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Laura F. Edwards

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Laura F. Edwards
Edwards in 2022
President of the Southern Historical Association
Incumbent
Assumed office
2026
Preceded byLorri Glover
President of the Southern Association for Women Historians
In office
2008–2009
Preceded byCynthia A. Kierner
Succeeded byMelissa Walker
Personal details
OccupationHistorian
Awards
Academic background
Alma mater
ThesisThe politics of manhood and womanhood: reconstruction in Granville County, North Carolina (1991)
Academic work
Sub-discipline
19th-century United States history
Institutions

Laura F. Edwards is an American historian. She has authored five books on U.S. history: Gendered Strife and Confusion (1997), Scarlett Doesn't Live Here Anymore (2000), The People and their Peace (2009), A Legal History of the Civil War and Reconstruction (2015), and Only the Clothes on Her Back (2022).

Originally an oboist as a student, she became interested in history during high school. After obtaining a PhD at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she became a professor at the University of South Florida, University of California, Los Angeles, and Duke University, before becoming Class of 1921 Bicentennial Professor of the History of American Law and Liberty at Princeton University. She is a 2012 Guggenheim Fellow and has won several awards for her work, including the 2023 Merle Curti Award for Social History. She has served as president of the Southern Association for Women Historians (2008) and the Southern Historical Association (2026).

Early life

[edit]

Edwards, an only child, was born to Sandra (née Rennich) and Robert Edwards.[1] Both her father and maternal grandfather George Rennich worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the latter a chemical engineer. Raised in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, she attended Oak Ridge High School.[1] She was an oboist as a student, and her determination to become a musician sent her to the Interlochen Arts Academy for her sophomore and junior years, a decision she said "actually diverted [her] away from music".[1][2] After returning to Tennessee, she played as an oboist for both ORHS' orchestra and the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, and graduated from the school in 1982.[1]

During her senior year, Edwards became interested in history after taking AP European History and AP United States History and setting up an independent study with her teacher in the former course.[1] After obtaining a BA in American Culture from Northwestern University, she moved to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she obtained an MA and PhD (both in history) in 1987 and 1991, respectively.[2] Her doctoral dissertation was The politics of manhood and womanhood: reconstruction in Granville County, North Carolina.[3] Around this time, she worked at the Newberry Library as an administrative assistant at their Family and Community History Center (1990–1992).[4]

Career

[edit]

After holding a visiting assistant professor position at the University of Chicago since 1992, Edwards joined the University of South Florida as an assistant professor of history in 1993.[4] She moved to the University of California, Los Angeles in 1997 and was promoted to associate professor in 2000 before leaving in 2001 to join the Duke University faculty.[4] In 2005, she was promoted to full professor, and in 2014, she was appointed Peabody Family Professor of History and Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies.[4] In 2021, she joined Princeton University as Class of 1921 Bicentennial Professor of the History of American Law and Liberty.[4] She was a 2023-2024 Princeton Humanities Council Old Dominion Research Professor.[5] In July 2026, she became director of Princeton's Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts.[6] She teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses on American legal history.[5]

Edwards specializes in 19th-century United States history, including in law and women,[6] and she has written five books.[7] She initially won the Journal of Southern History's 2000 Fletcher M. Green and Charles W. Ramsdell Award for her article "Law, Domestic Violence, and the Limits of Patriarchal Authority in the Antebellum South".[8] She won the American Historical Association's 2009 Littleton-Griswold Prize and the Southern Historical Association's 2010 Charles S. Sydnor Award for her 2009 book The People and Their Peace: Legal Culture and the Transformation of Inequality in the Post-Revolutionary South.[9][10] In 2012, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Law.[11] Another book, Only the Clothes on Her Back (2022), won several awards: the 2022 Society for the History of the Early Republic Best Book Prize,[12] the 2023 American Society for Legal History John Phillip Reid Prize,[13] and the 2023 Merle Curti Award for Social History.[14] She is also author of Gendered Strife and Confusion: The Political Culture of Reconstruction (1997), Scarlett Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Southern Women in the Civil War Era (2001), and A Legal History of the Civil War and Reconstruction: A Nation of Rights (2015), and she was an associate editor for A New History of the American South (2023).[5]

