Keisha N. Blain Awarded Best Book in African American Women’s and Gender History


Blain in a dark shirt

Keisha N. Blain, assistant professor in the Department of History, received the 2019 Darlene Clark Hine Award from the Organization of American Historians (OAH).

The prestigious award, given annually for the “best book in African American women’s and gender history,” was presented to Blain for her recent publication, “Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom.” The book, which “[draws] on a variety of previously untapped sources, including newspapers, government records, songs, and poetry,” tells the stories of Black women nationalists in the 20th century.

The award committee calls Blain’s work a “major contribution to existing historiographies that centers on African American women, black internationalism, intellectual history and African American history.”

The OAH, founded in 1907, is the world’s “largest professional association dedicated to American history scholarship.”