Ana Lucia Araujo
Professor of History, Howard University (Brazil)
Raised under a civil-military dictatorship in Brazil, Araujo grew up observing the history and legacies of slavery all around her. Yet that history was not taught in schools. When she immigrated to Canada to obtain her PhD in art history, Araujo sought to better understand her homeland, and in her studies discovered how slavery and its legacy had shaped nations and memories. Today, as a social and cultural historian at Howard University, Araujo explores the history of slavery and the Atlantic slave trade — and their present-day legacies. She also advocates for the recognition and remembrance of the lives of slaves, with a particular interest in the enslaved men, women, and children who lived at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s Virginia estate, and the site of Araujo’s own naturalization ceremony. As she told InsideNoVa, “Being a citizen to me is to have the opportunity to participate in U.S. life. It is important because it is my home.”
Araujo is a member of the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, sits on the board of editors at the American Historical Review, and serves in leadership roles for numerous other boards and academic associations, such as the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History’s Scholarly Advisory Board. Araujo is also the author of numerous award-winning books and is part of the International Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Routes of Enslaved Peoples project. Araujo has contributed articles to media outlets around the world, including the Washington Post, Newsweek, Slate, and the Intercept Brasil. In recognition of her work, she has been named a Getty Residential Senior Scholar and a Royal Historical Society Fellow.
