Participant Info

First Name
Ashley
Last Name
Steenson
Country
United States
State
AL
Affiliation
The University of Alabama
Website URL
https://history.ua.edu/graduate-student/ashley-steenson/
Keywords
American History, Southern History, Political History, Intellectual History, Cultural History
Availability
Media Contact
Additional Contact Information
PhD
other credentials

Personal Info

Photo
About Me

I’m a PhD candidate in twentieth-century American political history at the University of Alabama, where I’m currently a History Writing Fellow. I received an MA in history and a graduate minor in women’s and gender studies from the University of Mississippi. The title of my project is “Blacklisted Women: Lillian Hellman, Tallulah Bankhead, and Fredi Washington.” This summer, I received a short-term fellowship from The New York Public Library to support my research.

Outside of academia, I’ve been published in The Washington Post and TIME. While my academic research is in Southern women’s history, I look at the South as a diverse and multifaceted region through freelance essays on subjects like rap music, Tennessee Williams, Bama Rush, futuristic architecture, and FDR in Mississippi. I have two rescue dogs and read everything from Hemingway to Emily Henry.

Recent Publications

Lillian Hellman: Southern Writer, Southern Woman, Deep South Magazine (forthcoming)

Elmwood Cemetery and the Art of Dionicio Rodriguez, Alabama Heritage (Summer 2024)

To Understand Trump’s Appeal (to his Base), Look to Alabama History, TIME, January 25, 2024 (not an endorsement)

Mt. Nebo Cemetery and Isaac Nettles’s Death Mask Gravestones, Alabama Heritage (Spring 2023)

The Politics of Tallulah Bankhead, Women’s History Network Blog, January 18, 2023

Buddha, Bird City, and Jungle Gardens, Deep South Magazine, December 14, 2022

Plastic Paradise: A short history about an unusual home, Atomic Ranch (Design Issue 2022)

Can rappers be jailed for lyrics and image? History shows they can, The Washington Post, July 18, 2022

Water Valley, Mississippi and the Legend of Casey Jones, Deep South Magazine, June 7, 2022

The Delta Mansion That Inspired Tennessee Williams, Deep South Magazine, March 24, 2022

Irene Scruggs and American Expats in Europe, Women’s History Network Blog, January 31, 2022

Joe Manchin might be principled. Or he might scorn his own constituents, The Washington Post, January 27, 2022

Out on Good Behaviour, History Today, Vol. 74, No. 11 (Nov. 2021)

Viral sorority TikTok videos share only one side of Southern university life, The Washington Post, August 27, 2021

Frank Lloyd Wright in the Deep South, Deep South Magazine, August 6, 2021

Roosevelt’s Southern Connection, History Today, Vol. 71, No. 3 (March 2021)

Media Coverage
“The Roundup Top Ten for January 28, 2022” (Featured Author), History News Network, https://hnn.us/article/182314
Country Focus
United States
Expertise by Geography
United States
Expertise by Chronology
20th century
Expertise by Topic
Local & Regional, Politics, Women