Alonna Carter-Donaldson

Alonna J. Carter-Donaldson is a Visiting Faculty Lecturer for the Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies Program. As a public historian, her work has centered around African American women and girls' history in the Pittsburgh region since the 1870s, African American genealogy, the historic preservation of sites related to the African American past, examining restorative justice through oral history methodology, and the intersection of race and disability. Alonna’s writing has been seen in the New Pittsburgh Courier, The Soul Pitt Quarterly, and Public Source. In 2021, she was selected as the Inaugural Burke Family Research Fellow at the Frick Pittsburgh for her work on African Americans in Pittsburgh’s Gilded Age and has previously worked as the first Project Scholar for the Western Pennsylvania Disability History and Action Consortium’s Intersection of Race and Disability Project. In 2022, Alonna presented her paper "Black Women: Education and Literacy as Pathways to Equality in Gilded. Age Pittsburgh" at the Pennsylvania Historical Association annual meeting.

Alonna is interested in uncovering the untold stories of how marginalized groups have shaped social justice movements and contributed to advancing their communities.

Education:

 M.A. in Public History- Duquesne University 2023

 Master of Professional Writing- Chatham University 2013

 B.A.- Philosophy, minor in History- Carlow University 2008

Books:

Strength: Recollections of Resilience, (Pittsburgh, PA, Psithurism Press 2023)

Grants:

The Center for Engaged Teaching and Research Racial Equity (CETR) Grant, Duquesne University 2023

Project Title: The Elsinore Bennu Think Tank (EBTT) for Restorative Justice Expansion Project

The Chip Burke Family Research Fellowship, The Frick Pittsburgh, 2021