Justin Behrend, associate professor of history at SUNY Geneseo, has been awarded the 2016 McLemore Prize, which honors “the most distinguished scholarly book on a topic in Mississippi history or biography published in 2015.”
The award recognizes Behrend’s monograph “Reconstructing Democracy: Grassroots Black Politics in the Deep South After the Civil War.”
“This is another major honor for History Department faculty and underscores the deep significance of Justin's work on African-American history and the Reconstruction era,” said Joe Cope, professor and chair of the department.
Behrend will be receiving the award and delivering the keynote address March 3 – 5 meeting of the Mississippi Historical Society in Jackson. He has been on the Geneseo faculty since 2007. His research interests include 19th century U.S. history, African American history, Atlantic World slavery, and Southern history.