Jane Dailey

Jane Dailey is a Professor of American History at the University of Chicago, affiliated with the Law School and The College. She holds roles at the Center for Gender and Sexuality Studies, the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture, and the Pozen Family Center for Human Rights. Her research focuses on Modern U.S. social and political history, African American history, the American South, human rights, and legal history.

Dailey earned her PhD in History from Princeton University in 1995. Her notable works include White Fright: The Sexual Panic at the Heart of America's Racist History (2020) and Building the American Republic, Volume 2 (2018). Her publications analyze race, sex, and politics in the post-Emancipation South, legal segregation, and the civil rights movement.

• Education: PhD in History, Princeton University (1995)

Her research interests emphasize the intersection of race, gender, and law in U.S. history. Recent articles and edited volumes explore themes like the theology of unionism, marriage as a civil right, and the Congress’s role in white supremacy.

• Awards: Fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, American Academy in Berlin, Alphonse Fletcher Foundation, and Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Dailey’s work has been featured in journals like Journal of American History and she has contributed to documentary histories like The Age of Jim Crow. She is also an active public scholar, writing opinion pieces on topics such as gerrymandering and Confederate monuments.