Martha Jones ’87 has been honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship for her Hard Histories project.
The public historian reflected on the role of history as a tool for reckoning, how CUNY Law shaped her scholarship, and plans for her forthcoming book, Hard Histories.
CUNY Law Class of 1987 alum Martha Jones has received two of the highest honors in academic scholarship: a Guggenheim Fellowship and admission into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. These honors attest to Jones’s distinguished career as a public historian whose work uses history to encourage self-examination, reckoning, and recompense when confronting difficult pasts. Jones is being recognized in the 100th class of Guggenheim Fellows for her body of work, Hard Histories, which examines history’s role in advancing redress and accountability at institutions and beyond. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has admitted Jones, in the 2025 class of 250 new members, for her historical scholarship.
Academic recognitions at the highest level of scholarship, like the ones Jones has received, are awarded to individuals who contribute something new to their field or surface discoveries that dispute conventional wisdom. Jones credits her education at CUNY Law, where students are encouraged to challenge orthodoxy, to shaping her into the exact type of thought leader who succeeds in academia.
“I think that CUNY taught me to be unafraid of having, expressing, and working hard on ideas that were unknown, or unaccepted, or regarded as not only orthodox, but also maybe wrong. And that was the other thing CUNY taught us: that if we were going to be lawyers in the interest of human needs, then lots of people were going to be telling us that we were wrong.” Jones continued, “In that way, I think some days I’m at an advantage. If you were raised as a student, you came of age thinking the best way to be a student was to get it right. To get it right was to mirror what your faculty were telling you, or what your textbook told you, or your case book told you. You have to take a leap of faith to have your own ideas. CUNY was the place that never let me think that I needed someone’s approval to work on an idea.” – Martha Jones ‘87
By applying the values of CUNY Law—dedication to truth, justice, and original thought—to her historical work, Jones has cultivated a perspective and expertise that is recognized for its accuracy and advocacy.
Hard Histories: The Power and Responsibility of Truth Telling
Jones started Hard Histories in 2016 after being part of a University’s bicentennial celebration that used historical research to uncover uncomfortable aspects of the institution’s past that had been buried. After her first experience leading a project that was deliberately aimed at using history as an instrument for restitution, the approach became a signature part of her work and her role as a public historian.
In her current role as the Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor and Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University, Jones has examined the founder and namesake of the school, Johns Hopkins. The long-held belief was that Hopkins, a Quaker man in 19th century America, was an abolitionist, but he had in fact been an enslaver. This revelation was the catalyst to allow history and historical honesty to encourage the institution to reckon with a difficult truth and a part of its past that had been erased
In her work with Hard Histories, Jones affirms that history is a tool to confront uncomfortable truths to broad audiences and therefore a form of advocacy. With the support of the Guggenheim Fellowship and the community of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, her goal is to complete the book and increase awareness of this approach to history.
CUNY Law’s Role in Shaping Jones’s Thought Leadership
Jones was part of the 2nd ever class at CUNY Law. In the 1980s, the premise of “law in the service of human needs” was a concept that stood out compared to contemporary institutions. Jones was drawn to CUNY Law for its ethical position and experimental curriculum that included interdisciplinary courses in history, politics, and literature. She credits her education at CUNY to shaping much of her approach to thought leadership.
“Hard Histories is about challenging orthodoxy. It is about challenging received wisdom. It is about dispelling myths. It is about history as an instrument in broader struggles for social justice. And I hope you can hear right in those strains the ways in which CUNY has helped me.”
Jones credits CUNY Law’s emphasis on critical inquiry, debate, and justice for forming her signature approach to historical scholarship. In academia, where new and seminal scholarship is rewarded, being empowered to think critically, think independently, and to not be afraid to fail is essential to success.
The Next Chapter
The Guggenheim Foundation was founded in 1925 to provide fellowships to outstanding scholars, scientists, writers, and artists to support projects and provide the most freedom possible. Reflecting on the Guggenheim Fellowship, Jones is looking forward to her time on sabbatical and the opportunity to finish Hard Histories.
“For me, the Guggenheim Award, which is independent of universities and independent of the federal government, is an important recognition for the work, but also a reminder of the role that organizations like the Guggenheim Foundation play in supporting academic freedom, supporting freedom of expression, and in particular, supporting historians to continue to do the critical work that we do, even in the face of an administration that would silence us.” – Martha Jones ‘87
While scholarly work requires focus and solitude, Jones noted the appreciation she has for mentorship and community, which are values instilled in her from her time at CUNY Law. The purpose of membership to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, which was founded in 1780, is not just to honor trailblazers from different fields, but to also create a community of interdisciplinary leaders who are invested in addressing “issues of importance to the nation and the world.” Jones hopes to use her membership to elevate other scholars and expressed interest in exploring the past exclusion of Black scholars at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences itself. She shared her enthusiasm for the opportunities that come with joining these communities and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration.
“I’m also very excited and looking forward to appreciating what it means to be writing this book. Not only alongside colleagues on my own campus, or other historians, but what it means to do this work alongside other scholars, thinkers, leaders, artists, and creative folks.” – Martha Jones ‘87
You can follow news about the Hard Histories Project by subscribing to the “Hard Histories at Hopkins” Substack.