Whitney Battle-Baptiste
Professor of Anthropology / Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Center | University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA, UNITED STATES
Whitney Battle-Baptiste's research focuses on how the intersection of race, gender, class and sexuality look through an archaeological lens.
Expertise (6)
Black Feminist Theory
Race, Labor and Social Justice
Black Archeology
W.E.B. Du Bois
Heritage Studies
Black Feminist Archeology
Biography
A historical archaeologist who focuses on the historical intersection of race, class and gender in shaping cultural landscapes in the African diaspora. Whitney Battle-Baptiste has appeared in print, electronic and digital media to discuss a wide range of topics including the significance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the history of W.E.B. Du Bois.
Her theoretical interests include Black feminist theory, African American material and expressive culture, and critical heritage studies. Her work spans a variety of historic sites in the Northern and Southern United States, including the home of Andrew Jackson in Nashville, Tennessee; Rich Neck Plantation in Williamsburg, Virginia; the Abiel Smith School in Boston, Massachusetts; and the W. E. B. Du Bois Homesite in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Her latest research is a community-based archaeology project at the Millars Plantation site on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas.
Battle-Baptiste is the current president of the American Anthropological Association.
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Education (3)
University of Texas: Ph.D., Anthropology
The College of William & Mary: M.A., History
Virginia State University: B.A., History & Education
Links (2)
Select Recent Media Coverage (4)
Why race matters in murder cases
MassLive online
2023-05-09
Whitney Battle-Baptiste comments in an article about differing views of Black and white women accused of killing their children. Battle-Baptiste says depictions of a Black woman in Massachusetts convicted of killing her children in 2018, "perpetuate the idea of Black people, male or female being criminals."
Beneath an Old Fireplace, Evidence of the Spirituality of the Enslaved
Atlas Obscura online
2023-03-21
Whitney Battle-Baptiste, an anthropologist at the University of Massachusetts, says that the placement of these artifacts is extremely important. In order for the enslaved to be able to practice their spiritual traditions, they had to hide their tools from Christian enslavers. “They weren’t going to build a little temple over here or put a bunch of rocks and pots where they wanted to because it wouldn’t go over on a plantation being controlled by a Christian,” she says.
Beyond the textbooks: A closer look at Martin Luther King Jr.
WWLP tv
2020-01-20
According to Professor Battle-Baptiste, many don’t realize in addition to civil rights, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an activist for social justice and economic equality.
Tribute to Du Bois’ 150th birthday kicks off with new exhibit and youth involvement
The Berkshire Edge
2019-01-19
Whitney Battle-Baptiste, director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Center at UMass Amherst and a Du Bois scholar, told attendees that, during the week of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, “it’s important that we understand Du Bois’ role as kind of an architect of the civil rights movement.”
Select Publications (2)
W. E. B. Du Bois's Data Portraits: Visualizing Black America (Book)
Princeton Architectural PressWhitney Battle-Baptiste (Editor), Britt Rusert (Editor)
2018-10-23
Famed sociologist, writer, and Black rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois fundamentally changed the representation of Black Americans with his exhibition of data visualizations at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Beautiful in design and powerful in content, these data portraits make visible a wide spectrum of African American culture, from advances in education to the lingering effects of slavery.
Contexts of Resistance in African American Wester Massachusetts: A View from the W.E.B. Du Bois Homesite in Great Barrington, MA
Historical ArchaeologyPaynter, R. and W. Battle-Baptiste
Thematic Issue, The Connecticut River Valley: Five Centuries of Material Change
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