Sabrina Thomas, Associate Professor and David A. Moore Chair in American History, recently won the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Summer Stipend Award. The award provides two months of summer support for her project The Soul of Blood and Borders, a book on African American responses to biracial children born in the wake of World War II and the Vietnam War.
“I think that it’s an excellent opportunity for Wabash to get on the national map to be recognized by this national grant,” Thomas said. “I’m excited that it’s my work, but more importantly, I’m glad to see that Wabash is able to get some national publicity.”
She said the book looks at the ways in which war intersects with society in personal ways.
“It looks at the effects that war has on real people’s lives,” Thomas said. “One of the most important effects is the birth of children. It’s my assumption that what I’m going to find is that the ways the Black community responded to these kids was really reflective of American race relations at the time. I think it’s really important and relevant to get the voices of the Black community into this story.”
In the last five years, the program received an average of 827 applications and made an average of 81 awards annually.
