Dr. Courtney Moore Taylor is a native of North Carolina. Her research centers on the lived experiences of enslaved African American women and girls during the antebellum period. with a particular focus on how age, gender, and race shaped their development and resistance strategies. As an interdisciplinary scholar, Dr. Taylor draws from history, African American Studies, and Black Girlhood Studies.
Dr. Taylor has contributed to several projects including “My Presus Girl: The Rites of Passage for the Adolescent Female Slave in the Antebellum South, 1800–1861;”“Death in the Pot: The State versus Poll and Lavinia;” “Sacrificial Lambs: Infanticide and Its Implications Concerning American Slavery;” and “Female Slave Violence in Antebellum North Carolina and Virginia.”
Education:
Ph.D. American History, University of Florida.
M.A. American History, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
B.A. History, North Carolina Central University
Publications:
“Life Cycles.” In Berry, Daina Ramey, and Deleso A Alford. Enslaved Women in America: An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood, 2012.
“A Badge of Slavery: Clothing and Enslaved Teenage Girls’ Identity Formation.” Journal of Southern History 91, no. 3 (2025): 421-446. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/soh.2025.a966714.
Research Interests:
Black Girlhood in Slavery, Rites of Passage & Resistance, Violence and Agency, Archival Recovery & Public Memory
Awards & Honors:
2024-2025 Nubian Queen Faculty Advisor Award, SISTUHS, Inc.
