Cheryl Janifer LaRoche

Historical archaeologist Dr. Cheryl Janifer LaRoche researches and physically explores the landscapes of eighteenth and nineteenth century free Black communities, their churches, cemeteries and institutions, and their relationship to the Underground Railroad. She combines cultural landscape analysis, law, and history with oral history and ethnography, archaeology, geography, and material culture to redefine nineteenth century African American history and its implications for preservation. She often works at the sometimes contentious interface between the public and scholars, professionals and municipalities. Her latest book, Apostle of Liberation: AME Bishop Paul Quinn and the Underground Railroad, was published by Rowman & Littlefield. Her first book, Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad: The Geography of Resistance, published by the University of Illinois Press, looked at Black communities and their relationship to the Underground Railroad. Dr. LaRoche is an associate research professor in Historic Preservation in the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at the University of Maryland, College Park. In 2023, The Maryland Historical Trust awarded LaRoche The Calvert Prize for her outstanding work in Historical Preservation.

Research interests:

• Underground Railroad
• Cultural Landscapes
• Mapping
• Black women's history

Affiliations:

• Consulting Scholar, The Penn Museum, Biological Anthropology Section, University of Pennsylvania