Reynolds Scott-Childress

Reynolds Scott-Childress is a tenured Assistant Professor of History at the State University of New York (SUNY) New Paltz, affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. With a PhD from the University of Maryland (2004), he specializes in cultural history, the history of race and class, the U.S. South, the Gilded Age, and the cultural history of American film. His research explores how national identity was shaped through racialized narratives, particularly via 19th-century Northern magazine projects that constructed Southern racial stereotypes.

His education includes an AB from Columbia University (1983) and an MA from the University of Maryland (1994). Key publications include Cultural Reconstruction: Inventing Race and the American Nation, 1865-1915 (in progress) and articles on Paul Laurence Dunbar, African American leisure sites, and transpacific racial dynamics. He has held prestigious fellowships such as the Gilder Lehrman Institute Fellowship (2000) and was recognized as Teacher of the Year at SUNY New Paltz (2009-2010).

Scott-Childress’s work bridges literary nationalism, film culture, and race relations. His recent scholarship examines how race became central to American identity through media narratives, with a focus on marginalized voices like WEB Du Bois and Paul Laurence Dunbar. He actively contributes to academic governance through roles on the Curriculum Committee and Teaching and Learning Center Advisory Board.