A New Chapter

Historian.
Educator.
Innovator.

I am LaNesha McCoy — a public historian and museum & library executive advancing African American history with the conviction that Black history is American history.

Because of them…

“History is not everything, but it is a starting point.”

— John Henrik Clarke

Malcolm X ·

Audre Lorde ·

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ·

Fannie Lou Hamer ·

James Baldwin ·

Barbara Jordan ·

Fannie Lou Hamer ·

Pauli Murray ·

Maya Angelou ·

Malcolm X · Audre Lorde · Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. · Fannie Lou Hamer · James Baldwin · Barbara Jordan · Fannie Lou Hamer · Pauli Murray · Maya Angelou ·

A Brief Introduction

Museums and libraries give life.

I am a library and museum practitioner with over twenty years of experience leading museums, libraries, and educational initiatives with forward-facing vision. As a public historian, I study late-19th- and 20th-century African American history with an interdisciplinary specialization in educational history.

My research interests include African American intellectual activism, race relations in interracial organizations, and the long civil rights struggle in the North.

Read full biography →

Latest Projects

Work, words, and witness.

Latest Media

DeBardelaben Discusses Nat Turner on C-SPAN

Opening reflections on the life of Nat Turner in conversation with his great-great-great grandson, Bruce Turner.

Watch on C-SPAN →

Latest Writing

60 Years of Progress, and an Unfinished Journey Toward Justice

Reflections in the Seattle Times on the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Read in Seattle Times →