VIRGINIA L. SUMMEY
virginia.summey@gmail.com
EDUCATION
University of North Carolina at Greensboro – Greensboro, North Carolina
- 2017 – Ph.D. in United States History
- Fields: The American South, Legal History, Women’s History, African-American History, Twentieth Century Political History
- Dissertation: Fighting Within the Bar: Judge Elreta Alexander and Civil Rights Advocacy in Greensboro, North Carolina
University of North Carolina at Greensboro – Greensboro, North Carolina
- 2015 – Post-baccalaureate Certificate in African-American and African Diaspora Studies
University of Montana – Missoula, Montana
- 2012 - Master of Arts in History
- Thesis: Gender, Justice, and Jim Crow: North Carolina Judge Elreta Alexander and the Long Civil Rights Era
University of Montana – Missoula, Montana
- 2012 – Post-baccalaureate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies
Catawba College – Salisbury, North Carolina
- 2004 – Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Administration and a minor in History
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
- Adjunct Professor, University of Montana, 2023 - 2024
- Faculty Fellow, Lloyd International Honors College, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Fall 2019 – Fall 2022
- Lecturer, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Spring 2018 – Spring 2019
- Adjunct Professor, Catawba College, Fall 2015
UNIVERSITY COURSES TAUGHT
- Women in America: Colonial to Civil War
- U.S. Women's History Since 1865
- Greensboro: The World Through A City (Honors Seminar)
- Freshman Honors Colloquium (UNC-Greensboro)
- North Carolina History
- The United States Since 1865
- Race, Gender, and Law Since 1865 (Honors Seminar)
- Human and Civil Rights, 1760 – Present
- The Twentieth Century World, 1945 – 2000
- The Twentieth Century World, 1900 – 1945
HISTORICAL CONSULTING/PUBLIC HISTORY
- Research Historian – Jeanes Teachers Initiative, Center for Racial Equality, Fall 2023
- Content Expert - One High Point Commission, High Point, NC - 2023
- Co-founder of The Source Historical Consulting, 2021 – present
- Research Associate – “The Civil War and the Fight for the Soul of America,” Documentary Film, RIOTeous Records, LLC, December 2021 – present (Contract with The Source)
- Expert Take: NC Democracy Exhibit, Greensboro History Museum, April 2022 – November 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXn_cGHVvTY&list=PLMBP04N6aYU-M6LPehCUQVeMP1romHrag&index=7
- Research Historian – Listening to the NC 10, Center for Racial Equity in Education, March – November 2021
PUBLICATIONS
Books
- The Life of Judge Elreta Melton Alexander: Activism Within the Courts, Athens: The University of Georgia Press, May 2022.
Articles/Chapters
- “Elreta Melton Alexander: A Theoretical Approach,” in A Seat at the Table: Black Women Public Intellectuals in U.S. History and Culture, edited by Hettie V. Williams and Melissa Ziobro (Jackson, MS: University of Mississippi Press, 2020), October 2023
- “Redefining Activism: Judge Elreta Alexander and Civil Rights Advocacy in the New South,” North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 90, No. 3 (July 2013), 237 – 258.
Research Reports
- “Fertile Ground: The Story of North Carolina’s Black Colleges and Universities,” with James E. Ford, Center for Racial Equity in Education, November 2021.
Op-Eds
- “In Chief Justice Beasley’s Loss, Race Again Played A Troubling Role,” Raleigh News & Observer & Charlotte Observer, Sunday, December 27, 2020.
- “Even if Georgia Turns Blue, North Carolina May Not Follow,” with J. Michael Bitzer, The Washington Post, Tuesday, December 8, 2020.
- “Why ‘Fame’ Needs to Go,” The Salisbury Post, Sunday, June 14, 2020.
- “Papers Reveal Social Origins of ‘Fame’,” with Gary Freeze and Daniel Harvey, The Salisbury Post, Sunday, June 16, 2019.
- “Elreta Alexander-Ralston Paved the Way For Black Women on the Bench,” Greensboro News and Record, April 7, 2019.
