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Meet the Mellon Fellows: Dr. Andrew Klein

Headshot of a white man with brown hair and a beard wearing glasses and a gray shirt

Dr. Andrew Klein

University of California, Los Angeles
PhD, History

Host Site: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
Fellowship Title: African Americans in Pacific Maritime History
Project Description: Dr. Klein will help illuminate the histories of African American maritime workers on the Pacific and the U.S. Pacific coast, especially in connection with San Francisco and the Bay region. He will focus on mid-twentieth-century waterfront, shipyard, and cannery labor in the San Francisco Bay Area; nineteenth- and twentieth-century histories of Black maritime labor at sea; and the nineteenth-century role of the Pacific in Black emancipation.

Bio:

Andrew Klein is a historian of race, cities, and the global United States. He earned a PhD in History from the University of California, Los Angeles. His writing has appeared or is forthcoming in the Journal of American Ethnic History, the Los Angeles Times, The Nation, and Public Books. Andrew’s public-facing research experience includes a collaborative project on housing and inequality in Los Angeles. Andrew also teaches history and writing at San Quentin State Prison and is committed to developing educational programs for incarcerated people. In his spare time, he enjoys exploring cities, tending to a community garden, and cooking for friends and loved ones.

Tell us about your research interests!

My research explores global connections forged in overlooked places by so-called ordinary people. My goal is to complicate the common understanding of American foreign relations as the product of elite individuals—diplomats, politicians, businesspeople, etc.—who enjoy the privilege of frictionless movement across borders. By mapping the global circuits of places coded as "local" and "left behind," as well as Indigenous peoples, working-class communities, and people of color, we can think more expansively about America and the world. Doing so can help us develop more inclusive stories about the past that can help us imagine the kind of world we’d like to live in.

What are you most excited about as you begin your fellowship?

I am excited to engage more deeply with the history of my longtime home, the San Francisco Bay Area, and to better understand its connections to the broader Pacific world. I am eager to contribute to ongoing efforts to place the local history of this region in a global context. Above all, I am excited to collaborate on projects that make this history matter to as many people as possible.

Last updated: October 16, 2024