Gregory J KalissAssistant Professor of History
Biography
My research interests have long been driven by a desire to interrogate the history of American popular cultural forms, especially sports and music. My first book, Men’s College Athletics and the Politics of Racial Equality, centered on five case studies of racial integration in big-time college athletics over the course of the twentieth century. I was especially interested in how ordinary Americans used sports to discuss issues of fairness, equality, masculinity, and citizenship.
My most recent book, Beyond the Black Power Salute, analyzes the heightened athlete activism of the 1960s and 1970s. A wide range of athletes got involved in economic, political, and social activism in this era: Black and white, male and female, pro and amateur. My book set out to draw connections between events and individuals in different sports and locations across the country, and to link their efforts to more recent individuals such as Colin Kaepernick and Naomi Osaka. In the process, we discern what changes took place, what obstacles remained, and the potentials and limitations of sports to effect social transformation in American life.
Issues of place and landscape have also been central to my scholarly development. My work as coeditor of Volume 9 of The Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted centered on the debates regarding the “proper” use of public parks and open spaces. I am especially interested in how people articulated the positive values of different kinds of recreation. That focus is at the center of my newest research project, an exploration of prison sports programs during the age of mass incarceration.
I live in Lancaster with my wife, daughter, and four (gulp!) cats. Most weekends, you can catch me watching my daughter play volleyball for school or club, riding my bike, watching soccer, or listening to Pink Floyd and/or Taylor Swift.
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, History, May 2008, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Dissertation title: “Everyone’s All-Americans: Race, Men’s College Athletics, and the Ideal of Equal Opportunity”
Master of Arts, History, May 2004, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Bachelor of Arts, American Studies and History, May 1998, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Highest Honors, Phi Beta Kappa
Books
Beyond the Black Power Salute: Athlete Activism in an Era of Change (University of Illinois Press, 2023)
Men’s College Athletics and the Politics of Racial Equality: Five Pioneer Stories of Black Manliness, White Citizenship, and American Democracy (Temple University Press, 2012; paperback edition, 2014)
Co-Editor, The Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted, Volume 9: The Last Great Projects, 1890-1895 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015)
Articles / Chapters
“’Never Go Back’: Pasadena Racial Politics and the Robinson Brothers,” in LA Sports: Play, Games, and Community in the City of Angels (University of Arkansas Press, 2018)
“Ali-Frazier 1: Black Gladiators, White Promoters, and the Economics of Big-Time Boxing,” International Journal of the History of Sport (August 2017)
“Richmond’s Sherwood Park: A Forgotten Olmsted Neighborhood,” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography (November 2016)
“Three Olmsted ‘Parks’ That Weren’t: The Incomplete Emerald Necklace and its Consequences,” Historical Journal of Massachusetts (Winter, 2015)
“A Precarious Perch: Wilt Chamberlain, Basketball Stardom, and Racial Politics,” in Fame to Infamy: Race, Sport, and the Fall from Grace (University Press of Mississippi, 2010)
“Un-Civil Discourse: Charlie Scott, the Integration of College Basketball, and the
‘Progressive Mystique,’” Journal of Sport History, Spring 2008
Selected Presentations
“’A vitally successful athletic program’: Pennsylvania prison boxing in the era of mass incarceration,” North American Society for Sport History National Conference, May 2024
“The ABA and the Rise of Hip-Hop America,” North American Society for Sport History National Conference, May 2023
“’Is Aerobic Exercise Fit for a Lady?’ Popular Women’s Magazines and Women’s Sports, Before and After Title IX,” North American Society for Sport History National Conference, May 2021
“Getting into the Race: Women Runners / Women’s Rights,” North American Society for Sport History National Conference, Boise, ID, May 2019
“Playing ‘with the chains taken off’: Black Power, Black Style, and the American Basketball Association,” Popular Culture Association annual conference, Indianapolis, IN, March 2018
“Playing for Green Power: Black Athlete Economic Activism, 1966-1973,” North American Society for Sport History National Conference, Fullerton, CA, May 2017
“Was the Revolution Televised? Popular Culture and the Black Athlete Revolt,” North American Society for Sport History National Conference, Miami, FL, May 2015
“The Black Athlete Revolt of 1968: College Athletes and Economic Justice,” Association for the Study of African American Life and History National Conference, Jacksonville, FL, October 2013
“Ali-Frazier 1: Black Gladiators, White Promoters, and the Economics of Big-Time Boxing,” Association for the Study of African American Life and History National Conference, Raleigh, NC, September 2010
