Heather Lee Cooper is a Ph.D. candidate in history at the University of Iowa. Her dissertation focuses on African American representations of slavery in public performances before and after the Civil War. She has a M.A. in history from UIowa and a B.A. in history and English literature from San Francisco State University. Cooper has published reviews and articles on topics related to her research and has received several fellowships to support her graduate studies. She has taught courses on slavery, the Civil War era, and gender and sexuality at UIowa.

1. Heather Lee Cooper
EDUCATION
A.B.D. Ph.D. Candidate, Department of History, University of Iowa
• Dissertation: “Upstaging Uncle Tom’s Cabin: African American Representations of
Slavery on the Public Stage Before and After the Civil War”
• Committee Chair: Leslie Schwalm
• Comprehensive Exam Fields: African American History; History of Women and
Gender in the U.S.; Race and Gender in Colonial Latin America
Graduate Certificate in Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies, University of Iowa, 2013
M.A., Department of History, University of Iowa, 2008
B.A., History and English Literature, San Francisco State University, 2005
PUBLICATIONS
2014 “The Original Fisk Jubilee Singers,” The Iowa Griot: The Newsletter of the African
American Museum of Iowa (Fall 2014).
2013 Review of More than Freedom: Fighting for Black Citizenship in a White Republic,
1829-1889, Stephen Kantrowitz (New York: Penguin Press, 2012), Civil War
Book Review, vol. XV (Summer 2013).
AWARDS AND HONORS
2016-2017 Leger-Anderson Fellowship, History Dept., University of Iowa
2016 Elizabeth Bennett Ink Dissertation Fellowship, History Dept.,
University of Iowa
2014-2015 Presidential Fellowship, Graduate College, University of Iowa
2012-2013 African American Studies Fellowship, Massachusetts Historical Society
2012 Travel Grant, Executive Council of Graduate & Professional Students,
University of Iowa
2012 Graduate Student Senate Travel Funds Award, University of Iowa
2012 Conference Travel Grant, Society of Early Americanists
2012 Charles F. Strong Dissertation Fellowship, History Dept., University of Iowa
2011-2012 Louis Pelzer Dissertation Fellowship, Graduate College, University of Iowa
2010-2011 Presidential Fellowship, Graduate College, University of Iowa
2010 Laurence Lafore Dissertation Fellowship, History Dept., University of Iowa
721 Iowa Ave., Apt. 3 Dept. of History
Iowa City, IA 52240 University of Iowa
heather-cooper@uiowa.edu 280 Schaeffer Hall
(650) 773-8638 Iowa City, IA 52242

2. Cooper
2007-2008 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, University of Iowa
2006 Presidential Fellowship, Graduate College, University of Iowa
INVITED TALKS
2013 “Confiscated Voices: Representing the Slave Experience during the American
Civil War,” Brownbag Lecture, Massachusetts Historical Society, May 29, 2013.
2013 Invited Speaker, WorldCanvass: The Rupture of Civil War, University of Iowa,
January 25, 2013. (WorldCanvass is a television and radio series that brings together
guests for informal discussion about topics of international import; The Rupture of Civil
War program was organized as part of the 150th
Commemoration of the Civil War)
CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION
Panels Organized
2014 “In Search of a Useable Past: Contested Memories of Slavery and the Civil War
on the Public Stage,” Society of Civil War Historians Biennial Conference, June
2014.
2011 “Representations of Race and Gender on the Global Stage,” 15th Berkshire
Conference on the History of Women, June 2011.
Papers Presented
2014 “Sorrow Songs and Civil Rights: The Fisk Jubilee Singers and the Politics of
Civil War Memory,” Society of Civil War Historians Biennial Conference,
Baltimore, Maryland, June 2014.
2012 “‘The Oppressed Are Ever Their Own Best Representatives’: William and Ellen
Craft on the Antislavery Stage,” Triumph in My Song: 18th & 19th Century
African Atlantic Culture, History, & Performance, Society of Early Americanists
Conference, College Park, Maryland, June 2012.
2011 “Remembering Slavery/Forging Freedom in the Postbellum U.S.,” 15th
Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Amherst, Massachusetts, June
2011.
CAMPUS & DEPARTMENTAL TALKS
2014 “‘Their Song Was at Once a Burden of Woe and a Glad Prophecy:’ Situating the
Fisk Jubilee Singers in Civil War Memory,” The Forum: Graduate Student
Brownbag Lecture, Dept. of History, University of Iowa, May 30, 2014.
2012 “Confiscated Voices: Gender and Dependency in the Christian Recorder’s
Coverage of the Contraband, 1861-1865,” 3rd May Brodbeck Symposium in
Women’s and Gender History, University of Iowa, April 2012.

3. Cooper
2012 “‘The Guide-Posts of Memory’: Trauma, Loss, and Stoic Silence in Elizabeth
Keckley’s Behind the Scenes,” James F. Jakobsen Conference, University of Iowa,
March 2012.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Department of History, University of Iowa
Graduate Instructor (Independently designed and taught courses)
Race & Gender in the American Civil War: History & Memory (Spring 2013-Fall 2013)
Abolishing Slavery in the Atlantic World (Spring 2009-Spring 2010)
Capstone Section: History of Slavery in the U.S. (Fall 2008)
Teaching Assistant
Western Civilization III: The Modern World (Fall 2007-Spring 2008)
History of Slavery in the U.S. (Fall 2008)
History Teaching and Writing Center (One-on-one writing assistance for students enrolled in
History courses and instructional support for teaching writing in the field)
Graduate Instructor Supervisor and History Writing Center Supervisor (2013-2014)
Writing Center Tutor (Spring 2013-Spring 2014)
Department of Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies (GWSS), University of Iowa
Teaching Assistant
Senior Research Seminar for GWSS Major (Spring 2016)
Introduction to Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies (Fall 2015)
Sex & Popular Culture in the Post-War U.S. (Fall 2012)
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
2011-2012 Secretary/Treasurer, Graduate History Society, University of Iowa
2007-2008 Colloquium Organizer, Graduate History Society, University of Iowa
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
American Historical Association (2007 – present)
Coordinating Council for Women in History (2010 – present)
Historians against Slavery (2011 – present)
Organization of American Historians (2007 – present)
The Society of Civil War Historians (2011 – present)
Western Association of Women Historians (2008 – present)

4. Cooper
REFERENCES
Leslie A. Schwalm James L. Giblin
Professor of History Professor of History
280 Schaeffer Hall 280 Schaeffer Hall
University of Iowa University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242 Iowa City, IA 52242
(319) 335-2299 (319) 335-2299
leslie-schwalm@uiowa.edu james-giblin@uiowa.edu
Stephen Warren Miriam Thaggert
Associate Professor of History Associate Professor of English Literature
280 Schaeffer Hall 308 English Philosophy Building
University of Iowa University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242 Iowa City, IA 52242
(319) 335-2299 (319) 335-0454
stephen-warren@uiowa.edu miriam-thaggert@uiowa.edu