Deborah McNally, Author at • Page 2 of 2

Academic Historian

Deborah McNally received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington, Seattle in 2013 and currently teaches courses on Everyday Life in Nineteenth-Century America and Salem Witchcraft in Colonial New England at the University of Washington, Seattle. Her research interests include slavery, race, gender, and women’s history.Her dissertation, “Within Patriarchy: Gender and Power in Massachusetts’s Congregational Churches, 1630-1730,” explores the relationship between gender and power in the religious culture of Massachusetts’s Congregational churches during the seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. It demonstrates that within a decidedly patriarchal culture, women were both key participants in and patrons of their individual congregations and shapers of both their and their family’s religious experience throughout the seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries.

Debbie served as the webmaster of Blackpast.org from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2009 to 2013.

Michael K. Ross (1941-2007)

Michael K. Ross was a Washington State legislator, civil rights activist, and contractor who, although he worked from within established political channels, was not afraid to go against the grain to affect social change. Ross’s early years followed a conservative trajectory. Born in Iowa City, … Read MoreMichael K. Ross (1941-2007)

Ferdinand Lee Barnett (1858-1936)

Born in Nashville, Tennessee on February 18, 1852, and educated at the law school later affiliated with Northwestern University, Ferdinand Lee Barnett was an attorney, writer, lecturer, and the editor and founder of Chicago’s first black newspaper, the Chicago Conservator. Although he is often remembered … Read MoreFerdinand Lee Barnett (1858-1936)

Robert James Harlan (1816-1897)

Robert James Harlan was an entrepreneur, businessman, and army officer who devoted the second half of his life to political and civic service. Among his many accomplishments, in an 1879 speech before Congress titled “Migration is the Only Remedy for Our Wrongs,” Harlan argued for … Read MoreRobert James Harlan (1816-1897)

Zoë Dusanne (1884-1972)

Described by those who knew her as exotic, flamboyant, and colorful, Zoë Dusanne, was an art dealer and collector who opened Seattle’s first professional modern-art gallery, the Zoë Dusanne Gallery in 1950, and who worked tirelessly to both introduce modern art to a northwest audience … Read MoreZoë Dusanne (1884-1972)

Jean-Jacques Dessalines (1758-1806)

Reviled for his brutality yet honored as one of the founding fathers of Haiti, Jean-Jacques Dessalines was second in command under Toussaint L’Overture during the Haitian Revolution and was the general who emerged after L’Overture’s capture to lead the insurgents in declaring Haitian independence on … Read MoreJean-Jacques Dessalines (1758-1806)

V. Ethel Willis White (1920-2003)

The endowment named in honor of V Ethel Willis White is unusual in that the person honored was not a wealthy woman in the usual sense of the word. Instead V Ethel Willis White’s wealth derived from her inspiration to others. White began life in … Read MoreV. Ethel Willis White (1920-2003)