Richard Boles

Author of "Dividing the Faith: The Rise of Segregated Churches in the Early American North"

January 15, 2021

Richard Boles specializes in early North American and United States history, particularly African American and Native American history from the colonial era to the middle of the nineteenth century, and American religious history. Boles researches race relations in northeastern Protestant churches from 1730 to 1850. His first book, Dividing the Faith, examines the transition from racially diverse churches during the early eighteenth century to separate American Indian and African American congregations by the early nineteenth century in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. Boles shows that a significant portion of northern Protestants worshiped in interracial churches between 1730 and 1820. He demonstrates that the North has a dynamic history of racial integration and segregation, and it reveals that Protestant churches were on the frontline of creating the first segregated society in America. Boles earned a Ph.D. from the George Washington University and previously taught at the City College of New York (CUNY). His search has also appeared in the Lutheran Quarterly, Rhode Island History, New England Quarterly, and other publications.

URL: https://library.okstate.edu/news/celebratingbooks/2021-honorees/richard-boles

Last Updated: 27 January 2021