“Ali-Frazier 1 and Competing Visions of Black Male Identity,” National Council on Black Studies National Conference, New Orleans, LA, March 2010
“Charlie Scott, the Integration of College Basketball, and the ‘Black Athlete Revolt of 1968,’” African American History and Culture Conference, UNC, April 2008
Book Reviews, Encyclopedia Entries, and Popular Media Publications
“Stayed on Freedom: The Long History of Black Power Through One Family’s Journey,” (Book Review), The Sixties A Journal of History, Politics and Culture (February 2024)
“The Historical Whiteness of the NFL’s Coaching Carousel,” TheMessenger.com, January 21, 2024
“It Was Always a Choice: Picking Up the Baton of Athlete Activism,” (Book Review), Journal of Sport History (summer 2023)
“Michael Oher, Hollywood myths and fiscal realities,” Baltimore Sun, August 21, 2023
“The Problem of Women’s Sports: Better Pay Led Brittney Griner to Russia,” The Messenger, May 15, 2023
“Discovering the Real Wonder Woman,” The Academic Minute, April 26, 2023
“LSU’s victory is being unnecessarily politicized,” The Hill, April 5, 2023
“The Myth of the Amateur: A History of College Athletic Scholarships,” (Book Review), Journal of American History (March 2023)
“Kyrie Irving Just the Latest Outspoken Athlete to Go Rogue,” History News Network, Dec. 11, 2022
“On the Freedom Side: How Five Decades of Youth Activists Have Remixed American History,” (Book Review), The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics and Culture (June 2021)
“1968: A Pivotal Moment in American Sports,” (Book Review), The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics and Culture (June 2020)
“Corruption in college athletics won't end until athletes are allowed to profit from their celebrity,” Baltimore Sun (May 3, 2018)
“From Reconciliation to Revolution: The Student Interracial Ministry, Liberal Christianity, and the Civil Rights Movement,” (Book Review), The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics and Culture (April 2017)
“Missing their mark: Athlete activism for the poor and impoverished,” Raleigh News & Observer (July 30, 2016)
“The Resurrection of the Black Athlete Activist,” Huffington Post (Nov. 18, 2015)
“Globetrotting: African American Athletes and Cold War Politics” (Book Review), American Historical Review (December 2013)
“ACC Basketball: The Story of the Rivalries, Traditions, and Scandals of the First Two Decades of the Atlantic Coast Conference” (Book Review), Journal of American History (March 2013)
“College Football and American Culture in the Cold War Era” (Book Review), Journal of American History 97, no. 1 (June 2010)
“Basketball,” “Jackie Robinson,” “R&B,” “Rock and Roll,” and “Sports” entries for Encyclopedia of Jim Crow (Greenwood Press, 2008)
Selected Outreach / Service
Guest speaker, “Basketball and the Birth of Hip-Hop,” Lancaster Public Library, August 2023
Member, Legacy of Slavery at F&M Study Group, academic year 2021-2022
Featured guest, Radio Smart Talk, “The Life and Legacy of Muhammad Ali,” WITF-FM, Harrisburg, September 2021
Panelist, Battle of the Sexes film screening and discussion, Towson University Sport Management Event Series, October 2018
Featured guest, Radio Smart Talk, “College Basketball Scandal,” WITF-FM, Harrisburg, March 2018
Book proposal reviewer, Johns Hopkins University Press, summer 2017
Article reviewer, Great Plains Quarterly, summer 2016
Participant, Valley & Ridge Faculty Study Group in Sustainability, Dickinson College, summer 2016
Featured guest, Radio Smart Talk, “The Legacy of Muhammad Ali,” WITF-FM, Harrisburg, June 2016
Co-organizer, “Critical Perspectives on Soccer and Social Justice” symposium, Dickinson College, April 2016
Article reviewer, The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, March 2016
Featured guest, Radio Smart Talk, “Black Athlete Activism,” WITF-FM, Harrisburg, November 2015
Guest lecturer, Race and Public Policy, Professor David Ciuk, Reed College; lecture title, “Ali-Frazier 1 and African-American Politics,” March 2015
Guest instructor, American Jewish Literature, Professor Edward Merwin, Dickinson College, February 2015
Book manuscript reviewer, Temple University Press, fall 2014 and spring 2015
Guest commentator, Sports Overnight America radio program, Sports Byline network, March 6, 2014
Black History Month Lecturer, “A Level Playing Field? College Athletes and Racial Equality,” Franklin & Marshall College, February 25, 2014
Tour leader, “Olmsted Walk: The History and Design of the National Zoo,” American Historical Association Conference, Washington, D.C., January 3, 2014
Guest Lecturer, Dwight D. Eisenhower Academy, Gettysburg, PA, “Race and Athletics in 1950s America,” July 2013
Discussion leader, “The Historical ‘Truths’ of the Film 42,” Weis House, Franklin & Marshall College, April 2013
Book proposal reviewer, University of Georgia Press, 2013
Guest Lecturer, Lancaster Public Library, “Men’s College Athletics and the Politics of Racial Equality,” July 2012
Article reviewer, Journal of Sport History, summer 2011
Guest Lecturer, Millersville University, “The Long, Hard Fight: Black Boxers and American Racial Politics from Jack Johnson to Muhammad Ali,” October 2010
Courses
HIS 138: The United States and the Modern World
HIS 246: Race and Gender in American Sports
HIS 272: The Long Civil Rights Movement
HIS 312: Environmental History