Danielle Olden, “Racial Uncertainties” at the Tanner Humanities Center

The Tanner Humanities Center is proud to welcome back former fellow, Danielle Olden, associate professor of history, as part of the Author Meets Reader Series, Sept. 20, 2023, at 1 p.m. in The Obert C. & Grace A. Tanner Humanities Center Jewel Box. Olden will be discussing her book and ongoing research of historical racial construction and desegregation.  

In her debut book, “Racial Uncertainties: Mexican Americans, School Desegregation, and the Making of Race in Post-Civil Rights America,” Olden investigates the complex multiracial conversations surrounding desegregation in Black and Mexican communities in post-civil rights America through the lens of the1973 Keyes v. Denver School District No. 1 Supreme Court case. 

“Danielle eloquently and insightfully guides us through identity, privilege and discrimination, in her work,” said Beth James, administration director for Tanner Humanities Center. “We’re thrilled to have her back at the center, where she worked on “Racial Uncertainties” during her time as a fellow. It’s always exciting to see what our previous fellows have accomplished and even more exciting to explore their work.”  

The impact of Olden's work is quickly making an impact in academic circles, as evidenced by the praise from the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, "This is an important book, and educational, civil rights, and Texas historians will find much within to appreciate and discuss."  

Olden has written extensively about topics relating to race in the West. Her publications have appeared in Western Historical Quarterly and Qualitative Inquiry, and Beyond the Borders of the Law: Critical Legal Histories of the North American West (edited by Katrina Jagodinskyand Pablo Mitchell). Her scholarship has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the University of Utah Tanner Humanities Center, the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University, and the Ohio State University Graduate School, among others.