The talk Susanna Ashton gave at SCSU was one of the best I’ve heard, pitched perfectly to an audience of undergraduates who may not have known beforehand just how interested they really were in the ways “old” literary texts intersect with their contemporary concerns and how “scholarly” research can help them answer their own questions. Those in the audience who were not undergrads—literary scholars and historians alike—were treated to a compelling argument about the origins of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and about the kind of cross-disciplinary methods required to make it.

-Dr. Cynthia Stretch, Southern Connecticut State University

In her public presentations, Professor Ashton conveys the excitement and energy she brings to her literary detective work. She’s an accomplished scholar of slave narratives and a highly engaging storyteller.

-Dr. Scott Peeples, The College of Charleston

I love sharing the story of John Andrew Jackson’s journey and other stories of beauty, humor, & heartbreak from hidden tales of the 19th century. I am happy to engage students, scholars, or public audiences (public libraries are my jam!)

My talks have relevancy for today’s concerns:

  • free speech

  • archival and humanities grant applications

  • imperfect freedoms and the strength in communities

  • and how you can find out more about your own family and history by reading into historical documents using techniques I can model and we can work through.

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Susanna Ashton is a captivating speaker because she takes her audience along on her research process, sharing her excitement about piecing together clues in the archives, making new discoveries through serendipitous encounters, and experiencing the rewards of studying the historical record closely. When we hosted her at my previous institution, students were so interested in her research presentation that they sought me out later to ask for an update on her new findings: they were invested in her work and were cheering her on! Based on the success of that presentation, I plan to invite her back to my current institution to share the story of John Andrew Jackson ​with my campus community.

-Dr. Emily Todd, Eastern Connecticut State University

Professor Ashton knows how to captivate a crowd with her deep knowledge of nineteenth-century American literature. She makes historical research sound not only fun but amazingly worthwhile.

-Dr. Tess Chakkalakal, Bowdoin College

Some regions which have particular localized connections to the Jackson story include

  • Boston, Worcester, Salem, Florence, Northampton and Springfield, MA

  • Bath, Portland, and Brunswick, ME

  • Charleston and Sumter Counties, SC

  • New Haven and Hartford, CT

  • Wilmington, NC

  • New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada

  • London and Liverpool,England

  • Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dundee, Scotland

Need a Speaker?

For a sample of my work, you can see here a talk I delivered at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research when I was a DuBois Fellow from 2021-2022

 

GINA’S JOURNEY: The Search for William Grimes

Consultant and On-Screen Commentator

My research into the life of William Grimes, the author of the first fugitive slave narrative in the United States became part of a documentary film: Gina’s Journey. The Search for William Grimes (Available on Prime Video and Vimeo). In it I supply expertise and consultation and weigh in on screen as a scholarly expert. (See some lively moments especially at the 1 hr 5 minute mark and 1 hr 10 minute mark when I weigh in).