Martha S. Jones

Professor Martha S. Jones is the Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor, Professor of History, and a Professor at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. A legal and cultural historian, she examines how Black Americans have shaped American democracy. She is the author of Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All (2020), winner of the L.A. Times Book Prize for History, and Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America (2018), which received multiple national awards.

Jones is also a public historian and has consulted on exhibitions and media projects for institutions like the Smithsonian and PBS. She holds a Ph.D. in history from Columbia and a J.D. from CUNY School of Law. A former public interest lawyer, she continues to serve on numerous boards related to history, law, and public scholarship.