Joe William Trotter Jr. has been honored with the John Lewis Award for History and Social Justice from the American Historical Association. The award is given annually in recognition of a historian for their leadership and sustained engagement at the intersection of historical work, public culture, and social justice.
Dr. Trotter is the Giant Eagle University Professor of History and Social Justice in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he has taught since 1985. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on African American history, as well as American working-class history. He is the director of the Center for Africanamerican Urban Studies and the Economy, which he founded in 1995.
Outside of his positions with Carnegie Mellon University, Dr. Trotter currently serves as president-elect of the Urban History Association. He is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author and editor of many books, including his most recent publication, Workers on Arrival: Black Labor in the Making of America (University of California Press, 2019)
Dr. Trotter received his bachelor’s degree from Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in history from the University of Minnesota.
