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The Politics of Care Work

Emma Amador, Author

Duke University Press, 2025

 

In The Politics of Care Work, Emma Amador tells the story of Puerto Rican women’s involvement in political activism for social and economic justice in Puerto Rico and the United States throughout the twentieth century. Amador focuses on the experiences and contributions of Puerto Rican social workers, care workers, and caregivers who fought for the compensation of reproductive labor in society and the establishment of social welfare programs. These activists believed conflicts over social reproduction and care work were themselves high-stakes class struggles for women, migrants, and people of color. In Puerto Rico, they organized for women’s rights, socialism, labor standards, and Puerto Rican independence. They continued this work in the United States by advocating for migrant rights, participating in the civil rights movement, and joining Puerto Rican-led social movements. Amador shows how their relentless efforts gradually shifted the field of social work toward social justice and community-centered activism. The profound and enduring impact of their efforts on Puerto Rican communities underscores the crucial role of Puerto Rican women’s caregiving labor and activism in building and sustaining migrant communities.

Prof Jeff Ogbar Presents New Book in DC

Professor Jeffrey Ogbar has edited a path-breaking new book, Black Movement: African-American Urban History Since the Great Migration, and will be presenting it this Monday in Washington, DC.  On Monday evening at 7pm, he will be in conversation about the book with Frederick Knight, Chair of the History Department at Howard University, at the renowned bookstore Politics & Prose.  More details on the event can be found here.

Black Movement includes essays by a wide range of scholars, including Jeff Ogbar, Melanie Newport, and Fiona Vernal from UConn, as well as Stefan M. Bradley, Scot Brown, Tatiana M. F. Cruz, Tom Adam Davies, LaShawn Harris, Maurice J. Hobson, Shannon King, Brian Purnell, J. T. Roane, Chanelle Rose, and Benjamin H. Saracco, It was published this month by the University of North Carolina Press.

Upcoming Lectures from Prof. Manisha Sinha

Prof. Manisha Sinha will be giving a series of lectures, this April, beginning on April 8 in New Haven, CT. Check out event details below:

April 8, 2025: Bosworth Memorial Lecture in American History, Yale University, New Haven, CT: Link

April 10, 2025: Lecture Sponsored by the History Department and the McFarland Center, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA: Link

April 21, 2025: Hartman Hotz Lecture in Law and Liberal Arts, School of Law and Department of History, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR: Link

Alexis Dudden Article about Firebombing of Tokyo Published in Economist

Earlier this month, Alexis Dudden‘s article, “Alexis Dudden on the Firebombing of Tokyo and on Post-war Struggles to Keep it Remembered,” was published in The Economist. The article tackles the topic of the air raids in Japan of World War II, and the efforts to remember the civilians who were injured, perished, and made homeless by the bombings.

To read the article in The Economist: Article

To read the PDF version: Article

Jeffrey Ogbar Interviewed by KPFA

On the 1st of February, Professor Jeffrey Ogbar was interviewed by KPFA 94.1, a radio station based in California. The episode, titled “Carry the Light: Atlanta: America’s Black Capital”, delves into “the history of the trials, tribulations, survival and triumphs of Atlanta’s Black citizens” and a discussion of these topics within the book America’s Black Captial.  Professor Ogbar talks with Davey D, the founder of Hard Knock Radio and a Hip Hop Historian. This episode is part of a series of interviews by KPFA to celebrate and recognize Black history and culture.

In 2023, Dr. Jeffery Ogbar published America’s Black Capital: How African Americans Remade Atlanta in the Shadow of the Confederacy, which “chronicles how a center of Black excellence emerged amid virulent expressions of white nationalism, as African Americans pushed back against Confederate ideology to create an extraordinary locus of achievement”.

To listen to the interview: Carry the Light: Atlanta: America’s Black Capital

To listen to the other episodes in this series: Carry the Light

 

 

Grace Easterly Selected as 2024-25 CWAR Institute Fellow

Grace Easterly has been selected as a 2024-2025 fellow at the Cold War Archives Research Institute.Grace Easterly, graduate student

The Cold War Archives Research Institute at the Wilson Center has two objectives: “to stimulate original scholarship on the interplay between soft and hard power in the cold and hot wars between 1945 and 1991; and to demonstrate the power of cooperative scholarship through innovative archival practices”. This highly competitive fellowship seeks to train graduate level students in archival research methodologies, and hone the CWAR fellows “critical research skills in historical and archival methodologies, further their own research agendas in Cold War history, improve their communication and presentation skills, and develop a network of supportive professional contacts”.

Congratulations to Grace Easterly on this impressive achievement!

Manisha Sinha Speaks at Congressional Dialogue Series

On September 25, Prof. Manisha Sinha visited Washington D.C., where she discussed her new book, The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920, as part of the Congressional Dialogue series. Speaking before an audience of more than two hundred Members of Congress, Prof. Sinha discussed the relevance of Reconstruction to contemporary politics, and to the issues Americans face today.

Historians Mahoney and Horrocks on American Girl Dolls

History Ph.D.’s Mary Mahoney ’18 and Allison Horrocks ’16 explore American Girl dolls through Allison Horrocks, 2016 History Ph.Dlenses of history and pop culture in their podcast “The Dolls of Our Lives,” and their recent book, The Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl.

Their work has garnered significant attention and interest.  It has been featured in UConn Today, “In New BooMary Margaret Mahoney, History Department, UConnk, History Ph.D.s Explore ‘Why We Can’t Quit American Girl,’” where they discuss their podcast, their book, and weigh-in on which American Girl’s they think would earn history Ph.D.’s.

Prof. Sinha Signs Brief in Colorado Ballot Case

Manisha Sinha, professor of history

Prof. Manisha Sinha is one of twenty-five Civil War and Reconstruction historians who signed an amicus brief in support of Colorado’s attempt to remove Donald Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment, which bars insurrection participants from running for office. A summary of the brief’s main arguments is featured in the Guardian article, “US historians sign brief to support Colorado’s removal of Trump from ballot.”

Find the whole brief here.

A second brief from historians regarding the case cites Prof. Sinha’s upcoming book, The Rise and Fall of the Second American, 1860-1920