Dissertation Project:

The Lasting Impact of the Voter Education Project on Black Political Participation in the U.S. South

One of the reasons the landmark Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 experienced success is due to grassroots mobilization across the South by coalitions such as the Voter Education Project (VEP). The VEP not only worked to increase voter registration and turnout, but it was also committed to increasing diversity among elected officials. The history of the VEP has been written, but there is a need for an empirical study analyzing the Project’s long-term impact. This research examines some of the counties where the VEP was active to better understand African Americans’ political participation. In addition, this research draws from the VEP to better understand if modern voter advocacy groups can learn from the VEP to improve their efforts. This study on the Voter Education Project’s effectiveness makes an important contribution to the discipline.

Published Research

• “Past and Present Black Females Mayors in Florida” with A.R. Preston and K. Richardson, in Political Black Girl Magic: The Elections and Governance of Black Female Mayors (Sharon Wright Austin, ed.). Temple University Press (Forthcoming Spring 2023).
• “All Talk, But No Action: A Reexamination of Education in South Carolina’s Corridor of Shame” with Laura Dawson Ullrich. Winthrop University’s Research Bulletin (2018).

Ongoing Research

• “We Shall Overcome: A Look into the Voter Education Project in South Carolina.” Draft available.
• “At the Margins: The Disparate Impact of Voting Restrictions in Florida on Persons of Color” with B. Martinez, E. Shino and D.A. Smith. Revise and Resubmit.
• “Assessing the Effect of Corrective Information on Estimates of Police-Protester Violence: Evidence from a Survey Experiment” with S. Utych, J. Fahey and P. Licari. Revise and Resubmit.
• “Black Lives Matter: How Black Women Lead the Movement for Global Transformational Change” with S. Nelson, A.K. Lewis-Maddox and S.W. Austin. Under Review.

Research Interests

• Political Methodology
• Race, Ethnicity and Politics
• Public Policy (voting)
• Political Participation
• Political History