Book Reviews
- Review of Postel, Charles. Equality: An American Dilemma, 1866-1896. HCivWar, H-Net Reviews, May, 2020, https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=54762
- Review of Icenhauer-Ramirez, Robert. Treason on Trial: The United States v. Jefferson Davis. Journal of Southern History, Volume 86, No. 4, November 2020, pp. 924 – 925.
Miscellaneous
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
- “A Respectable Childhood: Becoming Judge Elreta Alexander,” 85th Annual Meeting of the Southern Historical Association, November 9, 2019
- “The Performative Leadership of Judge Elreta Melton Alexander,” Fifth Biennial International Interdisciplinary Conference on Race at Monmouth University, November 9, 2017
- “Within the Bar: Judge Elreta Alexander and Civil Rights Advocacy in Greensboro, North Carolina,” Biography Again: A New Look at History’s Oldest Discipline Conference at SUNY Fredonia, April 9, 2016
- “The Career of Elreta Melton Alexander: A Theoretical Approach,” Southeast Women’s Studies Association Conference, April 2, 2016
- “Precariously Perched: African-American Families and the Black Baptist Church,” Graduate and Faculty Research Conference at The University of Montana, April 24, 2011
- “Unsung Pioneer: Judge Elreta Alexander Ralston and the Civil Rights Movement,” Phi Alpha Theta Pacific Northwest Regional Conference, April 7, 2011
HONORS
- Archie K. Davis Fellowship, North Caroliniana Society – April 2019
- Allen W. Trelease Graduate Fellowship in History (UNCG) – Fall 2016
- Summer Assistantship (UNCG Graduate School) – Summer 2016
- Women’s & Gender Studies Graduate Scholarship (University of Montana) – November 2011
- Pat Williams Scholarship (University of Montana) – May 2011
- Outstanding Presentation, Graduate & Faculty Research Conference (University of MT) – April 2011
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
- Historical Society of North Carolina
- 2022 Chair of Lefler Award Committee
- American Historical Association
- Coordinating Council for Women in History
- Southern Historical Association
- Southern Association of Women Historians
- Organization of American Historians
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY
- North Carolina Democracy Exhibit, Greensboro History Museum, currently on display, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXn_cGHVvTY
- Presenter, "The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of the Honorable Elreta Alexander '45", Alumni of Color Event, Columbia Law School, December 9, 2020
- Columbia Law won Council for Advancement and Support of Education Circle of Excellence Bronze Award for this event
- Panelist, “Green Book Panel Discussion,” Hosted by the Historic Magnolia House and the UNCG Museum Studies Class of 2021, October 13, 2020
- Presenter, “A Respectable Childhood: Becoming Judge Elreta Alexander,” Race, Gender, and Jim Crow Series at the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum, February 27, 2020
- Presenter, “Maintaining the Status Quo: Jim Crow in North Carolina,” Slavery and Its Legacies in North Carolina, High Point University, Saturday, October 5, 2019
- Moderator, “Women’s History and the City,” Greensboro: The World Through A City Discussion, Greensboro Historical Museum, Greensboro, North Carolina, Thursday, March 28, 2019
- Alumni Panelist, “Catawba After College,” Catawba College, Salisbury, North Carolina, February 15, 2019
Book Manuscript Reviews
- University of Georgia Press
- PBS North Carolina, “My Home, NC – Lillian Exum Clement,” April 18, 2023, https://video.pbsnc.org/video/lillian-exum-clement-zp48xw/
- New Books in the American South Podcast, “The Life of Elreta Melton Alexander,” December 7, 2022
- Spectrum News, Capital Tonight, “New Book Explores Life of NC’s First Black Judge,” April 11, 2022
- You Don’t Know History Podcast, Episode 19, April 13, 2021
- History Notes Podcast, Greensboro History Museum, “Groundbreaking Judge Elreta Alexander, February 23, 2021
- Panelist, “Honoring the Women Who Made a Difference in Greensboro,” The State of Things, NPR, WUNC, February 26, 2019
- Board Member, Salem Montessori School, 2023 - 2025
- Stakeholder Committee Member, Ruth Wicker Tribute to Women, City of Greensboro Parks and Recreation, Greensboro, N.C., 2018, 2023
Virginia L. Summey