Cynthia L. Lyerly

Cynthia L. Lyerly is an Associate Professor of History at Boston College in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences. She holds a B.A. from the University of North Carolina and a Ph.D. from Rice University. Her research focuses on American women’s history, gender ideologies, religion, race, and the history of the American South. She is currently writing a book about Thomas Dixon Jr., exploring his multifaceted roles as a minister, playwright, and author of The Clansman, which inspired The Birth of a Nation.

Her work bridges religious history, gender studies, and Southern history, with notable publications like Methodism and the Southern Mind, 1770-1810 and articles on women’s religious experiences. Though no formal awards or grants are listed, her scholarship emphasizes intersections of race, gender, and faith in pre-Civil War contexts.