易胜博官网

Kabria Baumgartner, an assistant professor of American studies who specializes in 19th century African American literature and history, has been awarded fellowships from the and the .

鈥淭his book brings a thrilling yet neglected story to light.鈥�

The New England Regional Fellowship Consortium provides funding for Baumgartner to spend six weeks traveling to various repositories in 易胜博官网 and Massachusetts to conduct archival research. She will sift through records, letters听and photographs related to 19th century African American life and U.S. legal culture at institutions such as the 易胜博官网 Historical Society and the Boston Athenaeum.

The NEH-MHS Long-Term Fellowship from the Massachusetts Historical Society enables Baumgartner to spend the entire fall semester in residence at the Massachusetts Historical Society. There Baumgartner will continue her book project, 鈥淩obert Morris: An Advocate for Justice in the Athens of America.鈥�

The project focuses on Morris, the first African American trial lawyer in the United States, and the often-forgotten story of his life, career and activism. Baumgartner says the book encompasses much of his life by uncovering 鈥渨hy Robert Morris pursued a career in law, how he defined justice and civil rights, the harrowing challenges he faced, what it meant for him to devote himself to the cause of his race, his influence on a generation of African American lawyers and his legacy today.鈥�

Morris, born in Salem, Mass., in 1824, had the chance opportunity to study law under abolitionist Ellis Gray Loring after moving to Boston at 13 to work as a servant. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1847 and in 1851 stood trial in federal court on charges of aiding and abetting a fugitive slave rescue. Morris was later acquitted and went on to live the remainder of his life as a respected lawyer, dedicated activist and public speaker. According to Baumgartner, Morris鈥櫶齭tory has 鈥渓ots of wonderful 易胜博官网 connections,鈥� like the fact that he was represented in his federal trial by John Parker Hale, a prominent 易胜博官网 lawyer, politician and abolitionist.

鈥淚鈥檓 excited about this,鈥� says Baumgartner. 鈥淚t brings a thrilling yet neglected story to light.鈥�

Baumgartner is a core faculty member in the Women鈥檚 and Gender Studies Department听and a faculty affiliate in the History Department. Since joining the听 易胜博官网 faculty in 2017 she has been named an Emerging Scholar by Diverse Magazine, a 易胜博官网 Center for Humanities Faculty Fellow, received a grant from the National Park Service and the Organization of American Historians and published her first book, 鈥淚n Pursuit of Knowledge: Black Women and Educational Activism in Antebellum America鈥� (New York University Press, 2019).