Justene Hill Edwards

Justene Hill Edwards is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Virginia, specializing in African American economic history and the Reconstruction era. Her research examines systemic barriers to Black economic autonomy through archival analysis of financial institutions and racial capitalism in post-emancipation America.

Her primary research interests include:

• African American History
• Economic History
• Reconstruction Era
• History of Slavery and Emancipation
• History of Banking in the United States
• Racial Wealth Gap

Dr. Hill Edwards is the author of Savings and Trust: The Tragic Story of the Freedman's Bank and the Racial Wealth Gap (W. W. Norton, 2024), named a Publishers Weekly Best Nonfiction Book of 2024. Her work demonstrates how white financial malfeasance—not Black depositors or Frederick Douglass—caused the Freedman's Bank collapse, establishing this event as foundational to America's racial wealth gap.

Her scientific recognition includes:

• Library of Virginia Literary Award

No information regarding academic advising, research grants, laboratories, or research teams was provided in the source material.