Dr. Jennifer Lemak
Doctor of Philosophy, American History, University at Albany, 2004
Master of Arts, Public History, University at Albany, 2000
Bachelor of Arts, History and Secondary Social Studies in Education, State University of New York College at Cortland, 1996
Professional Affiliations and Service
New York History journal, co-editor
New York Academy of History, fellow (inducted 2014)
New York State Historic Preservation, board member
University at Albany Center for Applied Historical Research,boardmember
Prior to my current position as the chief curator of history, I served as the senior historian/curator of social history for a decade. My major exhibition and publication projects include Votes for Women: Celebrating New York’s Suffrage Centennial (2017) and An Irrepressible Conflict: The Empire State in the Civil War (2012). I am also the author of Southern Life, Northern City: The History of Albany’s Rapp Road (SUNY Press, 2008), which focused on a community that migrated to Albany from Shubuta, Mississippi, and the greater migration experience in Albany.
My on-going research projects are on different ends of the history-content spectrum. Since the suffrage centennial in 2020, I have been researching the history of the Equal Rights Amendment in New York State. Additionally, I am studying the influence New Yorkers had on Mark Twain’s life and writing.