According to the New York Times, Kerri K. Greenidge is no longer employed by Tufts University after controversy over her well-reviewed book emerged. Her book “The Grimkes” about a Southern slave owning family, two of whose daughters became noted abolitionists, was awarded the American Historical Association’s Joan Kelly Memorial Prize. The book, released in 2022, has been widely adopted by professors focusing on the abolition movement. Publishers Weekly named it one of the Ten Best Books of 2022.
The Times says that scholars have questioned the sources Greenridge used. According to the Times:
“Several other scholars, who described themselves as skeptical of some of Greenidge’s assertions in the book, started fact-checking her — scrutiny that Greenidge argued was racially motivated when asked for comment on Friday. Some of the criticism centered around whether Greenidge had properly credited sources.
“I said, ‘Where is she getting this?’” Myra C. Glenn, a retired professor of American history at Elmira College and the author of several books on U.S. history, said in an interview on Thursday. “Boy, it became a major problem.”
In March 2024, examining “The Grimkes” for Reviews in American History, a scholarly journal published by Johns Hopkins University Press, Glenn raised concerns about the book’s credibility.
“Although well-written, ‘The Grimkes’ is also a deeply flawed book,” she wrote. “All too often Greenidge lacks the evidence to substantiate many of her major claims. Her work is also riddled with factual errors and repeatedly omits needed endnotes.”
In the review, Glenn noted that the book quoted letters exchanged between the Grimke sisters, Angelina and Sarah, “antebellum radicals who renounced their family heritage to campaign for abolitionism, racial equality, and women’s rights,” while the siblings discussed their biracial nephews.
Glenn also disputed Greenidge’s account of an 1838 attack on Pennsylvania Hall in Philadelphia by an anti-abolitionist mob, which indicated that the Grimke sisters “led thousands of antislavery women through prayer” and helped them escape the “flaming building.”
“But as numerous sources have documented, no one was in the building when it was torched since antislavery activists cancelled a scheduled meeting, fearing impending violence,” Glenn wrote.”
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