Gretchen Gerzina

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Gretchen Gerzina
Born1950 (age 73–74)
Other namesGretchen Holbrook Gerzina
Occupation(s)Historian, author, academic
Notable workBlack England: Life Before Emancipation
SpouseAnthony Gerzina
Children2
Websitegretchengerzina.com

Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina (born 1950) is an American author and academic who has written mostly historically-grounded biographical studies. Her academic posts have included being the Kathe Tappe Vernon Professor of Biography at Dartmouth College, working as a professor at Vassar College, being a professor and a director of Africana Studies at Barnard College, and as at April 2019 being the Dean of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Commonwealth Honors College.[1] Gerzina was the host of WAMC's nationally-syndicated radio program The Book Show for fourteen years, where she interviewed authors.[2]

In the UK, she presented a 10-part documentary for BBC Radio 4 called Britain's Black Past,[3] which she subsequently adapted into a book.[4]

Personal life[edit]

She was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, just before she was five years old.[2] She is married to Anthony Gerzina and they have two sons.[2]

Selected publications[edit]

  • 1989: Carrington: A Life
  • 1995: Black England: Life Before Emancipation. (Also known as Black London: Life Before Emancipation)[5][6][7]
  • 2004: Frances Hodgson Burnett: The unexpected life of the author of The Secret Garden[8][9]
  • 2008: Mr. and Mrs. Prince: How an Extraordinary 18th-Century Family Moved out of Slavery and into Legend

References[edit]

  1. ^ "About Us | Dean Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina". Commonwealth Honors College. University of Massachusetts Amherst. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "About Gretchen Gerzina". gretchengerzina.com. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  3. ^ "Britain's Black Britain". BBC Radio 4. October 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  4. ^ Gerzina, Gretchen (March 11, 2020). Britain's Black Past. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1789621600.
  5. ^ Rogers, P. (1996). "Black England - Life before emancipation". The Times Literary Supplement: 8.
  6. ^ Barthelemy, A. G. (1997). "Black London: Life before Emancipation". African American Review (31 ed.): 508.
  7. ^ Porter, R. (1995). "Black London: Life Before Emancipation". The New York Times Book Review (30 ed.).
  8. ^ Walter, Natasha (May 8, 2004). "Review | Sugar and spice". The Guardian. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  9. ^ Mills, C. (2004). "Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Unexpected Life of the Author of The Secret Garden (review)". Children's Literature Association Quarterly (29 ed.): 270–272.

External links[edit]