Crystal Feimster

Crystal Feimster, Ph.D., Princeton University, 2000, is Assistant Professor of African American Studies and American Studies. Feimster’s academic focus is racial and sexual violence; currently, she is completing a project on rape during the American Civil War. Her book, Southern Horrors: Women and the Politics of Rape and Lynching, focuses on two women journalists, Ida B. Wells, who campaigned against lynching, and Rebecca Latimer Felton, who urged white men to prove their manhood by lynching black men accused of raping white women.

Featured News:

• Crystal Feimster comments in this video interview: “Gauging Happiness in Smaller Majors, “ by Catherine Wang and Clinton Wang. Yale Daily News, Friday, March 8, 2013.

• In a radio interview, Crystal Feimster explains laws protecting women victims of sexual violence during the Civil War: “Sew Up Your Petticoats” a segment on the episode, “Rules of Engagement: Ethics in Warfare” [29:59 - 33:23]. BackStory with the American History Guys Published Friday, 2/1/2013. http://backstoryradio.org (Updated Mar. 4, 2013).

• Crystal Feimster comments on the film, “The Central Park Five” (2012), a documentary by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon.

• Crystal Feimster to deliver SAWH’s annual address, “Indecent and Obscene”: White Officers, Black Women, and Rape in the “Contraband Quarters of the American Civil War,” on Saturday, November 3, 5pm, during the Southern Historical Association’s 78th Annual Meetings. Updated Tuesday, January 29, 2013 at 1:01pm.