Gregory D. Smithers facts for kids
Gregory D. Smithers (born in 1974) is a history professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. He is an ethnohistorian, which means he studies the history of different cultures and peoples. Professor Smithers focuses especially on the histories of Native Americans and African Americans.
About Gregory D. Smithers
Early Life and Learning
Gregory D. Smithers was born in Sydney, Australia. He went to college and earned degrees from the Australian Catholic University and the University of California, Davis. In 2019, he received a special award called a British Academy Global Professorship. This award recognized his important work on the history of how Indigenous people in the United States and Australia have interacted with their environment.
His Work as a Historian
Professor Smithers has written many history books. A lot of his books are about the histories of Native Americans and African Americans. He once said that he likes to explore topics that other historians haven't looked at much, or haven't studied very well. This shows he is interested in telling stories that might have been overlooked.
One of his important books, published in 2015, is called The Cherokee Diaspora: An Indigenous History of Migration, Resettlement, and Identity. This book explains how the Indian Removal Act affected the Cherokee Nation. The Indian Removal Act was a law that forced many Native American groups to move from their lands. His book won a gold medal at the Independent Publisher Book Awards for its focus on different cultures.
In 2019, Professor Smithers released another book titled Native Southerners: Indigenous History from Origins to Removal. This book tells the history of Native Americans who lived in the southeastern part of the United States.
He also created a special online history project in 2022 called "Cherokee Riverkeepers." He worked with the Digital Humanities Institute at the University of Sheffield on this project. "Cherokee Riverkeepers" includes an interactive map that uses the Cherokee language. It helps people understand the historical importance of rivers in the Southern Appalachian region.
