G. Samantha Rosenthal

Gregory Samantha Rosenthal (born January 24, 1983) is an American historian, activist, and author. She serves on the faculty, as associate professor of History and Coordinator of the Public History Concentration, at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia. She is the co-founder of the Southwest Virginia LGBTQ+ History Project. Rosenthal has written two books, Beyond Hawaiʻi: Native Labor in the Pacific World and Living Queer History: Remembrance and Belonging in a Southern City. She serves on the governing board of the Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History and on the editorial board of The Public Historian.

Early life and education Rosenthal was born on January 24, 1983, in a suburb of Schenectady, New York. Her father, Kimmo Rosenthal, was a mathematics professor at Union College and her mother, Robin Rosenthal, is an artist. She started playing the piano at the age of seven, and continued musical lessons throughout her childhood and teenage years, branching into the French horn and vocal training. she was awarded the Rachel Carson Prize for Best Dissertation from the American Society for Environmental History for her dissertation, Hawaiians who Left Hawai’i: Work, Body, and Environment in the Pacific World, 1786-1876. They teach public history, digital humanities, world history, and LGBTQ studies. Rosenthal has written two books, Beyond Hawaiʻi: Native Labor in the Pacific World, published in 2018 by University of California Press, and Living Queer History: Remembrance and Belonging in a Southern City, published by University of North Carolina Press in 2021.

Rosenthal received awards and honorable mentions for her written work and her work with the Southern Virginia LGBTQ+ History Project from the Oral History Association, the American Society for Environmental History, the Working Class Studies Association, the National Council on Public History, and the Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History. Rosenthal serves on the Governing Board of the Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History and on the editorial board of The Public Historian. Prior to transitioning, she had been married to a woman.