Melissa Ford, Ph.D. - Saint Louis University
303 I Spotts World Culture Building
724.738.4744
melissa.ford@sru.edu
Melissa Ford is an Associate Professor in the History Department. She joined Slippery Rock faculty in 2017 after receiving her PhD in American Studies from Saint Louis University. Her undergraduate degree is from Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She teaches classes on United States History, African American history, women’s history, social movements, and popular culture.
A native of St. Louis, her research interests include Midwestern social movements that intersect with race, class, and gender. Her first book was published in 2022 by Southern Illinois University Press, titled A Brick and a Bible: Black Women’s Radical Activism in the Midwest. She is currently working on a book of biographies of Black communist women for International Publishers. She is also working on a book chapter about Thyra Edwards, a radical social worker in Chicago, and an article on radical labor organizing in Pittsburgh. She has been interviewed on several podcasts regarding her research. More information can be found at https://melissafordphd.com/.
Outside of the classroom, Dr. Ford is advisor of Phi Alpha Theta, the History Honorary Society, and the Improv Club at SRU. She is a member of the Gender Studies Committee and is the editor of Black History Matters, an annual journal of student essays celebrating Black History Month. Volume 3 is available here. She also serves as the director of the History MA program.
Dr. Ford lives in Pittsburgh with her son, husband, dog, and cat. When not teaching, she enjoys cooking (and eating), hiking, and rooting for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Research Fields: 20th century social movements, radical history, labor history, Black women’s history
Teaching Fields: US history, popular culture, women’s history, African American history