MichelleÌýMartin
Gathering Around a New Fire: The Bemo Family, Interracial Marriage, Race, and Power in the Mvskoke Nation, 1870-1897
Dr.ÌýMichelle M. Martin is aÌýMichigander by birth and a Kansan and Okie by choice. Martin is aÌýhistorian who earned her doctorate at the University of New MexicoÌýin May 2022.ÌýHer researchÌýprobes interracial marriage, gender,Ìýrace,Ìýand power in the Mvskoke Nation in the Indian Territory from 1870-1897.ÌýShe earned her B.A. and M.A. degrees in history at Western Michigan University. AfterÌýgraduating from Western Michigan UniversityÌýMartin embarked on a nearly twenty-year career in academic and public history.ÌýFor nine years she taught full and part time at the two and four yearÌýcollege levelÌýin Kansas and Oklahoma.ÌýSheÌýalsoÌýworked in the television and film industryÌýfor nearly ten yearsÌýas a researcher, script writer, and field producer. Projects she has contributed to haveÌýaired on PBS, A&E, History Channel, Investigation Discovery, andÌýatÌýNational Park Service units in Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas. For several years Martin worked as a museum director and has served on numerous museum boardsÌýand has provided consulting services for small museums in Kansas and Oklahoma.ÌýMartin hasÌýalsoÌýlectured on various historical topics across the country for museums, state andÌýnationalÌýhistoric sites,Ìýand educational institutions.ÌýHer research interests include the intersectionsÌýof gender, race, and ethnicity in the U.S. West from 1800-1900, the history of Indigenous-ÌýEuro AmericanÌýrelations in the Indian TerritoryÌý(in the Mvskoke and Semnvole Nations specifically)Ìýfrom 1840-1925, interracial marriage and familiesÌýin the United States during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,ÌýandÌýgender and race based violence inÌýthe West.ÌýShe is currently teaching at Mesa Community College as an adjunct faculty while she conducts additional research to transfer her dissertation into a scholarly book. She also is a weekly contributor to the digital programÌýAround KansasÌýthat explores Kansas history, culture, and events.ÌýShe also serves as the recorder for the Coalition for Western Women’s History.
MartinÌýlives in Mesa, Arizona with her husband, who is also a historian, and is a proud cat mamma to Josie. When not working Michelle enjoys hiking, travel, photography, watching college and professional football,ÌýandÌývolunteering as a living history interpreter at various state and national historic sites.