About the Presenter
Sandra Patton-Imani is a Professor of American Studies at Drake University. She is the author of two books, BirthMarks: Transracial Adoption in Contemporary America (2000) and Queering Family Trees: Race, Reproductive Justice, and Lesbian Motherhood (2020). At Mount Vernon she will conduct ethnographic research on the public construction of national history at Mount Vernon and will utilize historical archives focusing on the life of Ann Fairfax Washington Lee a biracial woman who, as George Washington's sister-in-law, was the first mistress of Mount Vernon. The research focuses on historical erasures regarding race, gender, sex, and class in America.