National Museum of American History Blog Smithsonian Magazine

Crystal Moten, PhD

Dr. Crystal M. Moten is curator of African American history in the National Museum of American History’s Division of Work and Industry. A south side of Chicago native, she received her MA and PhD from the University of Wisconsin Madison and has taught at small liberal arts colleges on the east coast and in the upper Midwest. Her research and curatorial interests include the intersectional connections between African American labor, business, and civil rights history with emphasis on post-World War II Black freedom movements in the urban Midwest.

How Maggie Lena Walker Became the First Black Woman to Run a Bank in the Segregated South

Crystal Moten, PhD

February 17, 2021

Crystal Moten, PhD

How Rea Ann Silva Invented the Beautyblender—and Changed Makeup Forever

How Rebecca Lukens Became the Nation's First Woman Industrialist

How Maggie Lena Walker Became the First Black Woman to Run a Bank in the Segregated South