Jamie M Arjona

My dissertation research charts the evolution of rural African-American blues traditions in the American South during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. My work primarily focuses on understanding how Black business owners and musicians negotiated the racial and sexual politics of citizenship in rural leisure spaces. Over the last few years, I have served as co-principal investigator for the Santos Archaeological Research Project in Marion County, Florida. With the help of local community members, students, and Florida State Parks administrators, this project aims to shed light on the history of a once-thriving African-American community in North Florida.