Lecturer in History *
Department of History and Social Sciences
*
The
University of West Alabama
UWA Station 22 * Livingston, Alabama 35470 *
rriser@uwa.edu
* (205) 652-3463
Teaching and Research Interests
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Publications
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Presentations
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Teaching Experience
Education
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Awards and Honors
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Professional
Experience *
Memberships
TEACHING and RESEARCH INTERESTS
African-American History
Civil and Voting Rights
Gilded Age and Progressive Era
Reconstruction
New South
United States Legal and Constitutional History
BOOK MANUSCRIPTS
Completed:
The Second Dred Scott: Disfranchisement, the Giles Cases, and Black Voting Rights Activism, 1891-1908 (under review, LSU Press).
Judges and Historically Significant Decisions of the United States Court for the Middle District of Alabama (commissioned by the Historical Committee of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama).
In Progress:
The Litigious Mr. Washington: Booker T. Washington, the Courts, and the Battle Against Jim Crow.
Alabama’s Supreme Court and Legal Institutions: A History (with Tony A. Freyer, Paul M. Pruitt, Timothy W. Dixon, and Howard P. Walthall).
The Flag Travels Alone: The Insular Cases and the Territorial Limits of the U.S. Constitution.
ARTICLES
Published:
"'The Milk in the Cocoanut': Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and the Fear of Conspiracy in Alabama’s 1901 Constitutional Ratification Referendum." Southern Historian 26 (Spring 2005): 30-54 (awarded the 2005 Charles G. Summersell "Best Article" fellowship).
"The Burdens of Being White: Empire and Disfranchisement." Alabama Law Review 53, no. 1 (Fall 2001): 243-272.
In Progress:
"Williams v. Mississippi: Widely-noted, Little-studied, and Misunderstood."
"Disfranchisement, the Disfranchisers, and the Hawaiian Organic Act of 1900: 'Northern Acquiescence' Revisited."
"Disfranchisement, the U.S. Constitution, and the Courts: Alabama’s 1901 Constitutional Convention Debates the Grandfather Clause."
DICTIONARY ENTRIES
"Reconstruction" and "Convict Leasing" in the Encyclopedia of Anti-Slavery and Abolition (forthcoming, Greenwood Press).
"Trilateral Commission," in the Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia (ABC-Clio, 2004).
"Joseph Philo Bradley," "William Rufus Day," and "Sanford Ballard Dole," in the Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age (M. E. Sharpe Publishers, 2003).
"Saenz v. Roe," "U.S. v. Butler," "Missouri v. Holland," "Craig v. Boren," "Balanced Budget Amendment," "American Tobacco Case," "Granger Cases," "ex parte Garland," and "Collector v. Day," in the Dictionary of American History (Scribner’s, 2002).
BOOK REVIEWS
Michael A. Ross, Justice of Shattered Dreams: Samuel Freeman Miller and the Supreme Court During the Civil War Era. (Southern Historian 25 [Spring 2004]: 109-110).
David W. Blight, Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory. (Southern Historian 25 [Spring 2004]: 107-108).
Charles B. Dew, Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War. (Southern Historian 24 [Spring 2003]: 65-66).
Michael Perman, Struggle for Mastery: Disfranchisement in the South, 1888-1908. (Southern Historian 23 [Spring 2002]:127-129).
J. C. A. Stagg, ed., The Papers of James Madison, Presidential Series, Vol. 4: 5 November 1811-9 July 1812. Southern Historian 22 [Spring 2001]: 135-136).
"Black Voting Rights Activism in Disfranchisement Era Alabama." Southern Historical Association Annual Meeting, Birmingham, November 2006.
"The Cases of Jackson Giles: Black Voting Rights Activism in the Progressive Era." Social Science History Association Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, November 2006.
"The Anti-Disfranchisement Cases of 1894-1915." Association for the Study of African American Life and History Annual Meeting, Atlanta, September 2006.
"The Origins of Alabama’s 1901 Constitutional Convention." Fred Gray, Sr. Civil Rights Symposium, Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, Faulkner University, Montgomery, September 28, 2006.
"‘The Colored Attorney from New York City’: Wilford H. Smith’s Legal Challenge to Alabama’s 1901 Constitution." Faculty Symposium, Jones School of Law, Faulkner University, Montgomery, September 27, 2006."
"Booker T. Washington, Thomas Goode Jones, and the Effort to Undermine Alabama’s 1901 Constitution." Alabama Department of Archives and History, Architreats Lecture Series, February 16, 2006.
"To Move on the Enemies’ Works: Wilford Smith and the Fight Against Disfranchisement," University of Alabama, History Department Brown Bag Lecture Series, April 2003.
Lecturer in History, 2005—
University of West Alabama, Livingston, AlabamaCourses taught: U.S. History to 1865, U.S. History since 1865, Western Civilization to 1500. History Instructor, 2004
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AlabamaCourses taught: U.S. History since 1865 Graduate Teaching Assistant, August 1999—December 2001
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AlabamaDirected discussion sections of HY 203, HY 204 and HY 102—the department’s introductory level U.S. and Western Civilization survey courses. Provided all grading in the courses, including midterm and final examinations, book reviews, quizzes, and evaluations of each student’s classroom performance. Academic Tutor and Personal Monitor, August 2003—August 2004
Athletic Department, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AlabamaAdvised and monitored scholarship athletes, monitoring their academic progress, class attendance, and attendance at tutoring sessions. Provided subject-matter tutoring for survey and upper-level history courses.
Doctor of Philosophy, U.S. History (2005)
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AlabamaAdvisors: Tony A. Freyer and Kari Frederickson Additional Committee Members: William Warren Rogers, Sr., Alfred L. Brophy, David T. Beito Dissertation: "Prelude to the Movement—Disfranchisement in Alabama’s 1901 Constitution and the Anti-Disfranchisement Cases" College of Arts and Sciences, Outstanding Dissertation Award, 2005-2006 University of Alabama, Outstanding Dissertation Award, 2005-2006 Master of Arts, History, 2000
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AlabamaBachelor of Arts, 1998, Cum Laude
Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
major: History minor: Art HistoryBachelor of Arts, 1995
Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
major: Humanities (concentration in Eighteenth Century Studies)
University of Alabama Outstanding Dissertation Award, 2005-2006
College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Dissertation Award, 2005-2006
Charles G. Summersell "Best Article" Fellowship, 2005, awarded by Southern Historian
Artemas Killian Callahan Sr. Scholarship, 2004-2005, University of Alabama School of Law
Judge Henry H. Mize Scholarship, 2004-2005, University of Alabama School of Law
History Department Dissertation Fellowship, 2003-2004
University of Alabama Graduate Council Dissertation Fellowship, 2002-2003
Phi Theta Kappa
Assistant Editor and Business Manager, July 2001—May 2002
Southern Historian, A Journal of Southern History, Tuscaloosa, AlabamaGraduate Assistant, August 1998—August 1999; May 2000—August 2000
Scholarships Office, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AlabamaBenefits Specialist, March 1997—August 1997
Florida Retirement System, Tallahassee, FloridaUniform Commercial Code Examiner, May 1995—March 1997; August 1997—May 1998
Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, Tallahassee, Florida
Alabama Historical Association
American Historical Association
American Society for Legal History
Association for the Study of African American Life and History
Organization of American Historians
Southern Historical Association
Last updated August 28, 2006