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Ella Sullivan created George Moses Horton, A Civil War Poet as an individual-research project through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a current undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism through Hussman School of Media and Journalism. Ella's end goal is to work in the media field with interactive media, podcasts, art, graphic design, photography, video, social media, website design, or writing. Currently, she is particularly interested in interactive journalism, telling stories artistically, and making history more accessible. She is also interested in southern studies, women's studies, and visual arts.
Eliza Richards acted as advisor on this project and is currently under contract with UNC Press, writing The Collected Works of George Moses Horton: A Critical Edition. She studies and teaches American literature with a specialization in American poetry before 1900. Professor Richards is especially interested in the ways historical events and changes in media networks shape and inform the ways people write poetry, as well as the ways poetry participates in cultural transformations. Poetry in the nineteenth century was a powerful social force, and she explores the relations among categories like “popular,” “experimental,” “conventional,” and “great.” Professor Richards’ work broadens understanding and awareness of important nineteenth-century poetry written by women, African Americans, and popular writers. She has written about Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Adah Isaacs Menken, Frances Sargent Osgood, Elizabeth Oakes Smith, Herman Melville, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and many others. Professor Richards’ research has been recognized by distinguished fellowships, and her work with students on the graduate and undergraduate levels has been honored by teaching awards.