L. Diane Barnes obtained her Ph.D. in History at West Virginia University

West Virginia University

West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...

 and is currently an Associate Professor at Youngstown State University

Youngstown State University

Youngstown State University, founded in 1908, is an urban research university located in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. As of fall 2010, there were 15,194 students and a student-faculty ratio of 19:1. It is recognized as being one of the premier schools in the country, comparable to Ivy League...

. She is the Editor in Chief of the academic journal Ohio History and the author of Artisan Workers in the Upper South: Petersburg, Virginia, 1820-1865 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, March 2008). Barnes is also co-editor with John R. McKivigan of The Frederick Douglass Papers, Series III: Correspondence, Volume 1, 1842-1852 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008) and with Paul Finkelman co-editor of The Encyclopedia of African American History: From the Colonial Period through the Age of Frederick Douglass, 1619-1895 (3 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).

Dr. Barnes is married to Benjamin Barnes.