I am a historian of race, gender, and culture in the twentieth century United States. My research focuses on the relationships between social movements — especially the civil rights movement — the market, and visual culture.  

As Associate Professor of History at Wellesley College, I teach courses on topics in twentieth century U.S. history, including World War II, the Cold War, the civil rights movement and the broader black freedom struggle, as well as courses on consumerism, fashion, visual culture, and Black print culture. I am a ridiculously proud to have received Wellesley College’s highest teaching honor, the Anna and Samuel Pinanski Award, as an assistant professor. While also an assistant professor, I was also honored as assistant professor, I was honored to be named the Knafel Assistant Professor of Social Sciences — an endowed chair made possible by the largess of Wellesley College trustee Sidney Knafel. I have also received support for my research, writing, and teaching from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Woodrow Wilson National Foundation, American Council of Learned Societies, New York Public Library, Suzy Newhouse Center for Humanities, the Rare Books School, and, of course, Wellesley College.

My first book, Represented: The Black Imagemakers Who Reimagined African American Citizenship (University of Pennsylvania Press) examines the work of Black entrepreneurs in the World War II era who generated media representations that forged associations between blackness and Americanness that facilitated civil rights agendas. I am currently at work on a second book Issues of Color: Black Magazine and the Business of Black Life. A business and cultural history of the mid-twentieth century Black magazines, this work examines origins, development, and scope of the commercial Black magazine publishing industry, with special attention to the role that popular Black periodicals played in Black life. Many of these publications were short-lived; additionally, they have been disregarded and devalued Black popular culture products and discarded by libraries and other scholarly repositories. As a result, determining the scope of the industry is tricky as many of its products are hard to find. One of the best parts of this research is my late night marauding sessions on eBay looking for these essential primary resources.

As a scholar, I am committed to illuminating and also eradicating racial disparities and other barriers to freedom. Throughout my academic career, I have worked as an instructor for programs intended to increase the numbers of people of color in higher education. The questions central to my research concern if and how people from marginalized groups can thrive in the United States without upholding power structures harmful to their greater population or others.

I devote a significant amount of time and energy to mentoring students, particularly those of color and first generation students. This is perhaps the most gratifying aspect of my job. For one, people did it for me. Moreover, I know all too well that women of color, especially, experience particular pressures and anxieties in “the academy.” Often, we are our own worst enemy when we fail to ask questions or seek help, for fear of “exposing” the un-belonging we might already feel.