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About Me

Dr. Wood is an American historian with more than 15 years of teaching experience. Her work focuses on American labor, law, and politics from the 1850s to the modern era. Dr. Wood is interested in how culture and morality shape capitalism and capitalist society. Her teaching and writing seek to connect historical understanding with contemporary social and political issues.

After graduating with her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, Dr. Wood taught American history and labor at the University of New Hampshire, Cornell University’s School of Labor and Industrial Relations, and the Hudson County Community College in Jersey City, NJ. She joined the faculty at Bard-Newark in 2021 where she teaches History of the Americas, History of U.S. Social Movements, and the Bard Seminar. She also serves as the faculty advisor for the National Honor Society.

Dr. Wood was named Bard-Newark’s 2023-2024 Teacher of the Year. She also received Bard-Newark’s 2025 Governor’s Educator of the Year Award.

Dr. Wood has long worked at the intersection of academia and policy. Prior to teaching, she worked as a policy and research analyst in Washington, D.C. at the Institute for Policy Studies. At IPS, Dr. Wood published major policy reports and served as a media spokesperson about income and wealth inequality.

Dr. Wood has written dozens of op-eds and articles providing historical perspective on contemporary social and political issues. She brings her experience in both academia and policy to her writing and the classroom, creating a dynamic learning environment for students.

Dr. Wood’s research has been widely acclaimed in academic journals and national media. Her book, “Upon the Altar of Work: Child Labor & the Rise of a New American Sectionalism,” was published in 2020 by the University of Illinois Press. Dr. Wood was 1 of 13 national leaders invited to discuss child labor at the University of Arkansas Law School Symposium on Child Labor in the fall of 2023. In the spring of 2024, she was invited to speak at Georgetown University’s 2024 Symposium on Work and Poverty.

Her work has appeared in national publications, including TIME Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, U.S. News & World Report, The Conversation, and local newspapers around the country. She has also been interviewed by Stateline News, The Guardian, Bloomberg News, and others.

Dr. Wood’s current projects include writing a history of American attitudes towards taxation since World War 2 and developing courses that bridge history and policy.

PRAISE FOR UPON THE ALTAR OF WORK:

“Fresh, exciting, and original. . . .Upon the Altar of Work is a signal achievement.”  –Labor/Le Travail

“Highly original . . . extraordinarily timely.” –Eric Foner, Columbia University

“An exemplary work of intellectual and political history.”  –Labor

“An ambitious book that recognizes and highlights the importance of child labor as a cultural symbol.” –Journal of American History

 “Upon the Altar of Work demonstrates that child labor was a lightning rod within larger conflicts over the moral and social costs of capitalism.”–The American Historical Review

“Highly interesting and novel reading of the child labor reform movement.”–H-Sol-Kult

”Innovative and persuasive.”  –Journal of Southern History

“An excellent work well worth the attention of all labor and southern historians.”  –-Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

“A very good book that should inspire additional research in other times and places.”  –Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth
“Slim, engaging . . . Upon the Altar of Work offers a novel interpretation of child labor debates.”  –Journal of Civil War Era

“Wood opens new views and makes exciting comparisons and contrasts of the ways sectional disputes informed child labor disputes that emerged from or were influenced by discussions of free labor and slave labor.”—Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies

Recent Publications

Books

Upon the Altar of Work: Child Labor & the Rise of a New American Sectionalism (University of Illinois Press, September 2020)

Featured by the Society for the History of Children and Youth (SHCY) as a feature book on their website and SHCY’s monthly podcast

In the News

Authored essay in TIME Magazine, “The Forgotten History of the Child Labor Amendment.”

Interviewed by Stateline News for an article about state-federal clashes over child labor laws

Interviewed by The Guardian for an article about child labor in restaurants and bars

Interviewed by Bloomberg News on the podcast, “The Big Take”

Quoted in YES! Magazine article, “Pushing Back Against Loosening Child Labor Laws”

Appeared on Latin American TV news program, The DNA of the News/El ADN de las Noticias, to explain the weakening of child labor laws in the U.S.

Appeared on TV news program, “Rising Up With Sonali.” (aired on Free Speech TV which is on Dish network, DirecTV, Roku, Sling TV, Manhattan Neighborhood Network, and others)

Co-authored an article in “The Conversation” about why states are loosening child labor laws

Co-authored this article republished by U.S. News & World Report

Media Coverage

https://theconversation.com/abolishing-child-labor-took-the-specter-of-white-slavery-and-the-job-markets-near-collapse-during-the-great-depression-144454

Social Media

@betsyonhudson

Country Focus

United States

Expertise by Geography

United States

Expertise by Chronology

19th century

Expertise by Topic

American Civil War, Capitalism, Emancipation, Family, Gender, Labor, Law, Race, Religion, Slavery