Terry Anne Scott

Biography

Dr. Terry Anne Scott is an associate professor of American history and Chair of the Department of History at Hood College in Maryland. She is also an associate editor for the Journal of Sports History, as well as the We the People Public Scholar fellow for Common Power. Her research and teaching interests focus largely on urban history, the intersection of sports and race, African American social and cultural history, and political and social movements. Dr. Scott earned her doctorate in history from the University of Chicago, where she was awarded a fellowship from the University’s Board of Trustees. She received a master’s degree with distinction from Southern Methodist University.

Dr. Scott is the author of several books.  In Lynching and Leisure: Race and the Transformation of Mob Violence in Texas (2021), she explores how lynching, once a strictly punitive and largely clandestine form of political and labor domination, evolved into publicly viewed, well-attended, frequently commercialized exhibitions of racialized violence. Dr. Scott is the editor of the Seattle Sports: Play, Identity, and the Pursuit of Credibility in the Emerald City, an anthology that is part of an award winning series on the history of sports in urban areas.  Collectively, the topics covered by scholars, sports writers, and others in Seattle Sports run the breadth of the relatively young city’s diverse, fascinating, at times forgotten or simply devalued, sports history. Her latest work is an authorized biography, entitled From Bed-Stuy to the Hall of Fame: The Unexpected Life of Lenny Wilkens. Dr. Scott explores how the three-time Naismith Hall of Fame inductee, who is best known for winning the 1979 NBA Championship as coach of the Seattle SuperSonics, was also a quiet foot soldier in the struggle for racial equality. 

Dr. Scott is heavily involved in community service and social activism. She is the director and founder of the Community Ambassadors Mentor Program, which she originally created while teaching at the University of Washington (UW). The program connects college students, particularly student-athletes, with economically-marginalized, local youth. She has since established the program at Hood College. Additionally, Dr. Scott is the resident historian for Project Pilgrimage, an organization that takes a group of interracial and intergenerational people from across the country on a journey twice each year through multiple southern states to explore the history of the modern Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Scott is the co-founder of Anti-Racist Tune Up, which is a program that teaches college and high school educators how to discuss race and racism with their students.  Additionally, Dr. Scott is a co-founder of Race Cafés, a program that brings students and faculty together on college campuses to discuss issues related to race, and determine how to create necessary cultural shifts that work to dismantle racism in local environments.

Dr. Scott regularly lectures about race, sports, and social movements around the country.  For instance, she has spoken at the Seattle Art Museum, Weinberg Center for the Arts, and the Veterans Affairs office.  She appears regularly on WYPR, the Baltimore NPR station.  She is also featured in several documentaries.  Dr. Scott conducts workshops on the history of voting rights and leads tours of African American history in Montgomery, Alabama. 

Dr. Scott has received numerous awards and recognitions for her teaching and community outreach. For instance, she was awarded the 2020 Hood College Mortar Board Award, an honor bestowed upon one faculty member per year for excellence in teaching.  Dr. Scott was nominated for a Distinguished Teaching Award at the University of Washington and formally recognized as an Outstanding University of Washington Woman.  She was the recipient of the Mary Ann Kerins Humanitarian Award, and the Martha A. Church Prize, both of which recognize excellence in campus and community involvement.