Dylan C. Penningroth

Dylan C. Penningroth is a Professor of Law and History at the University of California at Berkeley and an Affiliated Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation. His work focuses on African American history and U.S. socio-legal history, particularly how Black individuals engaged with legal systems from slavery to the 1970s.

His research explores property rights, contract law, inheritance, and civil rights in Black communities. His book Before the Movement (2023) won 11 book prizes and examines how ordinary Black people used law in everyday life to shape American law and social movements.

• Key Awards:
  • 2024: Littleton-Griswold Prize, Beveridge Prize, Order of the Coif Book Award
  • 2007–2015: Research Professor at American Bar Foundation
  • 2013–2017: MacArthur Fellow
• Education:
  • PhD in History (Johns Hopkins University, 2000)
  • MA in History (Johns Hopkins, 1996)
  • BA with Distinction in History (Yale, 1193)