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Judith Weisenfeld

@jlweisenfeld.bsky.social
4.9K followers 1.3K following 859 posts

African American religious history & religion and race in America. www.judithweisenfeld.com New-ish: Black Religion in the Madhouse: Race and Psychiatry in Slavery's Wake (NYU Press)

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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 13h
I was unaware of him as a religious figure in the 1970s but remember going to the movies with my siblings to see *The Food of the Gods,* in which he appeared, and being terrified. Here's the trailer: youtu.be/77KpoGDVkxk?... The documentary about him is very good.
hollywoodreporter.com
Marjoe Gortner, Child Preacher and ‘Earthquake,’ ‘Falcon Crest’ Actor, Dies at 82
The subject of an Oscar-winning documentary, the Universal Pictures contract player also starred with Lynda Carter in ‘Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw.’
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers + more turnovers. 😔
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
“The Bible is filled with people who were falsely accused,” he said.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
He's also a United Methodist minister and under investigation by the denomination.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 04/10/2026
remarkable piece of journalism. really worth reading.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I'm very excited about @mbaysa.bsky.social's forthcoming book, *Sacred Voices, Printed Silences: The Struggle Against Protestant Dominance in Early American Publishing.* It now has a great cover and is available for preorder.
nyupress.org
Sacred Voices, Printed Silences
Uncovers the marginalization of religious voices in early American print cultureThere was a diversity of religious communities in early America. Yet, when it...
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KD Thompson @phdeviant.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
New special issue: Dynamic Expressions of Lived Religion in Africa & the Diaspora (Journal of Religion in Africa), which I guest-edited. I also wrote the introduction and an open-access article on Islamic radio & ecumenism in Tanzania. I'd be happy to share PDFs of other articles on request!
brill.com
Journal of Religion in Africa Volume 56 Issue 3: Special Issue: Dynamic Expressions of Lived Religion in Africa and the Diaspora, edited by K.D. Thompson (2026)
"Volume 56 (2026): Issue 3 (Sep 2026): Special Issue: Dynamic Expressions of Lived Religion in Africa and the Diaspora, edited by K.D. Thompson" published on 23 Sep 2026 by Brill.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Postdoc: Princeton's Effron Center for the Study of America is taking applications for a postdoctoral fellowship in Native American and Indigenous studies with the possibility of teaching one course per semester. Deadline: November 15, 2026.
apply.interfolio.com
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Job: Princeton's Effron Center for the Study of America is conducting an open-rank search in Native American and Indigenous Studies in any field in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Review of applications begins November 1.
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Alexa Philippou @alexaphilippou.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The No. 8 seed New York Liberty become the first team to punch their ticket to the WNBA semifinals behind a commanding Game 2 win at Barclays, 87-71. The Minnesota Lynx become the first No. 1 seed in WNBA playoff history to get swept in their opening series. Another heartbreaker for Minnesota.
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Anne Helen Petersen @annehelen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This is *the* piece. Kate Manne, professor of philosophy at Cornell, speaks truth to the totality of failures at the university — and why students protesting the war in Gaza have faced far harsher consequences than any of the Cornell 7: www.thecut.com/article/what...
thecut.com
What It Feels Like at Cornell Right Now
As a professor at the Ivy League school, Kate Manne has known many, many victims. There’s a palpable feeling on campus, she writes, that this is big.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The Calypso monarch has left. My mother (a Tobagonian) had Sparrow 78s and LPs that my siblings and I listened to growing up. He ended up living not too far from us in Queens.
nytimes.com
The Mighty Sparrow, Trinidadian Titan of Calypso, Is Dead at 91
He was sometimes described as the last of the true calypso singers. But in fact he simultaneously preserved calypso tradition and invented it anew.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
He missed the obvious opportunity to rename AI as "America Intelligence"! 🤔
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Everything seems to be back up and running.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A total mess! I wasn't aware that there had been major changes, so I'm glad to have some context.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Thanks for looking. When the NMAAHC site was down, I tried through these other collections interfaces but it turned out that the outage was more widespread and I couldn't get any results. Fortunately, things seem to have been restored.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Perhaps it is a more global outage at the Smithsonian. But, in this climate, who knows.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I was looking for a citation for an image that is at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and none of the collection materials or exhibits appear to be accessible online. The old link forwards to a page to get tickets. Other SI sites are weird too. nmaahc.si.edu
nmaahc.si.edu
Request Rejected
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The Crossroads Project @xroadproj.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Black Perspectives has interviewed 2025 @xroadproj.bsky.social Arts Fellow Vanessa Charlot about her scholarship on Black women photographers. Check out her own photographic project, "Sanctuaries of the Spirit: Black Churches in Mississippi," on SPIRIT HOUSE: www.crossroads-spirithouse.org/charlot.
aaihs.org
Photographing the Afterlife of Slavery - AAIHS
In today’s post, Mickell Carter, an editorial assistant at Global Black Thought (the official journal of AAIHS), interviews Vanessa Charlot about her new article, "In the Shadow of Cotton and Blood: B...
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The Hall Johnson Choir is always great, and Johnson should get more attention.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I wrote about both Cabin in the Sky and The Green Pastures in my study of representations of African American religion in early sound film. Agree on the beauty of Cabin and cautions on Green Pastures, although it had so much traction from 1930-the late 1950s in theater, film, community theater.
