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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.

Stories from this author

Rea Ann Silva with an oversized version of the Beautyblender sponge (Courtesy of Beautyblender)

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

Silva’s work as a makeup artist on "Girlfriends" unexpectedly thrust her into the beauty products industry as an innovator and entrepreneur

Rebecca Lukens (National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum, Coatesville, Pennsylvania)

How Rebecca Lukens Became the Nation's First Woman Industrialist

A sudden tragedy thrust Rebecca Lukens into the family business and into history, making her the first woman to run an iron mill in the United States

Maggie Lena Walker (Scurlock Studio Records, NMAH Archives Center).

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

Maggie Lena Walker was the first Black woman in the nation to organize and run a bank. And she did it in the segregated South in the former capital of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia.