Dr. Crystal Sheffield

Biography

Crystal Sheffield is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of British Columbia. Her research primarily focuses on Childhood and Youth, African American history, and Carceral Studies. She has published a monograph titled 'Boundaries Childhood: African American Children Antebellum North' with UNC Press in June 2021. Her journal articles explore themes such as the criminalization of African American children in early America and the visions articulated by W.E.B. Du Bois regarding Black children's empowerment. She has contributed chapters to various edited collections addressing significant topics in Black girlhood and women’s activism. Sheffield's scholarship expands the understanding of Black maternal mourning and motherhood in the nineteenth-century U.S. North. Her work includes critical reviews in prominent journals relating to African American history and childhood studies, reflecting a deep engagement with her research interests.

Research Interests