Edwards served as president of the Southern Association for Women Historians in 2008.[15] She was named president of the Southern Historical Association in 2026.[7]

Works

[edit]
  • Gendered Strife and Confusion: The Political Culture of Reconstruction (1997)[a]
  • Scarlett Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Southern Women in the Civil War Era (2000)[b]
  • The People and their Peace: Legal Culture and the Transformation of Inequality in the Post-Revolutionary South (2009)[c]
  • A Legal History of the Civil War and Reconstruction: A Nation of Rights (2015)[d]
  • Only the Clothes on Her Back (2022)[55][56]

Notes

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Smith, D. Ray; Albert, Benita (April 27, 2021). "'82 ORHS grad captures struggle of history's 'marginalized people'". Oak Ridger. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  2. 1 2 "AHA Member Spotlight: Laura F. Edwards". www.historians.org. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  3. ↑ Edwards, Laura Francis (1991). The politics of manhood and womanhood: reconstruction in Granville County, North Carolina (PhD thesis). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. OCLC 25961072.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Laura F. Edwards" (PDF). Princeton University. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 "Laura F. Edwards | Department of History". history.princeton.edu. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  6. 1 2 "Laura Edwards Named Director of Society of Fellows". humanities.princeton.edu. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Officers". www.thesha.org. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  8. ↑ "The Fletcher M. Green and Charles W. Ramsdell Award". www.thesha.org. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Littleton-Griswold Prize in American Law and Society". American Historical Association. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Charles S. Sydnor Award". www.thesha.org. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Laura F. Edwards". Guggenheim Fellowships. Retrieved July 11, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Past Prize Winners". Society for the History of the Early Republic. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  13. ↑ "John Phillip Reid Book Award". American Society for Legal History. November 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  14. ↑ "Merle Curti Social History Award". www.oah.org. Archived from the original on December 8, 2025. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  15. ↑ "2008 Executive Council" (PDF). SAWH Newsletter. 39 (1). Southern Association for Women Historians: 6.
  16. ↑ Bynum, Victoria (1997). "Review of Gendered Strife and Confusion: The Political Culture of Reconstruction. Women in American History Series". The Georgia Historical Quarterly. 81 (4): 1040–1041. ISSN 0016-8297. JSTOR 40550216.
  17. ↑ Dailey, Jane (1999). "Review of Gendered Strife and Confusion: The Political Culture of Reconstruction". Law and History Review. 17 (1): 191–193. doi:10.2307/744199. ISSN 0738-2480. JSTOR 744199.
  18. ↑ Fahs, Alice (1999). "The Gendering of Reconstruction: Contests over the Private and Public in North Carolina". Reviews in American History. 27 (1): 73–78. ISSN 0048-7511. JSTOR 30031006.
  19. ↑ Festle, Mary Jo (1997). "Review of Gendered Strife and Confusion: The Political Culture of Reconstruction". The North Carolina Historical Review. 74 (4): 447–448. ISSN 0029-2494. JSTOR 23521065.
  20. ↑ Hale, Grace Elizabeth (1999). "Review of Gendered Strife and Confusion: The Political Culture of Reconstruction". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 77 (3): 390–391. ISSN 0015-4113. JSTOR 30147602.
  21. ↑ Shannon, Janet Harrison (2000). "Review of To 'Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women's Lives and Labors after the Civil War; Gendered Strife and Confusion: The Political Culture of Reconstruction; What a Woman Ought to Be and to Do: Black Professional Women Workers during the Jim Crow Era". Signs. 25 (3): 908–912. ISSN 0097-9740. JSTOR 3175423.
