Charles Chavis, Jr., assistant professor in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, has been awarded the Kay Family Award from the Anti-Defamation League. The organization is dedicated to stopping the defamation of the Jewish people and securing justice and fair treatment to all.
Dr. Chavis was recognized for his outstanding research on the history of racial violence and civil rights activism and Black and Jewish relations in the American South. At George Mason University, he serves as the founding director of the John Mitchell, Jr. Program for History, Justice, and Race. Recently, the program established a partnership with Operation Understanding, D.C. to advance peace-building initiatives and foster community among local high schoolers.
As an academic, Dr. Charvis’ specialities includeresearch interests include civil rights oral history, historical consciousness, and racial violence and reconciliation. He has authored several scholarly publications, including The Silent Shore: The Lynching of Matthew Williams and the Politics of Racism in the Free State (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2022).
Dr. Chavis holds a bachelor’s degree in African American studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a master’s degree in Black church studies from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He earned his Ph.D. in history from Morgan State University, an HBCU in Baltimore, Maryland.
