Cynthia Fleming, Ph.D.

Field Specialties

Twentieth Century U.S. Social/Cultural History, particularly the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s; U.S. Race Relations, and Black Educational History

Professor Fleming has written extensively on the civil rights movement of the 1960s. She is the author of Soon We Will Not Cry: The Liberation of Ruby Doris Smith Robinson, which received critical acclaim from both scholars and civil-rights activists. She also co-authored The Chicago Handbook for College Teachers, which has been widely recognized as an important tool for college teachers, selling 10,000 copies in the first six months after its release. In addition, she has published articles on black activism, black educational history, and African-American identity in such journals as The Journal of Negro History, The Tennessee Historical Quarterly, The Journal of Women's History, and The Irish Journal of American Studies. Her most recent book, In The Shadow of Selma: The Continuing Struggle for Civil Rights in the Rural South (2004), examines the impact of the civil rights movement on an Alabama Black Belt county. Currently she is working on an authorized biography of Dr. C.T. Vivian, one of Dr. Martin Luther King's associates in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

In addition to an African-American Studies survey, Professor Fleming teaches a Blacks in Film course, a History and Philosophy of African-American Education course, an African-American Society course, and a Civil Rights course.

Contact Information

Cynthia Fleming, Ph.D.
Professor of Africana Studies and History

University of Tennessee
1203 McClung Tower & Plaza
Knoxville, TN 37996-0412

Office:  (865)974-2145
Fax:      (965)974-8669
E-mail:   cfleming@utk.edu