A prominent Black historian has pushed back against criticism of her book on slavery, arguing that the scrutiny she has faced from fellow scholars is tied to racism, after reviews questioning the work’s accuracy preceded the loss of her tenured professorship.
Kerri Greenidge’s 2022 book, The Grimkes, was initially met with strong praise for its examination of a prominent South Carolina slaveholding family and the people caught within its orbit.
Rather than center the familiar story of Angelina and Sarah Grimke — the white sisters who left their plantation background behind and became noted abolitionists — Greenidge sought to place greater emphasis on the enslaved people owned by the Grimke family.
The book went on to win several awards, but its reception shifted when a number of historians began publicly raising concerns about some of its assertions and the evidence used to support them.
Myra C. Glenn, a historian and retired professor of American history at Elmira College, told the New York Times that her reaction while reading the book was one of confusion, recalling that she wondered: “Where is she getting this?”
Glenn later wrote in a 2023 review published by Johns Hopkins University Press that The Grimkes was a “deeply flawed book,” arguing that Greenidge “lacks the evidence to substantiate many of her major claims.”
“Her work is also riddled with factual errors and repeatedly omits needed endnotes,” Glenn wrote in the review.
Greenidge, responding to the criticism, told the Times that she believes the backlash reflects a broader pattern of racism in academia, saying: “The attack on Black women academics is real.”
Historian Kerri Greenidge says it is racist for scholars to question her book on slavery after she lost her tenured professorship when reviewers said the book was riddled with errors
Greenidge’s book The Grimkes initially received rave reviews when it was published in 2022, as she was praised for delving into the history of a South Carolina slaveholding family
After scrutiny on Greenidge’s work captured headlines, she lost her position as a tenured associate professor in the Department of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora at Tufts University.
Greenidge said she felt she has never been accepted by the academic community and feels her life’s work has consistently been criticized by white scholars.
‘I am heartbroken that a field I have given my life to can treat me this way,’ she said.
In Glenn’s review of the book, she questioned Greenidge’s citation of letters between the Grimke sisters that were claimed to have been kept by the University of Michigan – but were actually found to not be in the college’s possession at all.
The reviewer also alleged that Greenidge distorted the story of a 1838 attack on Pennsylvania Hall in Philadelphia.
Greenidge had claimed that the church was set upon by an anti-abolitionist mob, but the Grimke sisters ‘led thousands of antislavery women through prayer’ and allowed them to escape the ‘flaming building.’
In reality, Glenn said ‘numerous sources have documented no one was in the building when it was torched, since antislavery activists cancelled a scheduled meeting, fearing impending violence.’
Greenidge told the New York Times that she believes the criticism of her work was due to racism.
Myra C. Glenn, a historian retired professor of American history at Elmira College, wrote a scathing review of the book
Alongside losing her tenured position as a college professor, Greenidge also reportedly lost a book deal when scrutiny on her work was made public.
Greenidge denied that she had stolen or made up parts of the history she wrote about.
‘I have never plagiarized anything in my life, I have never fabricated anything,’ she said.
However, she admitted that some parts of her texts may have missed correct attributions, saying: ‘Are there citations that were misattributed? Probably.’
Following the criticisms of the book, publisher Liveright Publishing pulled the book from its website. The publisher, which is part of the W. W. Norton & Co. publishing house, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
When Greenidge left Tufts University, a spokesman told the Times that the college became aware that her renowned book ‘contained multiple errors of fact and failed to give appropriate credit to the work of another.’
The university said it became aware of the errors in December 2022, over a year before Glenn shared her scathing review.
Greenidge’s book told the story of the Grimke sisters, who left their plantation to advocate for slaves
‘The university initiated a thorough peer review involving a panel of external scholars of American history which identified multiple errors of fact and citation,’ the Tufts spokesman said.
‘In keeping with its commitment to ethical conduct in research, the university proactively moved to correct the public record by informing publisher W.W. Norton of the peer review findings.’
In response to the university’s statement, Greenidge doubled down on her stance that she was being targeted because of racism.
She said the university’s peer review panel had two senior historians who she believed were hostile toward Black women in academia, and that the review had been triggered by a complaint put forward by a white woman.
She said she had sought a restraining order against that woman.
The Daily Mail has attempted to contact Greenidge for comment.