ucpress.edu
Hollywood Be Thy Name by Judith Weisenfeld - Paper
Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I'm excited to host this conference on October 9 and 10 highlighting the work of Crossroads Project fellows exploring Black religious histories, communities, and cultures. The schedule and registration for the webinar are available on the conference website:
convergences.crossroads.princeton.edu
Convergences: Exploring Black Religious Histories, Communities, and Cultures
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I wrote a footnote about the series the other day. The volumes were so important to my development in graduate school (and beyond).
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Job: The Department of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania seeks a historian of sub-Saharan Africa at the rank of Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor. Special interest in research focus on religious and/or sociocultural practices in sub-Saharan Africa. Deadline: October 16, 2026
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Applications open for the Anschutz Distinguished Fellowship in Princeton's Effron Center for the Study of America. Distinguished writers, critics, journalists, musicians, artists, scholars for a semester, teach 1 course, and give a public lecture. Deadline: 11/15/2026 apply.interfolio.com/192794
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Seth Rockman @sethrockman.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
This is a big one: Brown University is searching for the next director of the Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice. Please help us identify excellent candidates to lead this signature program into the future. Please write me with ideas; please share in your networks; please apply.
networks.h-net.org
Brown University - Professor and Director of the Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice | H-Net
1. Academic Accomplishment. We seek a scholar with a strong scholarly record, including excellence in both research and teaching, appropriate for appointment at the level of full professor in a social science, humanities, or arts department at Brown.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Morning and afternoon walks in the Catskills yesterday. Perfect late summer weather.
Catskill mountains. Catskill mountains. Catskill mountains. A meadow in the Catskill mountains, and a dog walking.
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Duke University Press @dukepress.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Celeste-Marie Bernier presents the first standalone biography of Anna Murray Douglass, wife and co-revolutionary of Frederick Douglass, honoring her history-making role as a campaigner, liberator, and freedom-fighter. Read a sample for free now: buff.ly/4etAj6v
Cover of Anna Murray Douglass: Biography of a Revolutionary by Celeste-Marie Bernier. The cover is a photograph of Anna Murray Douglass as a duotone in pink and red. There are three squares made of transparent gold triangle patterns overlayed. The title is written large in a bold white script across the cover. The subtitle is smaller below and aligned left. The authors name appears in the top left corner of the cover in white.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I took this photo of a drawing by a woman and her young daughter in Union Square on September 13, 2001. I made a webpage with more images from that day for my seminar on "Religious Worlds of NY," which had been scheduled to meet for the first time that afternoon. www.princeton.edu/~jweisenf/me...
A drawing of figures of people, some in color, some in black and white and holding hands. Two blank columns represent the World Trade Center Towers. On the bottom of the drawing it reads: WE ARE STILL STANDING.
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Alyssa S. @drsepinwall.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
LOL. Again: "I came across" your book - to a notably dead author. These templates are pumped out by bots. They haven't read our books - they've not even touched a page! Gen AI is chewing up & re-extruding our book descriptions, so if you're like, that's what my book IS about: they're parroting you!
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Michael Baysa @mbaysa.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Registration is open for this upcoming conference on Religion and the American Founding through UVM's Humanities Center on October 9. If you're around the Burlington, Vermont area, we'd love to have you join - it's open and free to the public! na.eventscloud.com/ereg/index.p...
na.eventscloud.com
Religion and the American Founding Conference
<h1 class="x"><strong>Religion and the American Founding Conference</strong></h1> <p>Please join us for the Religion and the American Founding Con
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Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
For MSNOW, I wrote about the Trump administration threatening to strip colleges of their tax-exempt status as part of its larger segregationist agenda.
ms.now
Opinion | Trump’s next high education target: schools that help Black students
Victor Ray: American universities must stand up to Trump's plan to re-segregate higher ed
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
So happy for Taylor Townsend’s #USOpen win to make the round of 16. I got to sit court side for her 2nd round match on Wednesday.
Taylor Townsend serving at a tennis match.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
😡
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Next up, he will punish schools that admit minority students.....
nytimes.com
Schools Giving Aid to Minority Students Could Lose Tax Exemptions Under Trump’s New Rules
The Treasury Department released rules that would prevent schools with race-based programs from qualifying for tax-exempt status, a threat to both higher education and other private schools.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
This is a must-read by @vox-magica.bsky.social and @profgabriele.com that sets the dismantling of their outstanding Department of Religion and Culture at Virginia Tech in the broader context of the assault on the Humanities.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
PSA that the website for @lauraleibman.bsky.social and @adrianabrodsky.bsky.social's fantastic collection, *Jews Across the Americas* offer's fantastic resources to supplement the book. Check it out:
jewsacrossamericas.com
Jews Across the Americas, 1492-present – Learning and Teaching Jewish American History
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Gina Murrell @ginamurrell1.blacksky.app · 31/08/2026
Paid #Internship: The African American Fire Fighters Historical Society, based in #Baltimore, seeks an #archives intern, "a hybrid role for a current HBCU student or recent HBCU grad." Stipend: $1,000 in four installments. Email resume+brief paragraph to: projects@aaffhs.org. #BlackHistory #Maryland
Job Description: Archiving Intern

