Lauranett Lee

Lauranett Lorraine Lee (born ) is an American historian, educator, curator, and author. She is a professor at the University of Richmond, and the founding curator for African American History in the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. She specializes in study of the Civil War, Reconstruction, Virginia state history, and African-American history.

Early life and education Lauranett L. Lee was born in Chesterfield County, and was raised near Bon Air.

Career Lee had lived in Raleigh, Chicago and Atlanta before returning home to Virginia in 1988, to be closer to family.

From 2000 to 2016, Lee worked at the Virginia Historical Society, now the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. Starting in 2011, she led the development of a database called "Unknown No Longer: A Database of Virginia Slave Names," to help genealogists and families identify people who were once enslaved. Lee wrote a book, "Making the American Dream Work: A Cultural History of African Americans in Hopewell, Virginia" (2008, Morgan James Publishing) on the cultural history of African Americans in Hopewell, Virginia.

She was appointed to an advisory council on Virginia's executive mansion. She discussed the history of Juneteenth at Virginia governor Ralph Northam's press conference on making it a state holiday.

As of 2023, Lee is a candidate for Chesterfield County School Board in the Midlothian District.

Writings