Dr. Frances Bell is a historian of slavery, freedom-seeking, and the law in the revolutionary Atlantic world, with a focus on the early United States. Her current research project focuses on the Haitian revolutionary diaspora – the thousands of enslaved and formerly enslaved people who were forced by their enslavers to leave revolutionary Saint-Domingue for places where slavery remained legal – and the subsequent efforts of diaspora members to seek freedom in the early U.S.
Frances earned her Ph.D and M.A. from William & Mary, and her undergraduate degree from the University of Glasgow. Prior to coming to Appalachian State, she taught 19th-century U.S. History at Bates College and held a predoctoral fellowship at the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African American and African Studies. When not teaching and researching, Frances enjoys knitting, playing DnD, and exploring the outdoors.
Title: Assistant Professor
Department: Department of History
Email address: Email me
Phone: (828) 262-2282