Newby-Alexander, Cassandra L. 1957–

PERSONAL: Born December 30, 1957, in Great Lakes, IL; daughter of James E., Jr. (a physician) and Claytea B. (a teacher and homemaker) Newby; married William H. Alexander (a professor of history), December 28, 1996. Ethnicity: "African American." Education: University of Virginia, B.A., 1980; Norfolk State University, teaching certificate, 1983; Attended Exeter College, Oxford, 1983; Old Dominion University, M.A., 1984; College of William and Mary, Ph.D., 1992. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Christian.

ADDRESSES: Home—4116 Lakeview Dr., Chesapeake, VA 23323. Office—Department of History, Norfolk State University, Norfolk, VA 23504-3907. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Teacher of history, psychology, and foreign policy at public high schools in Norfolk, VA, 1988–92; Norfolk State University, Norfolk, assistant professor, 1992–95, associate professor of history, 1995–, affiliate of Internet project "Race, Time, and Place: African Americans in Tidewater Virginia," 1999–. Nauticus (national maritime center), member of task force boards for exhibitions "The Wreck of the 'Henrietta Marie,'" 1998, and "The Amistad," 2001; WHRO-Television, member of foundation board, 2001–; Friends of Norfolk's Historic Cemeteries, board member, 2001–; University of Virginia, member of Modern Virginia Council board, 2002; Chrysler Museum of Art, member of Friends of African-American Art, 2002. Guest on local media programs. Ronald McDonald House, board member, 1995–; African American-Jewish Coalition, board member, 1999–.

MEMBER: African-American Historical Society of Portsmouth.

AWARDS, HONORS: Grants from Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Humanities.

WRITINGS:

African Americans: Highlights of Our Heritage, Southeastern Virginia Arts Association (Norfolk, VA), 1998.

(With Mae Breckenridge-Haywood) Portsmouth, Virginia, Arcadia Publishing (Charleston, SC), 2003.

Author of docent guide, "A Slave Ship Speaks: The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie," Nauticus (Norfolk, VA), 1998. Contributor to books, including Religious/Freedom, South Style, edited by Catharine Cookson, Center for the Study of Religious Freedom, Virginia Wesleyan College (Norfolk, VA), 2002.

WORK IN PROGRESS: "A New Day a Dawnin':" Norfolk's African-American Community in Bondage and Freedom, 1850–1902, with Michael Hucles, for University Press of Virginia; editing An Anthology of Essays on the Transatlantic Slave Trade, with William Alexander, University Press of Virginia.

SIDELIGHTS: Cassandra L. Newby-Alexander told CA: "I am an historian and a community advocate. For the past few years I have worked with numerous organizations to construct histories of their societies or the community in general. My work on Portsmouth's African-American history is the result of collaborative efforts with the African American Historical Society of Portsmouth."