McMahon, Kate
Museum Specialist & Historian
Kate McMahon is a Museum Specialist at the National Museum of African American History & Culture and leads research efforts at the Center for the Study of Global Slavery. She received her B.A. in Art History and M.A. in American and New England Studies from the University of Southern Maine. She completed her Ph.D. in History at Howard University in 2017. Her dissertation was entitled The Transnational Dimensions of Africans and African Americans in Northern New England, 1776-1865. Her current research explores New England’s connections to and complicity in the illegal slave trade and colonialism, 1809-1900. She is committed to exploring the living legacies of slavery and the slave trade in the present day and interpreting this history for a broad public through frequent public speaking engagements and scholarly production.
Positions
- Museum Specialist, Center for the Study of Global Slavery, National Museum of African American History & Culture 2019 -
Geographic Focus
- Brazil Country
- Cuba Country
- Mozambique Country
- New England Geographic Region
- USA Country
Background And Education
Education And Training
- Ph.D. in United States History, Howard University , Department of History, Dissertation: "The Transnational Dimensions of Africans and African Americans in Northern New England, 1776-1865" 2012 - 2017
- M.A. in American and New England Studies, University of Southern Maine , American and New England Studies, Thesis: "The Historic African American Community of Peterborough in Warren, Maine" 2010 - 2012
- B.A. in Art History, University of Southern Maine , Department of Art 2002 - 2009
Research And Grants
Other Research Activities
- In Slavery's Wake Exhibition Research Research Coordinator 2018 -
- Slave Wrecks Project Researcher and coordinator 2018 -
Publications
Selected Publications
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Article
- McMahon, Kate E. 2019. "Global Slavery and Its Afterlives on Malaga Island, Maine." Liminalities, 15, (2) 1–9. 2019
- McMahon, Kate E. 2013. "The Use of Material Culture and Recovering Black Maine." Material Culture Review, 77/78, (Spring/Fall) 92–106. 2013
Activities
Professional Service Activities
- Atlantic Black Box Director of Research 2019 -
Affiliation
Head Of
- Atlantic Black Box Director of Research 2019 -