Bio
Lesa Redmond is a historian studying African American history, higher education history, and intellectual history over the course of the nineteenth century.
She received her Ph.D. in History from Duke University and her B.A. from Princeton University, where she also earned a certificate in African American Studies.
Dr. Redmond’s current book project, Roots to Routes: Black Intellectual Labor and the Politics of Higher Education in North Carolina, 1790-1891, examines the significant transformations in Black higher education throughout the long nineteenth century in North Carolina, a state with a pioneering role in the establishment of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Her
work argues that the development of Black higher education was the result of complex negotiations between state and federal forces and a growing class of Black intellectuals dedicated to advancing their communities.
When she’s not researching, Dr. Redmond enjoys hiking and fishing along North Carolina’s beautiful Blue Ridge mountains.
Dr. Redmond’s scholarly work has been published in Theology Today and the Journal of the History of Ideas Blog. She has also presented her research at numerous conferences and symposiums, including the African American Intellectual History Society Annual Conference and the Princeton & Slavery Symposium, as well as in public-facing lectures at the City of
Raleigh Museum.
- Assistant Professor, History, Wake Forest University (Incoming August 2025)
- Instructor of Record, History, Duke University (2024)
- Independent Researcher, Rubenstein Special Collections Library, Duke University
- Robert F. Smith Intern, National Museum of African American History & Culture
- Paralegal, Dontzin Nagy & Fleissig LLP