Johanna Lewis, Ph.D.
- Associate Dean and Professor of History
- Expertise
Dr. Johanna Lewis is Associate Dean for Curriculum and Student Success in the College of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Education, and professor of History at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. A native of Baltimore, she holds the Ph.D. from the College of William and Mary, a M.A. from Wake Forest University, and a A.B. from Salem College. Dr. Lewis has a book, Artisans in the North Carolina Backcountry, a documentary Time of Fear, and numerous articles, presentations, and exhibits to her credit.
Lewis came to UA Little Rock in 1991 and quickly became involved in numerous community history projects. For the National Dunbar History project, in 1996 Lewis researched and curated the exhibit “The Finest High School for Negro Boys and Girls’: Dunbar High School in Little Rock, AR, 1929-1955.” As project manager for the Central High Museum & Visitor Center, Lewis helped create, “’All the World is Watching Us’: Little Rock and the 1957 Crisis,” the award-winning introductory exhibit to the 1957 desegregation crisis. Later, as a contract historian to Central High School National Historic Site, she wrote the historical resource study for the site, conducted an oral history project, and helped create the exhibits for the visitor center that opened in 2007. From 2001-2004, Lewis directed “Life Interrupted: The Japanese American Experience in World War II Arkansas,” a $2.8 million initiative about the two War Relocation Centers in the Arkansas delta, which culminated with exhibits, a documentary, and a conference.
Lewis served as chair of the Department of History from 2001-2005, as graduate doordinator of public history from 2004-2008, and associate dean of the Graduate School from 2008-2014. She teaches courses in Colonial America, Women in U.S. History, Doing History with Objects, and civil rights. Lewis is listed in Who’s Who, and she received the university’s 2002 Student Choice Faculty Award, 2004 Faculty Excellence Award in Public Service, and the National Education Association’s 2009 Ellison Onizuka Memorial Award. Her projects have won awards from the American Association of State and Local History, the Arkansas Museums Association, and the Arkansas Education Association.