In late February, History Ph.D. student Mark Mallory learned that he was the sole winner of the Raymond D. Fogelson Pre-Dissertation Research Grant from the American Society for Ethnohistory. Mallory’s research centers on the history and lived experiences of Black Seminole people, a community that formed in the seventeenth century when African fugitives from slavery found refuge within emergent Seminole communities in Florida. They were later central to ensuing conflicts around Indian removal in the southeast, debates about slavery and citizenship in Indian Territory, and efforts to “pacify” the southern borderlands between Texas and Mexico. The intersections of Black and Indigenous life have received considerable scholarly attention over the past twenty-five years, but Mallory’s approach is unique because of its steadfast engagement with Black Seminole community members, as well as its critical analysis of representations and narratives of Black Seminole history. Mallory’s research demonstrates how these often-reductive Black Seminole representations abound in songs, films, children’s books, paintings, stage plays, school curricula, museum exhibits, tourism materials, public monuments, and government documents since the mid-nineteenth century.
The Raymond D. Fogelson Pre-Dissertation Research Grant honors the career and reflects the generosity of Ray Fogelson, former president of the American Society for Ethnohistory (1987-88). A leading expert in Southeast ethnology, Fogelson was a deeply influential scholar and mentor within the field of ethnohistory and a stalwart contributor to the growth of the Society. The Fogelson Pre-Dissertation Research Grant supports preliminary travel to an archive, library, or field location by a Ph.D. student. The award is meant to help students studying any geographic region or time period determine the feasibility of a projected research agenda, on the way to developing and refining a compelling dissertation topic. It provides $3,000 to the selected grantee to support their research endeavors. Mallory intends to use the funding to consult archival holdings in New York and Florida, as well as conducting fieldwork among Black Seminole populations in Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas.
In selecting Mark Mallory as the Fogelson Grant recipient, the award committee noted that they were particularly impressed by the fact that his research framework centers the lived experiences of Black Seminoles. They applauded the project's linguistic range (based on English, Spanish, and Afro-Seminole Creole accounts and interviews). The committee also noted his careful and thoughtful collaboration to date with Black Seminoles from Texas and Coahuila, including with elected leaders of the Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association (SISCA) and the Seminole Negro Indian Scouts Historical Society.
The Department of History is proud and delighted to congratulate Mark Mallory on this impressive achievement! We are excited to see where this fascinating project takes him!