About the African American Fire Fighters Historical Society:

The African American Fire Fighters Historical Society was founded in 2009, and our mission is to collect, preserve and disseminate historical data, and information relating to the contributions made by fire fighters of color, and others who have made a contribution to such history; to be
used for the purpose of education, fire prevention/safety, and mentoring.

Position Overview

We are seeking a detail-oriented and passionate Archiving Intern to help organize, catalog, and preserve our growing collection featuring our newly acquired Arthur “Smokestake” Hardy Collection of historical documents, photographs, periodicals and artifacts. This is a Hybrid role
that is for a current HBCU student or recent HBCU graduate who is based in the DMV, and comfortable making a commute to Baltimore to come to our office.

Key Responsibilities

● Cataloging: Assist in the inventory and digital cataloging of physical records, including vintage photographs, news clippings, and departmental records.
● Preservation: Handle delicate historical items using standard archival practices to ensure long-term stability.
● Digital Archiving Preparation: Managing file naming conventions and metadata entry for our digital database. (check this wording)
● Content Support: Identify "hidden gems" in the archives that can be featured in newsletters, social media, or upcoming museum exhibits.

Qualifications

● Current undergraduate/graduate student or recent graduate in African American Studies, History, Library & Information Science, Museum Studies, English, Journalism, Communications or a related field.
● Strong interest in African American history and the legacy of public service.● High level of organization and attention to detail.
● Proficiency in Google Suite, and needs to be able to see the big picture of archiving while sweating the small details of organizing files digitally.
● Ability to work independently and handle historical materials with care.

