Charlotte C. Teague, Ph.D., is associate professor and chairperson of English & Foreign Languages at Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (AAMU) where she specializes in professional writing, Black women writers, and protest literature. Her recent scholarship centers Margaret Walker and Alice Walker, and she is currently working on a Civil Rights Literature project titled: “Subversive Narratives: Toni Morrison and Claudia Rankin Raising Objections, Raising the Dead, and Raising Hell,” forthcoming in 2024. Dr. Teague earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at AAMU, an additional masters from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and her PhD in English from Morgan State University. She has taught English at Alabama A&M University for more than 20 years.
Benjamin Isaak Gross, Ph.D., is associate professor of political science at Jacksonville State University. He earned his B.S. and M.A. from Northern Illinois University and his Ph.D. from the University of North Texas. Dr. Gross has contributed book chapters on the thought of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as his research focuses on modern political theory, science, and happiness. In addition, Dr. Gross is director of the Tocqueville Lecture Series and co-editor of Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas. He lives in Jacksonville with his wife and three children. In addition, he serves as a local Cub Scout den leader, enjoys outdoor activities, and is a spectator of sports.
Matthew L. Downs, Ph.D., is professor of history and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Mobile. He received his B.A. from Birmingham-Southern College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Alabama. He has published two books: Transforming the South (LSU Press, 2014), which won the James F. Sulzby Book Award from the Alabama Historical Association, and a co-edited collection, The American South and the Great War (LSU Press, 2018). In addition, Dr. Downs has published several articles and given presentations on a variety of topics focused on the modernization of the American South during the middle of the twentieth century. He currently serves as editor of the Alabama Review, the scholarly journal of the Alabama Historical Association. He lives in Daphne, Alabama, with his wife and two children.
Shari L. Williams, Ph.D. is the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in History from Auburn University. She is a social and cultural historian who researches the Modern American South with a focus on the past, present, and future of rural historic landscapes, cultural traditions, and folklife in Alabama’s Black Belt through the lens of race, gender, and class. Dr. Williams is a public history practitioner through her work as the founder and executive director of The Ridge Macon County Archaeology Project based in Warrior Stand, Alabama, and through various board of director memberships and community-based historic preservation projects.