Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor

Her article, “The Etymology of [N-Word]: Resistance, Language and the Politics of Freedom in the Antebellum North,” won the Journal of Early Republic’s Ralph D. Gray Prize for the best article of 2016. In 2016 she also published a monograph entitled Colored Travelers: Mobility and the Fight for Citizenship before the Civil War. Over 10 years at Smith, Pryor has developed methods for teaching the n-word. In turn, she has created an interactive workshop that she presents to high school and college faculty across the country. Her expertise on the n-word has been featured on podcasts, radio, TV and theater including interviews on NPR, NEPR, Backstory Podcast, WGBY and at a Broadway “talk back” for the musical Choir Boy. Pryor is the winner of Smith’s most prestigious teaching awards; she is Smith College’s Faculty Teaching Mentor for Inclusive and Equitable Pedagogies; and the inaugural recipient of the Smith College Presidential Award for Student Mentorship. Her latest book, Talking About the N-Word: A Personal Social History, is forthcoming from 37 Ink.