Kathleen Menzie Lesko is a former scholar-in-residence at the Folger Shakespeare Library and current research scholar at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. She is also a former faculty member and administrator at Georgetown University.

Valerie M. Babb is the Andrew Mellon Professor of Humanities at Emory University and holds a joint appointment in the departments of African American Studies and English. She is a former faculty member at Georgetown University.

Carroll R. Gibbs is a professional historian, a lecturer, and author of numerous works on African American history. He is founder of the African History and Culture Lecture Series and wrote, researched, and narrated "Sketches in Color," a companion to the acclaimed PBS series "The Civil War," for WHUT-TV.