Harlem on Probation: The Uprising of 1943, Black Self-Determination, and the Rise of Probationary Citizenship

Author

• Bridget Laramie Kelly, Washington University in St. LouisFollow

Abstract

This dissertation develops a new framework for understanding what previous historians have considered a “riot,” and instead interprets the event as a form of wartime mobilization in America’s largest Black city—a political uprising for Black self-determination at the height of World War II that simultaneously unleashed new forms of probationary citizenship, binding claims to freedom and equality to heightened regimes of surveillance and conditional belonging.

Committee Chair

Iver Bernstein

Committee Members

Douglas Flowe; Nancy Reynolds; Peter Kastor; William Maxwell

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Author's Department

History

Author's School

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Document Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

5-5-2026

Language

English (en)

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7936/jmqb-eg48

Recommended Citation

Kelly, Bridget Laramie, "Harlem on Probation: The Uprising of 1943, Black Self-Determination, and the Rise of Probationary Citizenship" (2026). Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations. 3779.

The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.7936/jmqb-eg48