Located in western Massachusetts, UMass Amherst is the flagship campus of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' five-campus University of Massachusetts system. UMass Amherst is a nationally recognized teaching and research institution with a current enrollment of about 28,500 students.

University of Massachusetts Amherst

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Black England: A Forgotten Georgian History / Black London: Life Before Emancipation

Britain’s Black Past

Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Unexpected Life Of The Author Of The Secret Garden

Carrington: A Life

Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina is a specialist on the novel and biography, she works in the fields of Black British studies; Victorian studies (including Victorian children’s literature); African American women’s writing (especially Toni Morrison), and mixed race studies. She has published nine books in these fields, with two more in the works, and has published numerous articles and reviews.

She works extensively in the media in both Britain and America. She hosted a nationally-syndicated author interview program on American public radio for fifteen years, and appears regularly in podcasts and on British radio, including hosting a ten-part BBC radio series “Britain’s Black Past,” among other appearances. She lectures regularly to universities and conferences in both countries.

Victorian Studies

Black British Studies

African American Women’s Writing

Mixed Race Studies

UMass Amherst Faculty Profile

Personal Website

bridgerton

‘Why is Bridgerton’s race twisting acceptable?’ The real problem with the show’s Black fantasy

Then Again: Lucy Terry Prince, a poet and storyteller who stood up to the mob

Black environmentalists... where you at?

Podcast Episode #73 – Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina

gretchen gerzina

For The 'Bridgerton' Fans: 6 Black Authors Who Write Historical Fiction Romance

An insight on growing up in Springfield: Reflections on Black History Month

Mary Seacole

Paul Murray Kendall Chair in Biography and Professor of English

Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series (DFLS): Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina, Paul Murray Kendall Chair in Biography and Professor of English, College of Humanities and Fine Arts. "Forgotten Lives: What They Mean, and Why They’re Important."

Established in 1974, the annual Distinguished Faculty Lecture is dedicated to acknowledging the work of our most esteemed and accomplished faculty members. The lecture series not only honors individual faculty members and their achievements, but also celebrates the values of academic excellence that we share as a community. Each honoree is presented with the Chancellor’s Medal, the highest recognition bestowed upon faculty by the campus.

UMass Amherst, the flagship campus of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the largest public research university in New England, distinguished by the excellence and breadth of its academic, research and community programs. 

UMass Amherst stretches across more than 1,400 acres of land in the historic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, providing a rich cultural environment in a rural setting close to major urban centers - campus sits 90 miles from Boston and 175 miles from New York City. The idyllic college town of Amherst is home to hiking, biking, museums, music, theater, history, food, farms and much more. UMass Amherst also joins a local consortium of five nationally recognized colleges, including Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith colleges.

For more information on UMass Amherst, visit: https://umass.edu

DFLS: Gretchen Gerzina

Gretchen Gerzina (University of Massachusetts Amherst) talks about the representations and realities of black women living during the nineteenth century.

"The Black Woman in 19th Century Studies" with Gretchen Gerzina

Freedom Seekers: Escaping from Slavery in Restoration London

Published on 1 February 2022, Simon P. Newman’s new book 'Freedom Seekers: Escaping from Slavery in Restoration London' uncovers the true extent of slavery in 17th-century England through the hidden stories of enslaved and bound people in London.

Simon’s book is now available free, Open Access.
http://bit.ly/freedomseekers-spn-download

Zoom webinar event by RHS and the book’s publisher, University of London Press, for panel discussion and book launch on Friday 18 February 2022.

Speakers at the event
- Professor Simon P. Newman
(University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Glasgow)
- Professor Corinne Fowler
(University of Leicester)
- Professor Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina
(University of Massachusetts, Amherst)
- Professor Emma Griffin
(RHS President and University of East Anglia (chair)

'Freedom Seekers' demonstrates not only that enslaved people were present in Restoration London but White Londoners of this era were intimately involved in the construction of the system of racial slavery, a process that traditionally has been regarded as happening in the colonies rather than the British Isles. An unmissable and important book that seeks to delve into Britain’s colonial past.

RHS   - Freedom Seekers  - Simon Newman  - Book Launch

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