Jeff Forret

Jeff Forret (born 1972) is an American historian. He is a professor of history and a Distinguished Faculty Research Fellow at Lamar University.

Jeff Forret
Born1972 (age 48–49)
Calamus, Iowa, USA
Spouse(s)Sharon
RelativesMonica Forret (sister)
AwardsFrederick Douglass Prize
Academic background
EducationB.A., 1995, St. Ambrose University
M.A., 1998, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
PhD, 2003, University of Delaware
Academic work
InstitutionsLamar University
James Madison University

Early life and education

Forret was born in 1972[1] in Calamus, Iowa[2] to parents Jim and Velma Forret.[3] He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Ambrose University and his Master's degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte before enrolling at the University of Delaware for his PhD.[4] His older sister Monica Forret is also an academic, working as a professor of Business Administration and Managerial Studies at St. Ambrose University.[5]

Career

Upon earning his PhD, Forret accepted Adjunct Instructor positions at Vance–Granville Community College and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte before joining James Madison University as a Visiting Assistant professor.[6] He spent two years at James Madison before joining the department of history at Lamar University in 2005.[7] Following his first year at Lamar, Forret published his first book Race Relations at the Margins: Slaves and Poor Whites in the Antebellum Southern Countryside with Louisiana State University Press. The book focused on the relations between rural poor white slave owners and their slaves from 1820 and 1860.[8]

From 2009 until 2015, Forret was promoted to the rank of Associate professor in the Department of history.[6] During this time, he published his second book Slavery in the United States as part of the "Issues and Controversies in American History" series. The book was focused on the roles slaves and the slave trade played in American history, such as the American Revolution and the creation of the U.S. Constitution.[9] Upon his promotion to Full professor in 2015, Forret published two books; Slave Against Slave: Plantation Violence in the Old South and the co-edited anthology New Directions in Slavery Studies.[10] He also received the 2015 William Nelson Cromwell Foundation Research Fellowship to continue research for his fifth book Williams’ Gang: A Slave Trader, His Cargo, and Justice in the Old South.[11] Upon publishing his book Slave Against Slave: Plantation Violence in the Old South, he received the 2016 Frederick Douglass Prize for "the best book written in English on slavery or abolition"[12] and was an honorable mention at the PROSE Awards.[13] In March 2016, Forret received a Summer Stipend from the National Endowment for the Humanities to aid in researching his next book.[14]

As a result of his academic research, Forret was named Distinguished Faculty Research Fellow from 2016 to 2019 and again from 2019 until 2021.[15] He published Williams’ Gang: A Notorious Slave Trader and His Cargo of Black Convicts in 2020. The book explores how a gang led by William H. Williams transported convicted slaves through New Orleans, which he links to the modern mass incarceration of African-Americans in the United States.[16]

Personal life

Forret and his wife Sharon have one son together.[17]

References
  1. "Forret, Jeff, 1972-". viaf.org. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  2. Merritt, Keri Leigh (October 6, 2016). "Slavery and Violence in the Old South: An Interview with Jeff Forret". aaihs.org. African American Intellectual History Society. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  3. "Velma (Mrs. Jim) Forret". legacy.com. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  4. "Jeff Forret". lamar.edu. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  5. "Forret Award". sau.edu. December 5, 2016. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  6. "Jeff Forret CV" (PDF). lamar.edu. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  7. "Jeff Forret – Interview with a Washington DC History Author – "Williams' Gang: A Notorious Slave Trader and His Cargo of Black Convicts"". networks.h-net.org. January 16, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  8. Wetherington, Mark V. (June 2007). "Review of Race Relations at the Margins: Slaves and Poor Whites in the Antebellum Southern Countryside". Journal of American History. 94 (1): 276–277. doi:10.2307/25094846. JSTOR 25094846. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  9. Gallaspy, Beth (December 6, 2012). "Jeff Forret provides insight into 'Slavery in the United States'". lamar.edu. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  10. Sattler, Brian (October 21, 2015). "Forthcoming books by Forret expand slavery dialogue". lamar.edu. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  11. Sattler, Brian (December 8, 2015). "Forret awarded Cromwell Fellowship". lamar.edu. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  12. "Historian, author Forret wins Frederick Douglass Book Prize" (PDF). lamar.edu. Winter 2017. p. 8. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  13. "2016 PROSE Awards". proseawards.com. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  14. Sattler, Brian (March 28, 2016). "Forret awarded National Endowment for the Humanities 2016 Summer Stipend". lamar.edu. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  15. Shelly Vitanza (June 17, 2019). "Forret named Distinguished Faculty Fellow". lamar.edu. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  16. Vitanza, Shelly (January 29, 2020). "Forret links slavery to modern-day incarceration in new history book". lamar.edu. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  17. "Dr. Forret's Busy Year" (PDF). lamar.edu. 2011. p. 3. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
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