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About Me

I am the Oliver H. Radkey Professor of History and African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. I have two single-authored books, Swing the Sickle for the Harvest is Ripe: Gender and Slavery in Antebellum Georgia (Illinois, 2007) and The Price for their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation (Beacon, 2017). I am also an award-winning editor of Enslaved Women in America: An Encyclopedia (ABC-Clio, 2012) and Slavery and Freedom in Savannah (UGA, 2014). In addition to my written and editorial work, I have appeared on several syndicated radio and television shows including Who Do You Think You Are?, National Geographic Explorer, The Tavis Smiley Show, CNN’s At this Hour Show with John Berman, C-SPAN’s Book TV, and NPR’s The Takeaway. I am an advocate for public history and served as one of the technical advisors for the remake of Roots the mini-series (A+E and History, 2016). My scholarship has been supported by: the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Association of University Women, the Ford Foundation, and the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. My work has been, featured in the New York Times, Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report. My recent book, The Price for their Pound of Flesh: has received prizes from genealogical and historical organizations as well as favorable reviews in The Boston Globe, The Washington Post as well as Essence, Crisis, and Vibe magazines. My next co-edited book, Sexuality and Slavery: Reclaiming Intimate Histories in the Americas (UGA, 2018), will be published October 2018. I am currently co-authoring A Black Women’s History of the United States (Beacon, 2019) and completing a documentary series about women in American History with EnLight Productions. In addition to my scholarly publications, I enjoy writing for popular media and have published essays online at the Huffington Post, Biography, History, and The ConversationUS as well as a host of major news outlets.

Recent Publications

Book: The Price for their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation (Beacon, 2017).

 

• “Beyond the Slave Trade, the Cadaver Trade,” The New York Times
• “The Price for Their Pound of Flesh,” Not Even Past
• “The Price for Their Pound of Flesh,” KUT’s In Black America
• Black History Month series, A&E Television Network’s BIOGRAPHY
• “How U.S. westward expansion breathed new life into slavery,” (co-authored with UT History Ph.D. candidate Nakia Parker), A&E Television Network’s HISTORY
• “Package Bombings Reveal The Racist Underbelly Of Austin,” (co-authored with Dr. Christen Smith, UT Anthropology), Huffington Post
• Mountaintop Moments: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Final Speech, A&E Television Network’s HISTORY
• “Kanye West’s teachable moment — for everyone,” Washington Post
• “‘Why Did They Hate Us?’: Explaining the New Lynching Memorial to My Son,” A&E Television Network’s HISTORY
• Quoted in numerous other publications including Time, Inside Higher Ed, and Chicago Tribune

Media Coverage

see my personal website for media.

Social Media

daina ramey berry twitterhttps://twitter.com/dainarameyberry?lang=en

Country Focus

United States

Expertise by Geography

United States

Expertise by Chronology

18th century, 19th century

Expertise by Topic

American Civil War, American Revolution, American Founding Era, Economic History, Emancipation, Gender, Medicine, Museums, Public History, Race, Slavery, Women