Participant Info

First Name
Kate Clifford
Last Name
Larson
Country
United States
State
MA Massachusetts
Affiliation
Independent Scholar
Website URL
www.katecliffordlarson.com
Keywords
19th and 20th Century, Women's History, African American History, Slavery, Underground Railroad, Abolition, Chesapeake, Maryland, Kennedy, Lincoln, Civil Rights, Biography, Harriet Tubman, Harriet movie, Rosemary Kennedy, Mary Surratt, Public History, Consultant, Film, Museum, Exhibit, Script Writing, Interpretive Planning.
Availability
Media Contact
Additional Contact Information
Generally available for phone interviews. In person interviews possible, too.
PhD
PhD

Personal Info

Photo
About Me

Kate Clifford Larson is a New York Times bestselling author of three critically acclaimed biographies: Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter (2015); Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero (2004); and The Assassin’s Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln (2008). She has received numerous awards and citations, including the 2016 Mass Book Award in Non-fiction for Rosemary, and one of People Magazine’s top-ten books of 2015. She has consulted on film scripts – including the recent Harriet movie starring Cynthia Erivo – documentaries, museum exhibits, public history initiatives, and numerous publications. Passionate about researching and writing about American women, Larson enjoys the challenges of teasing out life stories from voices that have long been silenced. “I feel strongly that we must reconnect with the women who helped build and shape this country,” Larson recently wrote, “and by putting women at the center of the story, the world looks very different – more complex, interesting, and colorful.” She is currently writing a biography of Civil Rights icon, Fannie Lou Hamer entitled Walk With Me, due out from Oxford University Press in 2021.

 

Recent Publications

Walk With Me: A Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer, Oxford University Press, Forthcoming Spring 2021.

The Encyclopedia of Harriet Tubman, Rowman & Littlefield, Forthcoming 2021.

Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, October 2015. New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller, winner of the Mass Book Award in Nonfiction, 2016, and named one of the Best Biographies of all time by BookBub, 2018. Featured cover story, People Magazine, September 14, 2015, and named People Magazine top ten books for 2015. Community Reads in 2019 for Pembroke, MA, 2016 for Woburn and Winchester, MA, and 2017, Cayuga County, NY.

The Assassin’s Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln. Basic Books. June 2008.

Bound For the Promised Land:  Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero.  Ballantine Books/One World. 2004. Wall Street Journal best seller, 2016.

Articles and Reports:

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park and Monument Historic Resource Study, National Park Service, 2019.

“Kanye West’s Harriet Tubman tweets show how little we know about her history.” VOX Digitial Media First Person article, May 4, 2018. https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/5/4/17318324/kanye-wests-slavery-choice-harriet-tubman-tweets

“The $20 is Where Harriet Tubman Belongs.” co-author with Janell Hobson. New York Daily News, April 22, 2016.  http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/hobson-larson-20-harriet-tubman-belongs-article-1.2610524?cid=bitly.

“Five Myths About Harriet Tubman.” The Washington Post, April 22, 2016. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-harriet-tubman/2016/04/22/b9f3a270-07f0-11e6-b283-e79d81c63c1b_story.html.

Interpretive Essay, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument Scholars Round Table, November 2013.

“Racing for Freedom: Harriet Tubman’s Underground Railroad Network Through New York,” Afro-Americans In New York Life and History, Vol. 36 No. 1, January 2012.

Media Coverage
Country Focus
United States
Expertise by Geography
North America, United States
Expertise by Chronology
19th century, 20th century
Expertise by Topic
American Civil War, Emancipation, Local & Regional, Museums, Public History, Race, Slavery, Women