Keepers of Black Women's History

The Root is an online publication originally developed by the Washington Post and edited by American literary critic, writer and scholar Henry Louis Gates. The Root recently published a list of the Keepers of Black Women's History, an elite list of scholars "using thier classrooms, their research and their writing to make sure we know the full story of black women in America." Among the distinguished list is our own Chana Kai Lee:

Lee, an associate professor of history (Lee holds a joint appointment between the department of history and the Institute for African American Studies) at the University of Georgia, is the author of For Freedom’s Sake: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer. The book won the Willie Lee Rose Prize, awarded by the Southern Association for Women Historians, and the Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Book Prize, awarded by the Association of Black Women Historians.

A few others on the list include:

• Paula Giddings, Smith College
• Tera Hunter, Princeton University
• Darlene Clark Hine, Northwestern University
• Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Harvard University
• Martha Jones, University of Michigan
• Fransciose Hamlin, Brown University
• Thavolia Glympth, Duke University
• Heather Williams, University of North Carolina

That's great company to be in. We salute these great American scholars for their work in bringing us the stories (and the history) of who we are.

Image: Chane Kai Lee courtesy of the department of history.