Alysia Burton Steele

Alysia Burton Steele is an Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi. Her research focuses on photojournalism, documentary photography, and oral history, particularly exploring intersectionality in race, class, and gender. She is a Ph.D. Candidate in U.S. History, specializing in Black women’s labor during the Civil Rights Movement, with a focus on Elaine Tomlin, the sole African American female staff photographer for the SCLC during the 1960s. Steele’s work bridges academia and public engagement through multimedia storytelling.

Her awards include a Pulitzer Prize (as part of The Dallas Morning News team in 2006), the Mississippi Preserver of Culture (2016), and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (2021). She teaches courses on gender, sexuality in media, photojournalism, and African American women’s history. Steele’s 2015 book Delta Jewels was a finalist for the Jessie Redmon Fauset Award, featuring portraits of Black women in the Mississippi Delta during the Jim Crow era.

Steele’s research and teaching emphasize marginalized voices, including BIPOC communities. She has completed 92 speaking engagements on Delta Jewels and has contributed to international humanitarian projects with Habitat for Humanity and documentary work in Africa. Her current projects include a photo history book on Elaine Tomlin and a memoir.