  22. ↑ Sommerville, Diane Miller (1998). "Review of Gendered Strife and Confusion: The Political Culture of Reconstruction". The Journal of Southern History. 64 (3): 566–568. doi:10.2307/2587837. ISSN 0022-4642. JSTOR 2587837.
  23. ↑ Varon, Elizabeth R. (1998). "Review of Gendered Strife & Confusion: The Political Culture of Reconstruction". The Journal of American History. 84 (4): 1517–1518. doi:10.2307/2568155. ISSN 0021-8723. JSTOR 2568155.
  24. ↑ Whites, LeeAnn (1999). "Review of Gendered Strife and Confusion: The Political Culture of Reconstruction". The American Historical Review. 104 (2): 575–577. doi:10.2307/2650432. ISSN 0002-8762. JSTOR 2650432.
  25. ↑ Campbell, Jacqueline G. (2002). "Review of Scarlett Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Southern Women in the Civil War Era". Social History. 27 (1): 96–97. ISSN 0307-1022. JSTOR 4286853.
  26. ↑ Collins, Bruce (2002). "Review of Scarlett Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Southern Women in the Civil War Era". The Historian. 64 (3/4): 744–745. ISSN 0018-2370. JSTOR 24451060.
  27. ↑ Dailey, Jane (2001). "Review of Scarlett Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Southern Women in the Civil War Era". The Journal of American History. 88 (2): 654–655. doi:10.2307/2675156. ISSN 0021-8723. JSTOR 2675156.
  28. ↑ Frank, Lisa Tendrich (2001). "Review of Scarlett Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Southern Women in the Civil War Era". The Georgia Historical Quarterly. 85 (3): 501–503. ISSN 0016-8297. JSTOR 40584459.
  29. ↑ Frisby, Derek W. (2001). "Review of Edwards, Laura F., Scarlett Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Southern Women in the Civil War Era". H-South. Retrieved July 14, 2026 – via H-Review.
  30. ↑ Gleeson-White, Sarah (2001). "Review of Scarlett Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Southern Women in the Civil War Era". Australasian Journal of American Studies. 20 (1): 86–87. ISSN 1838-9554. JSTOR 41053846.
  31. ↑ Grant, S-M. (2001). "Review of Scarlett Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Southern Women in the Civil War Era". History. 86 (284): 550–551. ISSN 0018-2648. JSTOR 24425562.
  32. ↑ Jabour, Anya (2001). "Review of Scarlett Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Southern Women in the Civil War Era". The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 99 (1): 82–84. ISSN 0023-0243. JSTOR 23384886.
  33. ↑ McMillen, Sally G. (2002). "Review of Scarlett Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Southern Women in the Civil War Era". The Journal of Southern History. 68 (2): 454–455. doi:10.2307/3069959. ISSN 0022-4642. JSTOR 3069959.
  34. ↑ Silber, Nina (2001). "Review of Scarlett Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Southern Women in the Civil War Era". The American Historical Review. 106 (4): 1360–1361. doi:10.2307/2693000. ISSN 0002-8762. JSTOR 2693000.
  35. ↑ Wood, Kirsten E. (2002). "The Homefront in Black and White". Reviews in American History. 30 (1): 39–50. ISSN 0048-7511. JSTOR 30031712.
  36. ↑ Cole, Stephanie (2010). "Review of The People and Their Peace: Legal Culture and the Transformation of Inequality in the Post-Revolutionary South". The Georgia Historical Quarterly. 94 (4): 516–518. ISSN 0016-8297. JSTOR 41304227.
  37. ↑ Fernandez, Angela (2012). "Future(s) of American Legal History". The University of Toronto Law Journal. 62 (3): 439–452. ISSN 0042-0220. JSTOR 23263810.
  38. ↑ Isenberg, Nancy (2010). "Review of The People and Their Peace: Legal Culture and the Transformation of Inequality in the Post-Revolutionary South". Law and History Review. 28 (1): 266–268. ISSN 0738-2480. JSTOR 40646138.
  39. ↑ Levy, Jonathan (2010). "Review of The People and Their Peace: Legal Culture and the Transformation of Inequality in the Post-Revolutionary South". Social History. 35 (3): 339–341. ISSN 0307-1022. JSTOR 27866665.
