Edda L. Fields-Black


Edda L. Fields-Black is an African-American historian who is currently Associate Professor of History at Carnegie Mellon University. She is known for her research on West African rice agriculture and societies and the African diaspora.

Early life

Raised in Miami, Fields-Black grew up with her paternal grandparents, Jim Fields and Mamie Fields, who were Gullah speakers from Green Pond, South Carolina.

Education

Fields-Black earned a BA degree in English and History from Emory University and an MA degree in History from the University of Florida. She earned with MA and PhD degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, where she wrote her dissertation on the anthropology of rice farmers in the Nunez River region of Guinea.

Research

Apart from her research on rice agriculture in coastal Guinea and Sierra Leone, Fields-Black has also performed research on the Gullah Geechee people, the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, and other topics in African-American history.
Fields-Black is also known for her work on the Rio Nunez languages, Nalu language, Mel languages, and other Atlantic languages of West Africa.

Publications

Fields-Black's most notable publication is her 2008 book Deep Roots: Rice Farmers in West Africa and the African Diaspora. Her other books include Rice: Global Networks and New Histories.
She is currently married to Samuel Black, a historian, curator, and archivist who is director of African-American programs at the Senator John Heinz History Center. The pair was featured together in an episode of StoryCorps in 2006; Samuel talks to Edda Fields-Black about his relationships with his father and work throughout the episode, which aired on NPR's Morning Edition.