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Barbara Jeanne Fields (born 1947 in
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
) is a professor of American history at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. Her focus is on the history of the American South, 19th century social history, and the transition to capitalism in the United States.


Life

Barbara Fields was raised in Washington, D.C., where she attended Morgan Elementary School, Banneker Junior High School, and Western High School. She received her
B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
from
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
in 1968, and her
Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
from
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
in 1978. At Yale, she was one of the last doctoral students of
C. Vann Woodward Comer Vann Woodward (November 13, 1908 – December 17, 1999) was an American historian who focused primarily on the American South and race relations. He was long a supporter of the approach of Charles A. Beard, stressing the influence of unse ...
, one of the preeminent American historians of the twentieth century. She appears in
Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV and/or th ...
' documentary series, ''The Civil War'' and ''The Congress''. Fields was the first African American woman to receive tenure at Columbia University. She has also taught at
Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...
, the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, and the
University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...
. She is widely known for her 1990 essay, "Slavery, Race and Ideology in the United States of America." She authored the 2012 book ''Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life'' (along with her sister Karen Fields, a sociologist). The book argues that race is a product of racism; that racism is an ideology and a way of misunderstanding social reality; and that racecraft in American society serves to obfuscate the actual dynamics of inequality.
Bard College Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark. Founded in 1860, ...
awarded Fields an honorary doctorate in May 2007. She received the
Philolexian The Philolexian Society of Columbia University is one of the oldest college literary and debate societies in the United States, and the oldest student group at Columbia. Founded in 1802, the Society aims to "improve its members in Oratory, Comp ...
Award for Distinguished Literary Achievement in 2017.


Awards

* 1992
MacArthur Fellows Program The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...
* 1986
John H. Dunning Prize The John H. Dunning Prize is a biennial book prize awarded by the American Historical Association for the best book in history related to the United States. The prize was established in 1929, and is regarded as one of the most prestigious national h ...
of the
American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...
, for ''Slavery and Freedom on the Middle Ground: Maryland during the Nineteenth Century'' * Founders Prize of the Confederate Memorial Literary Society, for ''The Destruction of Slavery'' * Thomas Jefferson Prize of the Society for the History of the Federal Government, for ''The Destruction of Slavery'' * 1994
Lincoln Prize The Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize, founded by the late Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman in partnership with Gabor Boritt, Director Emeritus of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, is administered by the Gilder Lehrman Institute for Ameri ...
by the Lincoln and Soldiers Institute at
Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a private liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about 2,600 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women. ...
, for ''Free At Last: A Documentary History of Slavery, Emancipation, and the Civil War''


Works


"Slavery, Race and Ideology in the United States of America"
''New Left Review'', Issue 181, May/June 1990
"Whiteness, Racism and Identity"
''International Labor & Working-Class History'', Issue 60, Fall 2001 * "Origins of the New South and the Negro Question", ''Journal of Southern History'', Vol 67 No 4, November 2001

''American Historical Review'', Vol 180 No 5, December 2003 * ''Slavery and Freedom on the Middle Ground: Maryland during the Nineteenth Century'' (Yale University Press, 1985), * ''The Destruction of Slavery'' (Cambridge University Press, 1985), Editors Ira Berlin, Barbara J. Fields, Thavolia Glymph, Joseph P. Reidy, Leslie S. Rowland, * ''Slaves No More: Three Essays on the Emancipation and the Civil War'' (Cambridge University Press, 1992) * ''Free At Last: A Documentary History of Slavery, Emancipation, and the Civil War'' (The New Press, 1992) * ''Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life'' (Verso, 2012), with Karen Fields,


References


External Links



''RACE'', March 2001
2011 C-SPAN talk by Barbara Fields recorded in Charleston, South Carolina.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fields, Barbara Jeanne Columbia University faculty African-American historians Harvard University alumni Historians of the United States Living people Northwestern University faculty University of Michigan faculty University of Mississippi faculty Lincoln Prize winners Yale University alumni MacArthur Fellows Writers from Charleston, South Carolina Writers from Washington, D.C. American women historians 20th-century American historians 20th-century American women writers 1947 births