Overview
Dr. Robin C. Henry, Associate Professor in the Department of History and Director of the Women’s, Ethnicity, and Intersectional Studies Program at Wichita State University, received her Ph.D. from Indiana University and joined the faculty of WSU's history department in 2006. She specializes in US legal and constitutional and gender and sexuality history, primarily in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Her research focuses on the intersections of gender, sexuality, law, and constitutional rights of marginalized groups in the United States, and her publications have appeared in several journals, anthologies, and edited collections. Her current projects include a biography of the Progressive-era juvenile judge and reformer, Benjamin Barr Lindsey; an LGBTQ+ legal history primary-source reader; and a history of the 14th Amendment and legal dormancy that examines the contingent nature of the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses for marginalized communities from 1868-2000.
Additionally, Dr. Henry finds ways to connect history with public interests, including giving public talks and engaging with local and online reading groups, writing responses to Jennifer Ray's photographs for her upcoming publication, Shouting Fire, creating a six-episode podcast, Hindsight: Looking Back at 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage, and serving as a commentator for the ongoing radio series, Wichita's public radio station KMUW's Past and Present Series. She has served on several professional committees throughout her career, including her current role on the Steering Committee of the Coalition for Western Women’s History.
B.A., Austin College, 1998
M.A., University of Massachussetts, Amherst, 2000
Ph.D., Indiana University, 2006
Information
- US History, 1865-1920
- Women, Gender, and Sexuality
- Legal, Constitutional, Civil Rights
- American West
My research investigates the critical interplay between US legal and constitutional frameworks and the histories of gender and sexuality, with a specialized focus on the late 19th and early 20th centuries. My work illuminates the complex ways gender, sexuality, and law converge to impact the constitutional rights of marginalized groups in the United States, appearing in diverse scholarly venues including journals, anthologies, and edited collections. My active research agenda includes a forthcoming biography of the influential Progressive-era juvenile judge and reformer, Benjamin Barr Lindsey; an LGBTQ+ legal history primary-source reader; and a study on the 14th Amendment's legal dormancy, revealing the fluctuating application of its Equal Protection and Due Process clauses for marginalized communities across a century (1868-2000).
My teaching in US History is driven by a commitment to engaging students with critical topics such as the history of women, gender, and sexuality, constitutional and legal history, civil rights movements, and American law and film. While I offer a rotating selection of courses (details below), I encourage you to connect with me to discuss upcoming opportunities to explore these fascinating fields!
General-knowledge US History courses
HIST 132: US History from 1865
HIST 505: US History, 1865-1920
Constitutional History series
HIST 517/517H: US Constitutional History to 1865
HIST 518/518H: US Constitutional History from 1865
Legal History series
HIST 544: American Law and Film (offered online!)
HIST 545: Law in American Society
HIST 546: Law in Modern American Civil Rights Movements
Women, Gender, Sexuality History Series
HIST 511: Early American Women, 1600-1830
HIST 512: Women and Reform, 1830-2000
HIST 530: The American Woman in History (offered online!)
HIST 546: An LGBTQ+ History of the United States
Academic Publications:
“Teaching Labor Without Ludlow?: What it Means to Teach US History without the Ludlow Massacre,” Communities of Ludlow: Collaborative Stewardship and the Ludlow Centennial Commemoration Commission, Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2022.
“Accessibility in Practice: Navigating Changes at Universities and in Academic Associations,” Montana Magazine of History, (Summer, 2020).
“Unraveling the Mysteries of the Teaching Portfolio,” The American Historian, (Summer, 2019).
“In Our Image, According to Our Likeness’: John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Reconstructing Manhood in post-Ludlow Colorado,” Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 16 (January 2017), 24-43.
“Queering the American Fronter: Finding Queerness and Sexual Difference in Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Colorado,” in Queering the Countryside: New Directions in Rural Queer Studies, Mary L. Gray and Colin R. Johnson, eds. New York: New York University Press, 2016.
“’In Order to Form a More Perfect Worker’: John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Reform in post-Ludlow southern Colorado,” in Making an American Workforce: The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company’s Construction of a Work Force during the Rockefeller Years, ed. Fawn Amber Montoya. Boulder: University of Colorado Press, 2014, 83-102.
“Rediscovering Rockefeller: Archival Work at the Rockefeller Archives Center,” Rockefeller Archives Center Newsletter, 2008, 4-5, 27.
“Songs of Freedom: The Use of Music in the American Anti-Slavery Society,” New England Quarterly 78 (December 2006), 545-70.
Commentary, Podcasts, and Blogposts
Local commentator, “Past and Present,” KMUW, 2012-present
Hindsight: Looking Back at 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage, KMUW, 2020
Contributing Blogger, NOTCHES: (re)marks on the history of sexuality, 2014-2018
Art Exhibitions
Visiting Curator, “A Passionate Idea: Social Justice and the Work of Harry Sternberg,” Ulrich Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, May-August, 2013
Upcoming Articles and Essays
Essays in Jennifer Ray, Shouting Fire, University of Oregon Press, [forthcoming, 2026].
