Erin Devlin

Associate Professor of History and American Studies University of Mary Washington

  • Fredericksburg VA

Dr. Devlin focuses on race, public memory, and social justice

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University of Mary Washington

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Spotlight

2 min

Racial segregation and National Parks – UMW experts are lending their expertise to the project

It’s a time of American history that is still raw and painful – segregation. It is, however, even more important to remember and preserve these moments so the country can move forward and learn from its past. It’s a project that University of Mary’s Washington’s Erin Devlin has taken on in collaboration with federal government. “The National Park Service has installed a wayside exhibit outside the Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center on the history of segregation at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. The exhibit highlights a former garage that in the 1930s and 1940s housed segregated restrooms for African American visitors. One of those restrooms is still in use and retains the original tile and fixtures. The larger building is now the park’s gift shop and bookstore. The new exhibit was a collaborative effort between the National Park Service and the University of Mary Washington to highlight surviving historic resources related to the local and national story of racial segregation at national parks. Erin Devlin, assistant professor of history and American studies at UMW, is working with the NPS to develop a historic resource study that will examine the practice of racial segregation in Virginia’s national parks during the first half of the 20th century.” August 06 – Fredericksburg.com Are you a journalist covering American history, or the place racial segregation has played in our country’s history?  If so – let our experts assist with your stories. Erin Devlin's research focuses on race, public memory, and social justice, and she offers courses in both history and American studies. She is currently working on a historic resource study with the National Park Service focused on segregation and African-American visitation in Virginia’s national parks. Dr. Devlin is available to speak with media regarding this topic – simply click on her icon to arrange an interview.

Erin Devlin

Biography

Erin Krutko Devlin's research focuses on race, public memory, and social justice, and she offers courses in both history and American studies. Her book "Remember Little Rock" was published by the University of Massachusetts Press as part of its Public History in Historical Perspective series in 2017. She is currently working on a historic resource study with the National Park Service focused on segregation and African-American visitation in Virginia’s national parks.

Areas of Expertise

American Studies
Social Justice
Race
Public Memory
American History

Education

College of William and Mary

Ph.D.

American Studies

Media Appearances

Wearing Down the Appalachian Trail

With Good Reason  online

2021-06-28

Erin Devlin of the University of Mary Washington says before World War Two national parks in the south were segregated reflecting the laws and customs of the Jim Crow south.

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WATCH NOW: Fredericksburg and Mary Washington place temporary marker honoring Freedom Riders (The Free Lance-Star; Martinsville Bulletin

The Free Lance-Star  print

2021-05-05

“This is what work looks like,” said Frye, describing the joint effort between the city; University of Mary Washington professors Erin Devlin and Christine Henry; and Chris Williams, assistant director of UMW’s James Farmer Multicultural Center, that resulted in the approval of the new state historic marker. “If we could just clap a lot for Fredericksburg today.”

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UMW, City of Fredericksburg partner in effort to more accurately tell the local Civil Rights story

The Free Lance-Star  online

2020-08-18

Students and professors at the University of Mary Washington will assist Fredericksburg officials in efforts to more fully tell the story of the local civil rights movement.

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Articles

Navigating the Green Book; The Negro Travelers' Green Book Interactive Map

The Journal of American History

2017

The Web site Navigating the Green Book provides visitors with map-based tools for exploring the landscape of Jim Crow–era travel in the United States. From 1936 to 1966 Victor Green produced a guide for African American travelers that highlighted the restaurants, hotels, service stations, and nightclubs that provided service to black patrons. The New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has digitized its twenty-one-volume collection of Green Books, as the annual travel guides were informally known. NYPL Labs, tasked with expanding the use of the library's collections through digital tools, created Navigating the Green Book to enable virtual travelers to explore the guides and imagine “how the size of the world can change depending on the color of your skin.”...

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