Lea VanderVelde

Lea VanderVelde is a Professor at the University of Iowa and holds the Distinguished Chair. Her research focuses on the formation of American civil rights and civil liberties during the 19th century, with a particular emphasis on the Thirteenth Amendment and its modern interpretation. She is renowned for her innovative work in digital research technologies applied to national expansion and Constitutional debates pre-Civil War and during Reconstruction.

• Director, RAOS Project (Reconstruction Amendment Optical Scanning)
• Author of Mrs. Dred Scott: A Life on Slavery’s Frontier and Redemption Songs
• Active in advancing civil liberties and combating modern slavery through amicus briefs

Research Interests: VanderVelde’s scholarship bridges legal history, Constitutional law, and digital humanities. She explores the intersection of labor, gender, and property law in frontier contexts, utilizing digital tools to analyze historical legal texts and debates.

Scientific Awards & Honors:

• Guggenheim Fellow in Constitutional Studies (2011)
• May Brodbeck Humanities Fellowship (2019)
• Brophy Prize (2020) for best article in legal history
• Life Fellow, American Law Institute
• OAH Distinguished Lecturer