Clark University’s Janette Greenwood Wins Historic New England Book Prize

Janette Greenwood, professor of history at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, has received the 24th annual Historic New England Book Prize for her book Rediscovering an American Community of Color: The Photographs of William Bullard, 1897-1917 (Worcester Art Museum, 2017), which she co-authored with Nancy Kathryn Burns, associate curator at the Worcester Art Museum.

The award is given annually to a book that advances the understanding of life in New England from the past to today by examining its architecture, landscape, and material culture, including works in decorative arts, archaeology, historic preservation, the history of photography, among other subjects.

Dr. Greenwood’s award-winning book presents 83 never-before published portraits reproduced from William Bullard’s glass negatives, which depict African-Americans and Native Americans from the ethnically diverse Beaver Brook neighborhood in Worcester. Bullard kept a logbook that identified 80 percent of the names and locations of his subjects, which allowed their personal stories to be told. The book is the culmination of almost four years of research by Dr. Greenwood and her students at Clark University.

Dr. Greenwood has been a Clark faculty member since 1991. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Kenyon College in Ohio, a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Virginia.