Publisher Pulls Lauded Slavery History Book Amid Questions

A history book once hailed as a breakthrough has largely vanished from its publisher's site, as its author fights back against accusations that have rocked her career. The Grimkes, Kerri K. Greenidge's 2022 study of a prominent slaveholding family and its ties to abolitionism, drew rave reviews and a major prize—but it's now under fire from scholars who say it contains serious factual errors and shaky sourcing, reports the New York Times. Historian Myra C. Glenn publicly challenged the book in March, calling it "deeply flawed" and disputing Greenidge's accounts of key episodes and the location of certain letters the book cites.

Tufts University, where Greenidge was a tenured associate professor, says it launched its own review in late 2022, found multiple factual and citation problems, and alerted publisher WW Norton. The school now confirms Greenidge is no longer employed there. Greenidge, who denies fabricating or plagiarizing but concedes some misattributed citations, says she's being targeted by white scholars hostile to her work on racism and slavery, describing the scrutiny as part of a broader pattern of attacks on Black women academics like herself. Norton hasn't commented.