Education:    

• Ph.D., University of South Carolina
• B.A., M.A., M.A.T., Georgia Southern University

Bio:

I recently earned my Ph.D. in History from the University of South Carolina. My dissertation, “Make Yourselves Free’: The Revolutionary Black Experience in New York, 1776–1790,” explores the lives of thousands of African Americans who self-emancipated to the British and established lives in New York during the Revolutionary War. The freedom-seeking population and their work for the army not only exposed contradictions of Whiggish republican rhetoric but also laid bare British anxieties about race and the colonial regime of slavery in the larger Atlantic World. My research has been supported by the Gilder Lehrman Institute and the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon.

My broader research interests include the history of education and women’s history. I currently serve as an instructor in the university’s History Department, where I teach surveys in United States history as well as courses on the nation’s founding documents. Before beginning my graduate studies at USC, I taught high school social studies in Georgia, and I remain a licensed 6th-12th grade educator in both Georgia and South Carolina. Outside of academia, I enjoy spending time with my family and dog outdoors.

Scholarly Activities:

I am in the early stages of revising my dissertation into a book manuscript and developing proposals for prospective publishers. My ongoing research examines the African American experience in early national New York, with a particular focus on early abolitionism and Quakerism. Recently, I served as an editorial assistant for the forthcoming Cambridge History of the American Revolution, scheduled for release in October 2025. I also continue to share my work through presentations at both local and national conferences.