  40. ↑ Lewis, Jan Ellen (2011). "Review of The People and Their Peace: Legal Culture and the Transformation of Inequality in the Post-Revolutionary South". The Journal of Southern History. 77 (1): 145–146. ISSN 0022-4642. JSTOR 27919401.
  41. ↑ Lowe, Jessica K. (2011). "A Separate Peace? The Politics of Localized Law in the Post-Revolutionary Era". Law & Social Inquiry. 36 (3): 788–817. ISSN 0897-6546. JSTOR 23011890.
  42. ↑ Mendenhall, Allen (2011). "Review of The People and Their Peace: Legal Culture and the Transformation of Inequality in the Post-Revolutionary South". West Virginia History. 5 (2): 129–130. ISSN 0043-325X. JSTOR 43264904.
  43. ↑ Pencak, William (2011). "Review of American Sovereigns: The People and America's Constitutional Tradition Before the Civil War; The People and Their Peace: Legal Culture and Transformation of Inequality in the Post-Revolutionary South; The State as a Work of Art: The Cultural Origins of the Constitution". Journal of the Early Republic. 31 (1): 143–151. ISSN 0275-1275. JSTOR 23392625.
  44. ↑ Schweninger, Loren (2010). "Review of The People and Their Peace: Legal Culture and the Transformation of Inequality in the Post-Revolutionary South". The North Carolina Historical Review. 87 (1): 110–111. ISSN 0029-2494. JSTOR 23523692.
  45. ↑ Spindel, Donna J. (2009). "Review of The People and Their Peace: Legal Culture and the Transformation of Inequality in the Post-Revolutionary South". The Journal of American History. 96 (3): 841–842. ISSN 0021-8723. JSTOR 25622519.
  46. ↑ Tushnet, Mark (2010). "Review of The People and Their Peace: Legal Culture and the Transformation of Inequality in the Post-Revolutionary South". The Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 40 (4): 618–619. ISSN 0022-1953. JSTOR 20685575.
  47. ↑ Vorenberg, Michael (2009). "Review of The People and Their Peace: Legal Culture and the Transformation of Inequality in the Post-Revolutionary South". The American Historical Review. 114 (5): 1454–1455. ISSN 0002-8762. JSTOR 23303481.
  48. ↑ Waldrep, Christopher (2008). "Review of The People and their Peace: Legal Culture and the Transformation of Inequality in the Post-Revolutionary South". The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 106 (2): 250–252. ISSN 0023-0243. JSTOR 23387979.
  49. ↑ Barreyre, Nicolas (2016). "Review of A Legal History of the Civil War and Reconstruction : A Nation of Rights". Revue d'histoire moderne et contemporaine (1954-). 63 (1): 239–241. ISSN 0048-8003. JSTOR 24753473.
  50. ↑ Benedict, Michael Les (2016). "Review of A Legal History of the Civil War and Reconstruction: A Nation of Rights". The American Journal of Legal History. 56 (2): 299–300. ISSN 0002-9319. JSTOR 24798098.
  51. ↑ Brandwein, Pamela (2016). "Review of A Legal History of the Civil War and Reconstruction: A Nation of Rights. (New Histories of American Law)". The American Historical Review. 121 (2): 572–573. ISSN 0002-8762. JSTOR 43955814.
  52. ↑ Davis, Thomas J. (2016). "Review of A Legal History of the Civil War and Reconstruction: A Nation of Rights". The Journal of American History. 102 (4): 1212–1213. ISSN 0021-8723. JSTOR 44287294.
  53. ↑ Huebner, Timothy S. (2016). "Review of A Legal History of the Civil War and Reconstruction: A Nation of Rights, Edwards Laura F.". Journal of the Civil War Era. 6 (3): 460–462. ISSN 2154-4727. JSTOR 26070441.
  54. ↑ Novkov, Julie (2016). "Review of A Legal History of the Civil War and Reconstruction: A Nation of Rights. New Histories of American Law". The Journal of Southern History. 82 (2): 448–449. ISSN 0022-4642. JSTOR 43918629.
  55. ↑ McWilliams, Caroline M (2023). "Only the Clothes on Her Back: Clothing and the Hidden History of Power in the Nineteenth-Century United States. By Laura F. Edwards". Twentieth Century British History. 34 (2): 388–390. doi:10.1093/tcbh/hwad002. hdl:10023/26939. ISSN 0955-2359.
  56. ↑ Zander, Cecily N. (August 2022). "Review of Edwards, Laura F., Only the Clothes on Her Back: Clothing and the Hidden History of Power in the Nineteenth-Century". The Civil War Monitor.
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