Elizabeth Hinton

Elizabeth Hinton is an American historian, author, and professor of African American studies and history at Harvard University. She is best known for her award-winning book, From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America.

Elizabeth Hinton was born in Washington, D.C. in 1981 and raised in an affluent suburb of the city. After graduating from high school, Hinton attended Harvard University and graduated with a B.A. in Social Studies. She went on to pursue a PhD in African American History and Public Policy from Yale University.

It was during her studies at Yale that Hinton became fascinated by the history of poverty and mass incarceration in America. This research resulted in her first book, From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America. In this groundbreaking book, Hinton explored the history of mass incarceration in America and the sweeping changes made to criminal laws from the 1960s onward. She uncovered the destructive effects of mass incarceration, as well as its persistent racial disparities.

Hinton was not content to limit her scholarship to this work, however, and has continued her research into the history of race, science and technology, and the U.S. prison system. As well as contributing to scholarly books and journals, Hinton has turned her attention to popular media, appearing in documentaries such as Ava DuVernay's 13th and lecturing on systems of punishment and control in contemporary society at universities, prisons, and public venues.

In 2018, Hinton published America on Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and the Black Uprising of 2020, in which she takes an in-depth look at the long history of police violence in the United States and its intersection with race, poverty, and social power. Drawing upon a range of visual sources such as film, photographs and interviews, Hinton explores how police brutality and systemic racism affect the African American experience in America.

Given her research interests and contributions to the field, Elizabeth Hinton has become an influential voice in the ongoing conversations around modern American justice, social policy, and civil liberties. She serves on the New York City Mayor’s Advisory Commission on Public Safety and Civil Rights, serves on the International Advisory Group on Police Violence and Reform, and has earned the MacArthur Fellowship, among other awards.

Elizabeth Hinton's work has been praised for being both accessible and rigorous. She has provided a much-needed critical perspective on the current state of American criminal justice and her efforts to raise awareness of mass incarceration have already had a far-reaching influence. With her continued exploration of race, justice and power, Hinton's research and writings have earned her a place among those shaping the public discourse on the most urgent issues facing our nation today.