The Western Roots of Rock ‘n Roll with Dr. Tyina Steptoe

The public history program at Arizona State University is hosting a keynote and reception for the Arizona History Convention featuring Dr. Tyina Steptoe, who will deliver a talk on her newest project, "Rhythm and Blues and Western Migration."

This event is free and open to the public, but we request that guests register to attend. 

Please note: guests do not need to participate in the convention in order to attend this lecture.

About the speaker

Tyina (pronounced Ta-wa-na) Steptoe was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She holds a PhD in History and an MA in Afro-American Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her first book, Houston Bound: Culture and Color in a Jim Crow City, received the Kenneth Jackson Award for Best Book of 2016 (North American) from the Urban History Association, the 2017 W. Turrentine Jackson Book Prize from the Western History Association, and the 2017 Julia Ideson Award from the Friends of the Texas Room at the Houston History Research Center.

Dr. Steptoe's latest work, Jim Crow: Voices from a Century of Struggle, Part One: 1876-1919 was published in 2024 and includes a collection of primary sources includes speeches, pamphlets, journalism, legal opinions, congressional testimony and poems.

Beyond academia, Dr. Steptoe was the historical expert on the PBS documentary, Little Richard: King and Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, and the news special, “Juneteenth 1865-2024: A Legacy of Song.” Her writing has been published in popular outlets like TIME, Denver Post, Houston Chronicle, Oxford American, and the Conversation. Dr. Steptoe also hosts a weekly radio program called “Soul Stories” on community radio station KXCI in Tucson, which explores the history of rhythm and blues music. The show airs on Saturdays at 2:00 pm MST on 91.3-FM and streams on kxci.org.