Danielle L. McGuire, a postdoctoral fellow in Southern studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has received a 2008 Lerner-Scott Prize from the Organization of American Historians.
The prize honors her dissertation, which she is revising during her fellowship at UNC’s Center for the Study of the American South.
The dissertation, “At the Dark End of the Street: Sexualized Violence, Community Mobilization, and the African American Freedom Struggle,” is set between 1940 and 1975. It examines how sexual violence and the defense of black womanhood catalyzed the modern civil rights movement. McGuire sheds light on issues of sexual violence and power that plague communities throughout the world.
“It’s the center’s mission to support the research of outstanding scholars like Danielle, and we are delighted that her work is receiving the recognition that it deserves,” said Harry Watson, Ph.D., history professor and center director.
Each year, the center awards two postdoctoral fellowships to junior scholars for revision of book-length manuscripts related to the American South. For more information, visit the center’s Web site http://www.uncsouth.org/ .
The Lerner-Scott Dissertation Prize recognizes the year’s best doctoral dissertation in U.S. women’s history. The prize honors Gerda Lerner and Anne Firor Scott, pioneers in women’s history and past presidents of the Organization of American Historians.
Center for the Study of the American South contact: Lisa Eveleigh, (919) 962-0506
News Services contact: LJ Toler, (919) 962-8589