Barbara Krauthamer (born 1967) is an American historian specializing in

African-American history African-American history started with the forced transportation of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Africans to North America in the 16th and 17th centuries. The European colonization of the Americas, and the resulting Atlantic slave trade, ...

. She has been the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

since 2023. Prior to this, Krauthamer was the dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

from 2020 until 2023.

Biography

Barbara Krauthamer was born in 1967 in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. Her father was a

German Jew The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...

who had fled to the United States in 1938, later co-founding the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. Her mother was "the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

woman to receive a doctorate in

clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...

from

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

". After growing up in

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

, Krauthamer attended

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

, where she initially majored in

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...

. While at Dartmouth, Krauthamer organized and led rallies against

apartheid in South Africa Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

, later switching her major to government. She graduated from Dartmouth in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in government. After working at public defender's offices in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

for several years, Krauthamer began attending graduate school at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

, graduating in 1994 with a master's degree in

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

. She received a doctorate in history from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 2000. After working as a faculty member at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, Krauthamer became an

assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...

of history at the

in 2008, specializing in

and the

history of slavery The history of slavery spans many cultures, nationalities, and Slavery and religion, religions from ancient times to the present day. Likewise, its victims have come from many different ethnicities and religious groups. The social, economic, a ...

. In 2013, she published the book ''Black Slaves, Indian Masters: Slavery, Emancipation, and Citizenship in the Native American South'', which is the "first full-length study of chattel slavery and the lives of enslaved people in the

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

and

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...

Indian nations". The same year, she and photographer Deborah Willis co-authored ''Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery'', a book which featured over 150 historical images of African Americans. ''Envisioning Emancipation'' was highly recognized, and was awarded the 2013 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Non-Fiction. Krauthamer has also edited ''Major Problems in African American History'', a prominent textbook in the field. In 2017, she was awarded the Lorraine A. Williams Leadership Award by the

Association of Black Women Historians The Association of Black Women Historians (ABWH) is a non-profit professional association based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. The organization was developed in 1977 and formally founded in 1979. History The Association of Black Wome ...

for her efforts in creating "opportunities for Black women in higher education". From 2018 to 2019, Krauthamer was also the president of the

Southern Association for Women Historians The Southern Association for Women Historians (SAWH) is a professional organization in the United States founded in 1970. It supports the study of women's and gender history of the American South, gives annual book and article prizes, and provides ...

. In 2017, Krauthamer was appointed dean of the University of Massachusetts Graduate School, overseeing the university's graduate program. In this role, she "created multiple fellowship and mentoring programs designed to support the recruitment and retention of traditionally underrepresented graduate students". She had previously served as graduate program director in the department of history, where she advocated for increased diversity and changes to the admissions and funding processes for doctoral students. Krauthamer was appointed dean of the

University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Humanities and Fine Arts The College of Humanities & Fine Arts (in full, University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Humanities and Fine Arts) is a college of the University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a p ...

in 2020. On November 1, 2022, she was appointed to the Massachusetts Cultural Council by Governor

Charlie Baker Charles Duane Baker Jr. (born November 13, 1956) is an American politician serving as the sixth president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 72nd governor of Massa ...

. On July 1, 2023, Krauthamer left the University of Massachusetts to become the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at

, becoming the university's first African American dean.

Publications

* *Reviews of ''Envisioning Emancipation'' include: * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krauthamer, Barbara 1967 births Writers from Princeton, New Jersey Jewish American historians African-American historians American women historians Historians from New Jersey 21st-century American historians 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics African-American women academics American women academics African-American women academic administrators American women academic administrators African-American academic administrators American university and college faculty deans Dartmouth College alumni Washington University in St. Louis alumni Princeton University alumni New York University faculty University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty Emory University faculty Historians of African Americans Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)