“’Please Don’t Talk About Sex’: Benjamin Barr Lindsey, The Revolt of Modern Youth, and the Public Debate over Youth Sexuality" [article under review]
“Years of the Living Dead: Zombie Laws, Legal Dormancy, and the Contingent Rights of Sexual Minorities” for Law and History Review [planned submission: 2025/26]
Book-Length Manuscripts
“The Progressives’ Lincoln: Reform and the Intellectual Life of Benjamin Barr Lindsey” [book-length manuscript in process]
Years of the Living Dead: Zombie Laws, Legal Dormancy, and the Contingent Promises of the 14th Amendment [book-length manuscript in process]
Document Reader with Critical Essays
An LGBTQ+ Legal History Reader, ed. Robin Henry, Yale University Press, [document reader with essays in process]
In my twenty years at WSU, I've been deeply involved in profressional organizations and in community activities throughout Wichita, Kansas, and the surrounding region. As a historian, I believe in the vital importance of making space for marginalized voices and histories and translating academic work into tangible engagement with a wide array of community members and organizations. I am always open to exploring new partnerships that align with my commitment to public history and collaborative projects, with examples of past work detailed below.
Professional Organization Memberships and Committee Activities
American Historical Association
--19th century Editorial Assistant, American Historical Review, 2001-2004
American Society of Legal History
Berkshire Conference on Women’s History
Coordinating Council of Women’s Historians
Coalition of Western Women’s Historians
--Steering Committee (2024-2027)
--Ledesma Prize Committee (2021-2024)
Organization of American Historians
--Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession (2009-2011)
Society of Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
--Editor, H-SHGAPE (2010-2020)
Western Historical Association
--LGBTQAI+ Task Force (2018-2021)
National Women’s Studies Association
Community Board Memberships
Board Member, Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, 2022-present
Vice President, Chamber Music Society of Wichita, Wichita, KS 2020-2023
Member, The Art Alliance, Ulrich Museum of Art, 2014-2018
Civic Activities
Centennial Celebration History Committee, St. James Episcopal Church, Wichita, KS 2018-2020
Civil Rights Reading Group, St. James Episcopal Church, Wichita, KS, Spring 2018
Public Talks for Organizations
Talk given, “Civil Rights Activism and the Contemporary Scholar,” Institute for the American Constitutional Heritage, University of Oklahoma, April 25, 2014
Talk given, “The History of Women in Science,” for the Wichita Veterans’ Administration Women’s History Month Program, Wichita, KS, March 28, 2013
Talk given, “John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and the Employment Representation Plan,” Men’s Club, Grand Court Community, Overland Park, Kansas, August 3, 2010
Talk given, “Women in the American Revolution,” Colonial Dames of America, Crestview Country Club, Wichita, Kansas, November 12, 2007
Talk given, “The U.S. Constitution,” Northfield High School, Wichita, Kansas, February 25, 2007
Carol Konek Legacy Award, Department of Women’s, Ethnicity, and Intersectional Studies, Wichita State University, 2021-22
Honorable Mention, “EMILY’s List,” Past and Present commentary, Kansas Association of Broadcasters, 2021
Honorable Mention, “Episode One: Origin Stories,” Hindsight: 100 Years of Looking Back at Women’s Suffrage, Kansas Association of Broadcasters, 2020
Top 10 History Podcasts of 2020, Hindsight, Podcast Business Journal, March 2020
Faculty Excellence Award, Department of History, Wichita State University, 2013
WSU Teaching/Curriculum Development Grants
Tilford Group Commission Civil Rights Curriculum Incentive Grant, Wichita State University, 2012-13, 2020-21
Faculty Fellow, Bill and Dorothy Cohen Honors College, Wichita State University, 2017, 2019
First Year Seminar Fellow, Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Wichita State University, Summer 2018
WSU Research Grants
Award for Research/Creative Projects in Summer, Wichita State University, 2011
University Research/Creative Projects Award, Wichita State University, 2006-2007
Professional Organization Reserach Grants
Littleton/Griswold Grant in Legal History, American Historical Association, 2010
William Nelson Cromwell Early Career Fellowship, William Nelson Cromwell Foundation, 2007
Williard Hurst Summer Institute, American Society for Legal Historians, 2006
Non-WSU Research Grants
Rockefeller Archives Center, Research Fellowship, 2005, 2007
Kautz Family YMCA Archives, Clark Chambers Travel Fellowship, 2007
Current Professional Service:
Steering Committee, Coalition for Western Women’s Historians (2024-2027)
Manuscript Reviewer: Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, Western Historical Quarterly
Current University/College/Department Service:
Faculty Advisor, Wichita State University chapter, National Society of Collegiate Scholars
Faculty member, Accessibility and Disability Pride Task Force, Wichita State University
Director, Women's, Ethnicity, and Intersectional Studies (WEIS) program
Chair, McGregor Fellowship Review Committee, Dorothy and Bill Cohen Honors College
Department of History Lecture Series
Current Community Service:
Board Member, Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, 2022-present