Blair LM Kelley, Ph.D.

Slide commemorating the 15th amendment

My ancestor Henry registering to vote in 1867!

The cover of my book Black Folk!

Finding my 3-times great grandfather, Henry Rucker, registering to vote in 1867 was life changing. He did so at great risk to life and livelihood, but he did it anyway.

Honored to commemorate the day that those rights were Constitutionally enshrined, still sacred & paid for at great sacrifice.

They each have a piece of the original counter. It was evidently very long.

A historic photo of the Greensboro 4.

Feb. 1, 1960, 4 NC A&T students sat-in at the “whites only” counter at Woolworths in Greensboro. Their defiance ignited a movement led to the birth of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

Young people fuel movements. It is inspiring to see that today they still do.

#BlackHistoryMonth

Thrilled to be your speaker for this year!

Just in case you missed this article about the erosion of the 14th and 15th Amendments during the holiday. Important reporting by @adamserwer.bsky.social

Always!

I'm not anti-technology. I realize it's impossible to stop the things that have already happened. But I am also an advocate for thinking about environmental costs. Exploitation of labor abroad. The degradation of American education. Jobs. We deserve a real conversation about the costs.

I'm so sorry, keep speaking, keep fighting. I'm deeply convinced that most people who aren't directly affected are deeply unaware. We spent decades talking about the environment only to turn around and wreck unprecedented havoc.

We are fighting data centers in our little town and the big wigs just keep going around us. They tried to pass it under the table but people found out and turned out. We got it voted down. Then they took it to court saying we weren't allowed to speak. Now republican courts are undermining us. *sob*

The question people ask me most in my current position is about AI. People passionately opposed to AI, people who believe it is the answer to all our problems, people who wonder what it will mean for the humanities. However most people change the subject when I mention the people bearing AI's costs.

Ajamu A. Dillahunt-Holloway’s review of Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class ( @wwnorton.com ) by Blair LM Kelley ( @profblmkelley.bsky.social )

AI is just scraping what already exists while historians are putting the materials of the past together in new and unexpected ways. Drawing on the insights, teaching, and ways of knowing that are intangible. No comparison.

UVA board selects Scott Beardsley as new president Beardsley, a longtime consultant, has led the Darden School of Business since 2015.

Breaking: The University of Virginia's Board of Visitors named a new president Friday: Scott Beardsley, dean of UVA's Darden School of Business since 2015.

Beardsley called the selection "the honor of my life."

Yup, my cat Shorty and I were always ducking for cover together in my grad school apartment.

Careers at the National Humanities Center | National Humanities Center The National Humanities Center is looking for amazing and talented humanists. Join our team!

Join our team! We’re hiring a Vice President of Development to advance our organization’s philanthropic mission. Visit our website for more information about the position, including how to apply.

Thankful to have the strength to make this wonderful meal this year. #Blairiscooking

Another chocolate cake!

This one is for my son, his fave triple chocolate, chocolate cake, extra chocolate icing. Candied yams up next... #Blairiscooking

Homemade chocolate cake!

First cake is for a family friend. Yellow cake/chocolate icing. Getting dropped off soon! #blairiscooking

It's happening... #Blairiscooking

Right to Ride Through a reexamination of the earliest struggles against Jim Crow, Blair Kelley exposes the fullness of African American efforts to resist the passage of se...

Dr. @profblmkelley.bsky.social speaks to this in her book: uncpress.org/978080787101...

We are honored and thrilled to welcome Dr. Vinson to the Center this year.

What an amazing and powerful conversation we had @natlhumanities Monday! Building the groundwork!

Congratulations to Signe Cohen (NHC Fellow, 2025–26) for receiving this honor!

Always a pleasure to speak to Leoneda Inge and the Due South team about Black history!

Thank you!

Plenary on the Legacy and scholarship of Joe William Trotter, Jr.

Headed to Atlanta for ASALH. Hoping to see you there!

Congratulations to Tressie McMillan Cottom (NHC Fellow, 2025–26), recipient of the 2025 Thomas Wolfe Prize.

As this year’s recipient, Cottom will deliver the annual Thomas Wolfe Lecture on September 30 at UNC-Chapel Hill.

The John P. Birkelund Lounge at the National Humanities Center.

Did you know 1,783 books have resulted from NHC fellowships?

Over the past five decades, the Center has been privileged to support the work of some of the world’s leading humanists, and to enlist their expertise on behalf of its programs for educators and public #humanities work.

We stand with the Smithsonian.

I think so...