The writer behind a well-regarded book on slavery is voicing concern about racism after facing criticism from scholars regarding dubious assertions and poor sourcing in her work.
Kelly Greenidge’s 2022 book, “The GrimKES,” narrates the tale of a notable South Carolina family that owned slaves and later contributed to the abolitionist cause. Initially, it was praised and honored with the American Historical Association’s Joan Kelly Memorial Award.
However, doubt started to emerge as historians, including Myra Glenn, a former American history professor at Elmira College, scrutinized Greenidge’s writing.
In a 2024 review, Glenn described “The GrimKES” as “seriously flawed,” pointing out that there was “too little evidence” supporting many of Greenidge’s main assertions. She also noted that the work contained numerous factual inaccuracies and frequently lacked necessary endnotes.
As these criticisms came to light, Greenidge responded by portraying herself as a target of racism, attributing the backlash to an increasing number of biased critics. “It pains me to be treated this way after dedicating my life to this field,” she remarked. “The challenges faced by Black women in academia are tangible.”
While denying any intent to plagiarize or falsify, she conceded, “Are there some quotes misattributed? Perhaps.” Following the uproar, “GrimKES” was removed from her author page on the publisher’s website, and her Joan Kelly Award listing was taken down from the American Historical Association’s site.
Additionally, it appears that she has lost her tenured position as an associate professor in the Department of Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora Studies at Tufts University. A spokesperson for the Greater Boston School confirmed to the Times that she is no longer employed but did not provide further details on why she left.
Facing scrutiny from the media regarding the situation, including her apparent departure from Tufts and the rescinding of her awards, Greenidge reiterated her belief that anti-Black bias was at play. She accused two senior historians on the university’s peer review committee of harboring hostility towards Black women in academia, pointing out that her review process was reportedly spurred by complaints from white female academics, though she refrained from naming them.
She even alluded to the possibility that her race influenced why the left-leaning New York Times covered the allegations to begin with.
Meanwhile, Greenidge’s other book, “Black Radicals,” which had also received praise, is now undergoing closer examination.
Her 2019 biography of civil rights journalist William Monroe Trotter was highly rated in the New York Times and won the Mark Linton History Award from Columbia Journalism School and Harvard’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism.
Historian Stephen Fox, who published a biography of Trotter in 1970, stated that many of the sources Greenidge cited in her book didn’t hold up upon review. After hearing about the issues with “The GrimKES,” he began to doubt the rigor of her methods even further. “I started to wonder if it was more than just carelessness,” he remarked. “It feels like there’s something more profound at stake.”
