Tandra Taylor, PhD
Assistant Professor, History Department, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE)
Interim Director, Institute for Community Justice and Racial Equity (SIUE)
Executive Director, SIUE Freedom School
Dr. Tandra N. Taylor is the Interim Director for the Institute for Community Justice and Racial Equity at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Dr. Taylor’s research, teaching experience and community engagement shape her vision for the work of the Institute for Community Justice and Racial Equity.
In 2020, Taylor joined the history department at SIUE as an Assistant Professor. After three years of teaching twentieth-century African American history, Tandra was appointed to lead community equity initiatives. Taylor has combined her love of history and racial equity into her most recent project— launching a Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools program on SIUE’s campus. Serving as the Executive Director of Freedom School, Taylor’s work brings SIUE undergraduate students, faculty, and staff, together with middle school students, their families, and community members to be a part of a movement that ensures children cultivate a love of reading and grow up with dignity, hope and joy.
Dr. Taylor currently co-leads the Journeys to Justice Project, a statewide, community-centered network, platform, and collaborative programming initiative on the history and ongoing legacy of anti-Black violence in Illinois' past. This project brings together community-engaged academics and community partners who are involved in the research and memorialization of historical anti-Black race riots, massacres and lynchings across the state of Illinois. The Journeys to Justice Project centers on health and justice for communities most impacted by the history and ongoing legacies of racial terror.
Dr. Taylor continues to deepen her experience with public engagement in the region and Illinois. In 2024, she was appointed to the Illinois Flag Commission followed by appointments to both the Illinois State Archives Advisory and State Historical Records Advisory Boards. Maintaining an active role in local Black history education and preservation, she co-founded the 1917 East St. Louis Race Riot Tour. The tour reinterprets events leading up to and after the historic massacre, focusing on education, labor, and housing inequity. Dr. Taylor has worked with many area schools and community organizations to impact social and educational advancement through humanities education and youth leadership development.
Born and raised in East St. Louis, Dr. Taylor earned a B.A. from Spelman College, an M.A. in Public History from Georgia State University, and a Ph.D. in American Studies from Saint Louis University.
