Herbert Aptheker
Herbert Aptheker was an American Marxist historian and political activist who authored over 50 books focusing on African American and U.S. history.
His master's thesis on Nat Turner's 1831 rebellion launched a distinguished career challenging racist historical narratives, particularly those of historian Ulrich Bonnell Phillips.
His landmark doctoral dissertation, American Negro Slave Revolts (1943), uncovered 250 documented slave revolts.
A protégé of W.E.B. Du Bois, Aptheker compiled a monumental seven-volume documentary history of African Americans.
Despite being blacklisted during the 1950s for Communist Party membership, he remained a prominent and influential scholarly figure.
