Pearl Young, Ph.D., M.A., B.S.

Biography

Pearl Young received her doctorate in American history from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a historian of 19th-century America. Her research focuses on the intersections between religion, culture, and politics, particularly the ways in which core beliefs influence political actions, social identity, and family structures. Her current projects explore the leverage of secession as a moral choice and the complicated roles of religious women in advocating secession.

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Areas of Expertise

• American South and the Civil War
• Religious history
• Women's history
• Intellectual history
• Nineteenth-century America

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Publications

• Pearl J. Young. "Relational Pedagogy for Teaching the History of American Religion in Collegiate Classrooms," Journal of Faith, Education, and Community v. 7, no. 1: Relational Spiritual Knowing: Soulful Connections (May 2025), Article 3, https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/jfec/vol7/iss1/3.
• Brian Franklin, Trisha Posey, Pearl J. Young, and Ben Wright. "Roundtable on Ben Wright, Bonds of Salvation: How Christianity Inspired and Limited American Abolitionism." Fides et Historia, v. 54, no. 2 (Summer/Fall 2022): 137-151.
• Pearl J. Young. "Genius uncultivated is like a meteor of the night': Motives and Experiences of Methodist Female College Life in the Confederate States of America." Methodist History, v. 47, no. 3 (April 2009): 179-191.

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Awards and Accomplishments

• James Z. Rabun prize for American History, Emory University (2010)
• Women in United Methodist History Writing Award, United Methodist Church (2008)
• John Emory Scholar, Emory University (2006-2010)
• The Congressional Award, Gold Medal, U.S. Congress (2006)

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