P. Gabrielle Foreman

Black Digital History Scholar & MacArthur Fellow; Paterno Family Chair at Penn State; Author of "Activist Sentiments"

State College, PA, USA
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Anti-Racism, Author, Black Heritage, Black History Month, DEI, Diversity & Inclusion, Education, Female Leadership, History, Influential Women, Professors, Social Activism, Women's History Month
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P. Gabrielle Foreman Biography

  1. Gabrielle Foreman is a MacArthur Fellow, educator, and a leading authority in Black digital and public history in the United States. Foreman is a professor of English, African American Studies, and History, and holds the Paterno Family Chair of Liberal Arts at Penn State University. As a literary historian and digital humanist, she focuses on recovering early traditions of African American activism and explores the collaborative production of knowledge among writers, readers, artists, and scholars.

Foreman's scholarship centers on 19th-century Black literary history and culture, with early work examining the literary activism of Black women. In her book, "Activist Sentiments: Reading Black Women in the Nineteenth Century," she analyzes how writers such as Harriet Jacobs, Harriet Wilson, and Frances E. W. Harper communicated with diverse audiences through historical references that advocated for resistance and reform. Foreman is the author of five books and editions, including "The Colored Conventions Movement: Black Organizing in the Nineteenth Century" and "Praise Songs for Dave the Potter: Art and Poetry for David Drake." Her lectures and talks highlight how contemporary Black artists and poets serve as public historians of slavery.

Foreman is the co-founder and co-director of Penn State's Center for Black Digital Research and founding faculty director and co-director of the Colored Conventions Project, an interdisciplinary research initiative that uses digital tools to recover the history of 19th-century Black organizing. Through the Colored Conventions Project, Foreman brings attention to the longest Black political organizing effort prior to the NAACP, when free and emancipated Black Americans convened in state and national conventions across the United States and Canada to debate strategies for educational access, labor and legal justice, and freedom from state-sanctioned violence. This work has received recognition from organizations such as the Modern Language Association, American Studies Association, and Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, as well as grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Mellon Foundation, and Council on Library and Information Resources.

Foreman has served as Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the American Antiquarian Society and has collaborated with artists to bring early Black history to the stage through dance and poetry, work that is reflected in her book "Praise Songs for Dave the Potter: Art and Poetry for David Drake." Her contributions to digital and collaborative humanities scholarship have advanced the study of African American organizing and public history.

Foreman is recognized for her commitment to institution-building, equity, and support for first-generation students and faculty of color across higher education. Through creating collectives, co-directing collaborative projects, and mentoring, she works to diversify academia and address institutional equity. Foreman addresses these issues through keynotes, workshops, and public engagement, contributing to the ongoing work of recovering and honoring Black history.

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Speaker profile last updated by AAE Talent Team on 10/09/2026.

P. Gabrielle Foreman Speaking Topics

  • Why Didn’t We Know?!: The Forgotten History of the Colored Conventions and 19th-Century Black Political Organizing

    How is it possible for history to have sidelined seven full decades of early African American organizing? In this talk, attendees will learn about an ongoing campaign for Black rights which served as the prequel to the NAACP, Civil Rights, and Black Lives Matter movements. From 1830 through the beginning of the new century, free, fugitive, and freed Black Americans held multi-day “Colored Conventions” all across North America. African American leaders not only came together to demand Black freedom, but to advocate for all it entails then as now: educational equity, labor justice, voting, jury, and political rights, as well as freedom from state-sanctioned violence. Why didn’t we know?

  • From Juneteenth to July 4th, an American Invitation

    What would it mean to think about the fifteen days between Juneteenth and July 4th as a bridge between the democratic aspirations that the 4th articulates and the embodied freedom that Juneteenth has come to represent for Black Americans? This talk revisits the history of Juneteenth before turning to discussions raised by Black artists and poets about what is represented—and what is left out—in the ways we’ve come to understand the United States’ founding dates and documents.

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P. Gabrielle Foreman Videos

DETV SPECIAL: DETV Up Close

DETV SPECIAL: DETV Up Close

Join DETV's Kerwin Gaines as he sits down for an exclusive interview with award-winning professor of English, History, and African American Studies,...

P. Gabrielle Foreman, Literary Historian and Digital Humanist

P. Gabrielle Foreman, Literary Historian and Digital Humanist

Literary Historian and Digital Humanist P. Gabrielle Foreman sparks inquiry into nineteenth-century collective Black organizing efforts through...

P. Gabrielle Foreman: "Black People Have ALWAYS Organized!"

P. Gabrielle Foreman: "Black People Have ALWAYS Organized!"

Once upon Black people organized and set agendas and had a strategy for empowerment. And they kept organizing. P. Gabrielle Foreman, Director of "The...

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The colored conventions movement: black organizing in the nineteenth century
The colored conventions movement: black organizing in the nineteenth century
Praise Songs for Dave the Potter: Art and Poetry for David Drake
Praise Songs for Dave the Potter: Art and Poetry for David Drake
The Colored Conventions Movement: Black Organizing in the Nineteenth Century (The John Hope Franklin Series in African American History and Culture)
The Colored Conventions Movement: Black Organizing in the Nineteenth Century (The John Hope Franklin Series in African American History and Culture)
Our Nig: or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black (Penguin Books for History: U.S.)
Our Nig: or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black (Penguin Books for History: U.S.)
Activist Sentiments: Reading Black Women in the Nineteenth Century (New Black Studies Series)
Activist Sentiments: Reading Black Women in the Nineteenth Century (New Black Studies Series)

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  • What topics does P. Gabrielle Foreman speak about?

    P. Gabrielle Foreman is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Anti-Racism, Author, Black Heritage, Black History Month, DEI, Diversity & Inclusion, Education, Female Leadership, History, Influential Women, Professors, Social Activism, Women's History Month

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    P. Gabrielle Foreman generally travels from State College, PA, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.

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P. Gabrielle Foreman is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Why Didn’t We Know?!: The Forgotten History of the Colored Conventions and 19th-Century Black Political Organizing, From Juneteenth to July 4th, an American Invitation and His Page Was Clay: How an Enslaved Potter and Poet Became a Museum Superstar. The estimated speaking fee range to book P. Gabrielle Foreman for your event is available upon request. P. Gabrielle Foreman generally travels from State College, PA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Alaina E. Roberts, Dr. Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins, Jasmine L. Harris, Michael W. Twitty and Steven Williams. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling P. Gabrielle Foreman for an upcoming live or virtual event.

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