Schmidt-Nowara, Christopher 1966–

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Schmidt-Nowara, Christopher 1966–

PERSONAL: Born 1966, in NM. Education: University of Michigan, Ph.D., 1995.

ADDRESSES: Home—New York, NY. Office—Department of History, Fordham University, Dealy Hall, Room 613, 441 East Fordham Rd., Bronx, NY 10458. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Historian and educator. Taught at Stanford University, Stanford, CA; Fordham University, Bronx, NY, assistant professor.

AWARDS, HONORS: Lydia Cabrera Award, Conference on Latin-American History, 1997, for "Empire and Anti-slavery: Spain, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, 1833–1898"; research grant, Program for Cultural Cooperation between Spain and the United States, Fordham University, 2000.

WRITINGS:

(With others) Más se perdió en Cuba: España, 1898 y la crisis de fin de siglo, Alianza (Madrid, Spain), 1998.

Empire and Antislavery: Spain, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, 1833–1874, University of Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, PA), 1999.

Contributor to periodicals, including Journal of Latin American Studies, American Historical Review, Cuban Studies, and Hispanic American Historical Review.

SIDELIGHTS: Christopher Schmidt-Nowara has taught courses on Spanish colonialism, Caribbean nationalism, comparative labor history, and Atlantic slavery. Empire and Antislavery: Spain, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, 1833–1874 is a study of slavery in the Caribbean. Spain, which was the last European state to abolish slavery in the Americas, passed a law to that effect in 1870, but slave owners, particularly in Cuba, were unwilling to give up this source of free labor, and the Spanish bourgeoisie depended on slavery to sustain the island economies. In his book Schmidt-Nowara focuses on the origins and accomplishments of the Spanish Abolitionist Society, founded in 1865, and its significant role in ending slavery in Cuba and Puerto Rico and thereby redefining colonial politics.

Durwood Long reviewed Empire and Antislavery in the Florida Historical Quarterly, calling it "a must for students and scholars…. Depending upon the level of knowledge of the subject, it may be viewed as a cornucopia, a treasure trove, or a Pandora's box." Long wrote that the book's conclusions make it clear "that the abolition of the slave trade and slavery in Spain, Cuba, and Puerto Rico was accomplished by a combination of liberals and conservatives in the ebb and flow of revolutionary initiatives and visions of empire."