Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar is the NEH Professor in the Humanities and Chair of African American Studies at Emory University. Her focus is on the history of slavery and freedom, social history, urban history, and women’s history. She centers the lives of 18th and 19th century Black women who called America their home. 

Dunbar is committed to both the production of scholarly literature and to public facing work that can reach large general audiences. Her books include A Fragile Freedom: African American Women and Emancipation in the Antebellum City, She Came To Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman, and Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge.  Through op-eds and essays for media outlets, children's books, and appearances in documentaries and biopics, she is a highly visible public historian. 

From 2011-2018, she served as the inaugural Director of the Program in African American History at the Library Company of Philadelphia. From 2019-2022, Dunbar served as the National Director of the Association of Black Women Historians–the only professional organization focused on Black women’s history. Dunbar also serves as the Co-Executive Producer and lead historical consultant for HBO’s Emmy nominated show, The Gilded Age.

Dunbar received her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and PhD from Columbia University.