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Carrollton Alumna Dr. Edda Fields-Black ’89 Awarded 2025 Pulitzer Prize in History

Carrollton Alumna Dr. Edda Fields-Black ’89 Awarded 2025 Pulitzer Prize in History
  • Alumnae

Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart is proud to celebrate the extraordinary achievement of alumna Dr. Edda Fields-Black ’89, who has been awarded the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in History for her groundbreaking book, COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid and Black Freedom during the Civil War.

Dr. Fields-Black’s COMBEE recounts the largest and most successful slave rebellion in U.S. history, led by Harriet Tubman in 1863, which freed 756 enslaved people along South Carolina’s Combahee River. The result of years of meticulous archival and field research, the book has been praised for bringing to light a pivotal but often overlooked chapter in American history.

A professor in the Department of History and director of The Humanities Center at Carnegie Mellon University, Dr. Fields-Black is widely respected for her work on African American and West African history. Her Pulitzer win marks a historic milestone not only for her scholarly career but also for the broader academic and cultural understanding of Black freedom movements in the United States.

Earlier this year, Dr. Fields-Black returned to Carrollton as the keynote speaker for our Harmony & Heritage event, where she engaged students and members of the adult community in a powerful discussion about COMBEE and the research behind it. Her visit offered an inspiring opportunity for our school community to witness the impact of Sacred Heart values lived out through rigorous scholarship and cultural contribution.

In 2016, Dr. Fields-Black was honored with Carrollton’s Spirit of Sophie Alumnae Award, an award given to graduates whose lives are a compelling expression of Sacred Heart values. As a woman of faith and intellect, she embodies the vision of Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat, using her scholarship to promote deeper understanding, compassion, and truth.

We celebrate Dr. Fields-Black’s achievements with pride and gratitude. Her life and work continue to inspire our students and alumnae to pursue lives of purpose, leadership, and meaning.