The author of an acclaimed book about slavery is crying racism after her writing came under scrutiny by scholars for questionable assertions and sloppy sourcing.
Kerri Greenidge’s 2022 book “The Grimkes,” which tells the story of a prominent South Carolina slaveholder family who later played a role in the abolitionist movement, was lauded by critics and won the American Historical Association’s Joan Kelly Memorial Prize.
But skepticism grew as her prose came under the microscope by historians and scholars, including Myra Glenn, an author and retired American history professor at Elmira College.
In a 2024 examination of “The Grimkes,” Glenn called it “deeply flawed,” and called out that Greenidge “all too often lacks the evidence to substantiate many of her major claims.”
She added that “her work is also riddled with factual errors and repeatedly omits needed endnotes.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member