James O. Horton

James Horton died on February 20, 2017. Horton was director of the Afro-American Communities Project at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and served as the senior adviser on historical interpretation and public education for the director of the National Park Service in 1994. He was also the Benjamin Banneker Professor Emeritus of American Studies and History at George Washington University, where he taught for over thirty years, and is remembered as a pioneer in African American research. Horton and his wife, Lois Horton, coauthored four books together, including the Pulitzer Prize–nominated book In Hope of Liberty: Culture, Community, and Protest among Northern Free Blacks (1997). They also served as Mellon Distinguished Scholars in Residence at AAS during the 2010–11 academic year. Horton received honors at George Washington University, including the Trachtenberg Distinguished Teaching Award and the President’s Medal for scholarly achievement and teaching excellence.