Robert Colby
@rkdcolby86.bsky.social
Historian at the University of Mississippi. Author of An Unholy Traffic: Slave Trading in the Civil War South (OUP, 2024).
Many thanks to Carrie Janney, Brian Neumann, and the @naucivilwar.bsky.social for hosting me this weekend to accept the 2025 Nau Book Prize. I was especially honored as an alum of the UVA History Department have my work recognized where it all began.
November 17, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Many thanks to Carrie Janney, Brian Neumann, and the @naucivilwar.bsky.social for hosting me this weekend to accept the 2025 Nau Book Prize. I was especially honored as an alum of the UVA History Department have my work recognized where it all began.
Very pleased to have my @oxfordacademic.bsky.social book, An Unholy Traffic, reviewed in the latest issue of the New York Review of Books. Thanks to James Oakes for taking the time to engage with it!
James Oakes on the South’s attempts to maintain the domestic slave trade during the Civil War
Speculation in Human Property | James Oakes
The survival of slave trading during the Civil War suggests that enslaved people remained valuable commodities in a time of economic upheaval.
www.nybooks.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Very pleased to have my @oxfordacademic.bsky.social book, An Unholy Traffic, reviewed in the latest issue of the New York Review of Books. Thanks to James Oakes for taking the time to engage with it!
Very pleased to have my book, An Unholy Traffic, reviewed in the latest issue of the New York Review of Books. Thanks to James Oakes for taking the time to engage with it!
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
Speculation in Human Property | James Oakes
The survival of slave trading during the Civil War suggests that enslaved people remained valuable commodities in a time of economic upheaval.
www.nybooks.com
November 8, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Very pleased to have my book, An Unholy Traffic, reviewed in the latest issue of the New York Review of Books. Thanks to James Oakes for taking the time to engage with it!
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
Happy to get my hands on the latest from @civilwarjon.bsky.social and Lucas Morel.
September 3, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Happy to get my hands on the latest from @civilwarjon.bsky.social and Lucas Morel.
Reposted by Robert Colby
Thanks to friends and colleagues who helped promote my first book, Counting the Cost of Freedom! (Especially those here, where I don't post much.)
@kringelberg.bsky.social
@archiecrowley.bsky.social
@gauthamrao.bsky.social
@rkdcolby86.bsky.social
@kringelberg.bsky.social
@archiecrowley.bsky.social
@gauthamrao.bsky.social
@rkdcolby86.bsky.social
August 25, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Thanks to friends and colleagues who helped promote my first book, Counting the Cost of Freedom! (Especially those here, where I don't post much.)
@kringelberg.bsky.social
@archiecrowley.bsky.social
@gauthamrao.bsky.social
@rkdcolby86.bsky.social
@kringelberg.bsky.social
@archiecrowley.bsky.social
@gauthamrao.bsky.social
@rkdcolby86.bsky.social
Getting ready for my Readings in the Civil War Era class. Excited to dive into some great books this semester with my grad students.
September 1, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Getting ready for my Readings in the Civil War Era class. Excited to dive into some great books this semester with my grad students.
Fantastic resource for historians: a spreadsheet of NARA's digitized microfilm, with links to the files in the Archives catalog. May it help you as much as it has helped me.
www.archives.gov/files/colleg...
www.archives.gov/files/colleg...
www.archives.gov
August 21, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Fantastic resource for historians: a spreadsheet of NARA's digitized microfilm, with links to the files in the Archives catalog. May it help you as much as it has helped me.
www.archives.gov/files/colleg...
www.archives.gov/files/colleg...
NERFC roadtrip stop #4: the New Hampshire Historical Society.
July 25, 2025 at 5:45 PM
NERFC roadtrip stop #4: the New Hampshire Historical Society.
NERFC Fellowship stop #3: the Maine Historical Society.
July 23, 2025 at 2:46 PM
NERFC Fellowship stop #3: the Maine Historical Society.
Day 2 of my NERFC roadtrip: looking for breadcrumbs in Dartmouth College's stunning Rauner Library.
July 22, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Day 2 of my NERFC roadtrip: looking for breadcrumbs in Dartmouth College's stunning Rauner Library.
Check out the call for papers for the 2026 Society of Civil War Historians Conference (Richmond, June 18-20)! If you're not sure where to start, you can find the panel builder tool and connect with others looking to submit. Deadline is 9/15!
scwh.memberclicks.net/biennial-con...
scwh.memberclicks.net/biennial-con...
Conference
Conferences
scwh.memberclicks.net
July 21, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Check out the call for papers for the 2026 Society of Civil War Historians Conference (Richmond, June 18-20)! If you're not sure where to start, you can find the panel builder tool and connect with others looking to submit. Deadline is 9/15!
scwh.memberclicks.net/biennial-con...
scwh.memberclicks.net/biennial-con...
Stop one on my New England Regional Fellowship Consortium road trip: Williams College's Chapin Library. Gorgeous day to be in Western Massachusetts!
