Participant Info
- First Name
- Alaina E.
- Last Name
- Roberts
- Country
- United States
- State
- PA Pennsylvania
- aer88@pitt.edu
- Affiliation
- University of Pittsburgh
- Website URL
- http://www.alainaeroberts.com
- Keywords
- African American, Native American, African Diaspora, nineteenth century, 19th century, United States, West, South, race, family, migration, Black, Indian, Black Indian, Indigenous, Indigenous people, mixed race, mixed-race, Black-Indian, family history, Civil War, Reconstruction, tribal citizenship, Native American citizenship, museums
- Availability
- Media Contact
- Additional Contact Information
- PhD
- PhD
Personal Info
- Photo
- About Me
Alaina E. Roberts is a historian who studies the intersection of Black and Native American life from the Civil War to the modern day.
She writes, teaches, and presents public talks about Black and Native history in the West, family history, slavery in the Five Tribes (the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole Nations), Native American enrollment politics, Indigeneity in North America and across the globe, Black and Native American portrayals in the media, and identity.
Dr. Roberts is currently an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh. Her first book, I’ve Been Here All the While: Black Freedom on Native Land, draws on archival research and family history to upend the traditional story of Reconstruction. Roberts connects debates about Black freedom and Native American citizenship to westward expansion on to Native land.
- Recent Publications
- I’ve Been Here All the While: Black Freedom on Native Land (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021)
- “Who is Native American?: The Elizabeth Warren Saga,” Al Jazeera English, https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/native-american-190220092329850.html
- “When immigrants to America were white,” Al Jazeera English, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/immigrants-america-white-171101065840053.html
- “A federal court has ruled blood cannot determine tribal citizenship. Here’s why that matters,” The Washington Post, https://t.co/EB5yS0liW0
- “Field Notes: A Hammer and a Mirror: Tribal Disenrollment and Scholarly Responsibility,” Western Historical Quarterly vol. 49, no. 1
- Media Coverage
- Social Media
- @allthewhile1
- Country Focus
- United States
- Expertise by Geography
- North America, United States
- Expertise by Chronology
- 19th century, 20th century, 21st century
- Expertise by Topic
- American Civil War, Colonialism, Emancipation, Family, Indigenous Peoples, Migration & Immigration, Museums, Public History, Race, Slavery
