studies and women's, gender, and sexuality studies, also participated in the interview. You can read the article on the Penn State News site.
 
In June, Dr. Shelden was elected to the Massachusetts Historical Society's Society of Fellows. The Society of Fellows serves as the governing body of the MHS. Also this month, NPR's Throughline rebroadcast their December interview with Shelden about the history of the Supreme Court and how it gained the power to decide the constitutionality of the country's laws. You can listen to her interview here.
Faculty News
Amira Rose Davis, assistant professor of history and African American studies, recently spoke with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! and Melissa Harris-Perry of WNYC's The Takeaway about Naomi Osaka's decision to withdraw from the French Open tennis tournament for mental health reasons. Dr. Davis also appeared on WNYC's Morning Edition to discuss the racial dynamics behind highly publicized examples of fans behaving badly and violently toward players in the NBA playoffs. In May, she wrote about a new generation of Black women athletic directors at major universities for Global Sport Matters.
Amy Greenberg, George Winfree Professor of American History, reviewed Michael Burlingame's  An American Marriage: The Untold Story Story of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd, for  The New York Times. Her review appeared in the June 3 edition of the  TimesAn American Marriage was published this year by Simon and Schuster. The book provocatively argues that Lincoln regretted his marriage to Mary Todd, whom Burlingame describes as a physically abusive spouse and corrupt First Lady.
Postdoctoral Fellow News
Jonathan Jones, postdoctoral Fellow in Civil War history, reviewed Sarah Handley-Cousins's  Bodies in Blue: Disability in the Civil War North, in the April 2021 issue of  The Journal of Military History.
Maryam Aziz, Richards Center and Africana Research Center postdoctoral Fellow in history, contributed an article to a special issue of  The Journal of African American History. Dr. Aziz's article is titled "They Punched Black: Martial Arts, Black Arts, and Sports in the Urban North and West, 19681979." The special issue, "New Directions in African American History," was published this spring.
Postdoctoral Fellow Alumni News
Alaina Roberts's first book, I've Been Here All the While: Black Freedom on Native Land, won the 2021 Phillis Wheatley Book Award. The award is presented at the annual conference of the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle PassageI've Been Here All the While was published this spring by the University of Pennsylvania Press. Roberts was the Richards Center's 20172018 postdoctoral Fellow. During her fellowship, she developed the manuscript for  I've Been Here All the While from her dissertation.
Graduate Student News
 
Three Richards Center affiliated graduate students successfully defended their dissertations earlier this month and earned their doctoral degrees. Cecily Zander earned he doctorate under the guidance of William Blair, Walter L. and Helen P. Ferree Professor Emeritus of Middle American History and Director Emeritus of the Richards Civil War Era Center. Her dissertation is titled, "Agents of Empire: The U.S. Army, The Civil War, and the Making of the American West, 18481872." Emily Seitz earned her doctorate under the direction of Lori Ginzberg, professor of history and women's, gender, and sexuality studies. Her dissertation is titled, "Prescribing Pregnancy Loss: Women Physicians and the Changing Boundaries of Fetal Life in Nineteenth-Century America." Mallory Huard also earned her doctorate under the direction of Dr. Ginzberg. Her dissertation is titled, "America's Private Empire: Family and Commercial Imperialism in Nineteenth Century Hawai'i."
Cecily Zander, Emily Seitz, and Mallory Huard
This publication is available in alternative media upon request. Penn State is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.

Richards Civil War Era Center | 108 Weaver Building | University Park, PA 16802

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