Benefits

● This is a part-time paid internship: We are looking for 12 to 20 hours of work a week, and offering a stipend of $1,000.00 paid in four installments for this internship.
● Hands-on Experience: Gain practical experience in archival workflows and collection management.
● Mentorship: Work closely with historians and community leaders dedicated to Black fire fighter history.
● Professional Development: Build your portfolio by contributing to the only historical society for Black fire fighters, with the possibility of taking ownership over archiving for the summer.

How to Apply

Please submit a resume and a brief paragraph outlining your interest in Black fire fighter history and why you want to support our work to keep it alive for future generations to projects@aaffhs.org.

The African American Fire Fighters Historical Society is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all interns and volunteers.
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The Crossroads Project @xroadproj.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
We are excited to announce the new projects added to SPIRIT HOUSE, @xroadproj.bsky.social's gallery of work by Crossroads Project Fellows exploring Black religious histories, communities and cultures. The site, designed by @mpgphd.bsky.social, now hosts 48 projects. A thread of what's new:
crossroads-spirithouse.org
home. | SPIRIT HOUSE
SPIRIT HOUSE invests in and celebrates the richness and abundance of Black religions as they manifest through scholarly research, artistic expression, and community building.
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Lydia Bremer-McCollum @lcbmphd.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
The new semester is starting (or well under way). If you find yourself wishing you had more Coptic reading in your life, consider joining my online reading group! Meets Mondays @ 10:00am ET (Atlanta, GA time) [Zoom] DM me for more info!
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Thanks!! There’s such great stuff there.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Four years in the making! Check out the amazing projects hosted on the Crossroads Project's SPIRIT HOUSE website. I couldn't have done it without @mpgphd.bsky.social's expertise in design and public scholarship. She's accepting new commissions (and continuing in @xroadproj.bsky.social phase 2).
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Bluesky @bsky.app · 27/08/2026
Now you can opt out of having your posts shown to non-followers in the Discover feed. We know not everyone wants to go viral. Sometimes you're just posting for your followers. This is one of a few updates we're working on to give you more control over your experience and help you find your people.
Instructional image titled "Hide your posts from non-followers in Discover" accompanied by a screenshot of the "privacy and security" options from the Bluesky settings menu. "Ask apps to hide my posts from algorithmic recommendations" is toggled to the "on" state.
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Also, I haven't read it in a while, but I remember a great discussion of Sunset Boulevard in Otto Friedrich's *City of Nets: A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940s.*
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Such a worthy re-watch. I hadn't thought of a Margaret Hamilton similarity but will consider! Are you familiar with the Carol Burnett spoofs?
youtu.be
Nora Desmond’s Dramatic Eulogy | The Carol Burnett Show Clip
YouTube video by The Carol Burnett Show Official
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The deadline for proposals for the next round of @xroadproj.bsky.social grants is approaching. Spread the word!
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Judith Weisenfeld @jlweisenfeld.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
CFP: Networking Faith: New Formations of Global Christianity, a conference at the University of Chicago Divinity School, February 11-12, 2027. Deadline for proposals: November 15, 2026.
networks.h-net.org
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Stacy Fahrenthold @sfahrenthold.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
The American Historical Association hired a lobbying firm to help silence member advocacy on Palestine. In this essay, Adam Rzepka covers @historians.org's relationship w/ Thorn Run Partners, its deep ethical conflicts, & the advocacy crisis AHA has thrust upon us. www.chronicle.com/article/a-sc...
chronicle.com
Opinion | A Scholarly Association’s Secret Washington Playbook
Did the American Historical Association ask a corporate lobbying firm for advice on how to silence its members?
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That's Mikael Meyers @saintarray.blacksky.app · 24/08/2026
Essence put together a list of organizations that are trying to help ppl out in Gary, IN. Please read for more information. Linked below are links to the organizations mentioned in the article www.essence.com/community/ga...
essence.com
Gary, Indiana Power Outage: How To Help The Black Community - Essence
Local organizers are mobilizing to help bridge the gap and keep marginalized neighborhoods safe, fed, and powered up. Here&#039;s how lend our support to the midwest city.
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Joel D. Anderson @joelanderson.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
I always knew things would be bad but Trump 2 has been really creative in finding new ways to fuck up the country, things that will take beyond our lifetimes to repair—if we ever do smh.
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