July 21, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Stop one on my New England Regional Fellowship Consortium road trip: Williams College's Chapin Library. Gorgeous day to be in Western Massachusetts!
"Fighting Joe" or "Fighting, Joe"?
July 16, 2025 at 6:03 PM
"Fighting Joe" or "Fighting, Joe"?
First time at the Boston Athenaeum, and it's hard to imagine a more beautiful place in which to do research. Grateful for the support of a Loring Fellowship allowing me to do so.
July 14, 2025 at 2:11 PM
First time at the Boston Athenaeum, and it's hard to imagine a more beautiful place in which to do research. Grateful for the support of a Loring Fellowship allowing me to do so.
Thrilled to be kicking off my time this morning as the Suzanne and Caleb Loring Research Fellow @mhs1791.bsky.social!
July 7, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Thrilled to be kicking off my time this morning as the Suzanne and Caleb Loring Research Fellow @mhs1791.bsky.social!
Congratulations, @jonathansjones.bsky.social! Can't wait to read it!
Proof of life! We have page proofs for Opium Slavery: Civil War Veterans and America’s First Opioid Crisis, coming this October with @uncpress.bsky.social 🗃️
July 3, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Congratulations, @jonathansjones.bsky.social! Can't wait to read it!
NARA informing historians they can't park directly at Archives II anymore:
June 25, 2025 at 8:28 PM
NARA informing historians they can't park directly at Archives II anymore:
Reposted by Robert Colby
29/141 2025 Official Submission #MAAHStoneAtoZ
June 10, 2025 at 4:07 PM
29/141 2025 Official Submission #MAAHStoneAtoZ
Reposted by Robert Colby
Had a wonderful weekend in Columbus, MS at the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters banquet. Honored to have received the 2025 prize for nonfiction! @oxfordacademic.bsky.social
June 16, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Had a wonderful weekend in Columbus, MS at the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters banquet. Honored to have received the 2025 prize for nonfiction! @oxfordacademic.bsky.social
Had a wonderful weekend in Columbus, MS at the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters banquet. Honored to have received the 2025 prize for nonfiction! @oxfordacademic.bsky.social
June 16, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Had a wonderful weekend in Columbus, MS at the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters banquet. Honored to have received the 2025 prize for nonfiction! @oxfordacademic.bsky.social
Excited to check out the latest from Craig Friend, arriving via @uncpress.bsky.social!
June 10, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Excited to check out the latest from Craig Friend, arriving via @uncpress.bsky.social!
Reposted by Robert Colby
The front cover is complete -- with a fantastic blurb from
@rkdcolby86.bsky.social!
"Deeply moving, sometimes shocking, and sure to provoke deep reflection..."
@rkdcolby86.bsky.social!
"Deeply moving, sometimes shocking, and sure to provoke deep reflection..."
June 5, 2025 at 4:35 PM
The front cover is complete -- with a fantastic blurb from
@rkdcolby86.bsky.social!
"Deeply moving, sometimes shocking, and sure to provoke deep reflection..."
@rkdcolby86.bsky.social!
"Deeply moving, sometimes shocking, and sure to provoke deep reflection..."
Deadline approaching this Friday, June 6! Please consider submitting!
Our deadline is coming up this Friday (6/6)! It's going to be a great conference, featuring a keynote from @arielagross.bsky.social and conversation with @gauthamrao.bsky.social, Anne Twitty, and Cynthia Nicoletti. Please apply, and please share! @jcwe.bsky.social @joursouhist.bsky.social
One week remains to submit for the Center for Civil War Research's 2025 conference, "New Directions in the Legal History of the Civil War Era," happening in Oxford, MS Oct. 16-18. Details below; please share! @jcwe.bsky.social @joursouhist.bsky.social @historians.org
olemiss.edu/civil-war-re...
olemiss.edu/civil-war-re...
June 5, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Deadline approaching this Friday, June 6! Please consider submitting!
Reposted by Robert Colby
Our deadline is coming up this Friday (6/6)! It's going to be a great conference, featuring a keynote from @arielagross.bsky.social and conversation with @gauthamrao.bsky.social, Anne Twitty, and Cynthia Nicoletti. Please apply, and please share! @jcwe.bsky.social @joursouhist.bsky.social
One week remains to submit for the Center for Civil War Research's 2025 conference, "New Directions in the Legal History of the Civil War Era," happening in Oxford, MS Oct. 16-18. Details below; please share! @jcwe.bsky.social @joursouhist.bsky.social @historians.org
olemiss.edu/civil-war-re...
olemiss.edu/civil-war-re...
Conference on the Civil War | Ole Miss
olemiss.edu
June 2, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Our deadline is coming up this Friday (6/6)! It's going to be a great conference, featuring a keynote from @arielagross.bsky.social and conversation with @gauthamrao.bsky.social, Anne Twitty, and Cynthia Nicoletti. Please apply, and please share! @jcwe.bsky.social @joursouhist.bsky.social