Lauranett Lee
{{Short description|American historian, educator, and curator (born c. 1956)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lauranett Lee
| birth_name = Lauranett Lorraine Lee
| birth_date = c. {{birth year and age|1956}}
| birth_place = Chesterfield County, Virginia, U.S.
| alma_mater = Mundelein College,
Virginia State University,
University of Virginia
| occupation = Independent historian, educator, curator, author
| known_for = Civil War, Reconstruction, African-American history
}}
Lauranett Lorraine Lee (born {{circa|1956}}){{Cite web |last= |date=2020-02-19 |title=A legacy of learning: VSU's Edgar Toppin, the man behind Black History Month |url=https://www.chesterfieldobserver.com/articles/a-legacy-of-learning-vsus-edgar-toppin-the-man-behind-black-history-month/ |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=Chesterfield Observer}} is an American historian, educator, curator, and author.{{Cite web|url=https://uvamagazine.org/articles/lauranett_lee_grad_02|title=Difference Maker: Lauranett Lee: Alumna works tirelessly to bring the names of Virginia's slaves out from the shadows|website=Virginia Magazine}} She is a professor at the University of Richmond, and the founding curator for African American History in the Virginia Museum of History and Culture.{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Charlie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5YstDwAAQBAJ |title=Hidden History of Arlington County |date=2017-07-31 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-1-4396-6159-8 |pages=97 |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2020-10-01 |title=Descendants Of People Enslaved By Virginia's Governors Are Reframing History |url=https://www.wvtf.org/2020-10-01/descendants-of-people-enslaved-by-virginias-governors-are-reframing-history |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=WVTF |language=en}} She specializes in study of the Civil War, Reconstruction, Virginia state history, and African-American history.
Early life and education
Lauranett L. Lee was born in Chesterfield County, and was raised near Bon Air. Lee's mother work as a computer operator for the U.S. Defense Supply Center.
Lee received a B.A. degree in communications from Mundelein College (now Loyola University Chicago) in Chicago; followed by a M.A. degree from Virginia State University; and a PhD in 2002 from University of Virginia. She studied under Edgar Toppin at VSU, who greatly influenced her work. Her doctoral thesis, Crucible in the Classroom: The Freedpeople and Their Teachers Charlottesville, Virginia, 1861–1876, was on the teachers of the freed people of Charlottesville, Virginia, such as Philena Carkin, a white northern schoolteacher who moved to Charlottesville to teach African Americans after the Civil War.{{Cite news |last=Shaver |first=Mark |date=March 8, 1995 |title=Museum lectures focus on women's issues |page=3 |work=The Daily News Leader |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113274117/museum-lectures-focus-on-womens-issues/ |access-date=2022-11-18 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Career
Lee had lived in Raleigh, Chicago and Atlanta before returning home to Virginia in 1988, to be closer to family. She had started her career working as a teacher in middle school and high school with the Chesterfield County Public Schools.{{Cite web |title=Teachers learn about slavery at Lee's birthplace |url=http://richmondfreepress.com/news/2018/aug/09/teachers-learn-about-slavery-lees-birthplace/ |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=Richmond Free Press}}
From 2000 to 2016, Lee worked at the Virginia Historical Society, now the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. Starting in 2011, she led the development of a database called "Unknown No Longer: A Database of Virginia Slave Names," to help genealogist and families identify people who were once enslaved.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=September 10, 2014 |title=Slave names will be 'Unknown No Longer' |url=https://www.progress-index.com/story/news/2011/05/17/slave-names-will-be-unknown/36454452007/ |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=The Progress Index |language=en-US}} Lee wrote a book, "Making the American Dream Work: A Cultural History of African Americans in Hopewell, Virginia" (2008, Morgan James Publishing) on the cultural history of African Americans in Hopewell, Virginia.{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=SaraRose |date=December 21, 2018 |title=Good Serve: Creating Change |url=https://richmondmagazine.com/api/content/334eda46-ecd6-11e8-910d-120e7ad5cf50/ |website=Richmond Magazine |publisher=Target Communications Inc.}} She has appeared on C-Span.{{Cite web |title=Lauranett L. Lee |url=https://www.c-span.org/person/?9277176/LauranettLLee |website=C-SPAN.org}}
She was appointed to an advisory council on Virginia's executive mansion.{{Cite web |title=Bill Tracking - 2021 session > Legislation |url=https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?211+ful+SJ298 |website=LIS Virginia |publisher=Virginia General Assembly}} She discussed the history of Juneteenth at Virginia governor Ralph Northam's press conference on making it a state holiday.{{Cite web |date=June 16, 2020 |title=Historian Dr. Lauranett Lee explains significance of Juneteenth |url=https://www.wjhl.com/video/historian-dr-lauranett-lee-explains-significance-of-juneteenth/5597397/ |website=WJHL |type=video}}
As of 2023, Lee is a candidate for Chesterfield County School Board in the Midlothian District.{{Cite web |title=vpap.org |url=https://www.vpap.org/candidates/442681-lauranett-lorraine-lee/www.vpap.org/candidates/442681-lauranett-lorraine-lee/ |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=The Virginia Public Access Project |language=en}}
Writings
- {{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Lauranett L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U8FDw8yklmkC |title=Making the American Dream Work: A Cultural History of African Americans in Hopewell, Virginia |publisher=Morgan James Publishing |year=2008 |isbn=9781600374661 |location=Hampton, VA}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://history.richmond.edu/faculty/llee/ Profile] at University of Richmond
- Campaign Website for 2023 election https://www.lee4schoolboard.com/
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Lauranett}}
Category:21st-century African-American writers
Category:African-American historians
Category:African-American women academics
Category:Historians from Virginia
Category:Mundelein College alumni
Category:People from Chesterfield County, Virginia
Category:University of Richmond faculty
Category:University of Virginia alumni
Category:Virginia State University alumni