Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor

Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor
Born
Elizabeth Anne Pryor

(1967-04-25) April 25, 1967
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
SpouseJerry Stordeur
Children2
Parents
RelativesRain Pryor (half-sister)
Academic background
Education
Academic work
DisciplineHistory
InstitutionsSmith College
Websitehttps://www.pryorhistories.com

Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor (née Elizabeth Anne Pryor};[a] April 25, 1967) is an American historian. She is a professor of history at Smith College.[2] Pryor is the author of Colored Travelers: Mobility and the Fight for Citizenship before the Civil War (2016), a history of travel by African-Americans prior to the American Civil War, and Something We Said: Richard Pryor, a Notorious Word, and Me (2026), a mix of memoir and historical reflection on the use of a racial slur that she refers to as the "N-word" or "n***er".[3]

Reception

Colored Travelers was reviewed in multiple academic journals, including The American Historical Review,[4] the American Journal of Legal History,[5] The Journal of American History,[6] The Journal of the Civil War Era,[7] The Journal of Southern History,[8] The Journal of Transport History,[9] The New England Quarterly,[10] Pennsylvania History,[11] Studies in Travel Writing,[12] and Technology and Culture.[13]

Something We Said was reviewed by Forbes,[14] The Forward,[15] Kirkus Reviews,[16] The New York Times,[17] and syndicated book reviewer Terri Schlichenmeyer.[18]

Personal life

Pryor was born at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, California, on April 25, 1967.[19][20] She is the daughter of Maxine Silverman and comedian Richard Pryor.[21] She is Jewish through her mother.[22] Her parents separated shortly after her birth and she was raised primarily by her mother.[23] She first met her father in 1974 in a hotel room in Newark, New Jersey.[15]

Pryor attended the Westlake School for Girls.[24] After graduating from Tufts University in 1989, she received a Master of Arts from Cornell and a PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara.[2] She is married to Jerry Stordeur, whom she met while she was attending Cornell;[25] they have two children.[26]

Selected works

  • "The Etymology of Nigger: Resistance, Language, and the Politics of Freedom in the Antebellum North". Journal of the Early Republic. 36 (2): 203–245. Summer 2016. doi:10.1353/jer.2016.0028
  • Colored Travelers: Mobility and the Fight for Citizenship before the Civil War. University of North Carolina Press. 2016. ISBN 978-1-4696-2857-8.
  • "Why It's So Hard to Talk about the N-word". TEDx. December 2019.
  • Something We Said: Richard Pryor, a Notorious Word, and Me. 37 INK. 2016. ISBN 978-1-9821-5450-9.

Notes

  1. ↑ Some sources give the spelling of the middle name as "Ann", but Pryor gives it as "Anne" in her own memoir.[1]

References

  1. ↑ Pryor 2026, p. 128.
  2. 1 2 "Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor". Smith College. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
  3. ↑ Pryor 2026, p. viii.
  4. ↑ Stephens, Ronald J. (February 2018). "Review: Colored Travelers: Mobility and the Fight for Citizenship before the Civil War". The American Historical Review. 123 (1): 222–223. JSTOR 26580876.
  5. ↑ O'Brassill-Kulfan, Kristin (September 2019). "Review: Colored Travelers: Mobility and the Fight for Citizenship before the Civil War". American Journal of Legal History. 59 (3): 406–407. JSTOR 48545134.
  6. ↑ Winch, Julie (September 2018). "Review: Colored Travelers: Mobility and the Fight for Citizenship before the Civil War". The Journal of American History. 105 (2): 395–396. JSTOR 48549396.
  7. ↑ Clark-Pujara, Christy (December 2017). "Review: Colored Travelers: Mobility and the Fight for Citizenship before the Civil War". The Journal of the Civil War Era. 7 (4): 648–650. JSTOR 26381480.
  8. ↑ Okuhata, Mark A. (November 2017). "Review: Colored Travelers: Mobility and the Fight for Citizenship before the Civil War". The Journal of Southern History. 83 (4): 968–969. doi:10.1353/soh.2017.0272.
  9. ↑ Hall, Michael R. (June 2018). "Review: Colored Travelers: Mobility and the Fight for Citizenship before the Civil War". The Journal of Transport History. 39 (1): 126–128. doi:10.1177/0022526617740750.
  10. ↑ VanBurkleo, Sandra F. (February 2018). "Review: Colored Travelers: Mobility and the Fight for Citizenship before the Civil War". The New England Quarterly. 90 (3): 483–485. JSTOR 26405877.
  11. ↑ Tomek, Beverly C. (Autumn 2017). "Restricting Black Mobility as a Key Function of Racial Control in Post-Emancipation Societies". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 84 (4): 548–555. doi:10.5325/pennhistory.84.4.0548.
  12. ↑ Pettinger, Alasdair (February 2019). "Review: Colored Travelers: Mobility and the Fight for Citizenship before the Civil War". Studies in Travel Writing. 23 (1): 89–91. doi:10.1080/13645145.2019.1627089.
  13. ↑ Zylstra, Geoff D. (April 2020). "Review: Colored Travelers: Mobility and the Fight for Citizenship before the Civil War". Technology and Culture. 61 (2): 693–694. JSTOR 26932248.
  14. ↑ Gasman, Marybeth (June 21, 2026). "Elizabeth Pryor Wants Us to Talk about Racism". Forbes. Retrieved June 25, 2026.
  15. 1 2 Haynie, Olivia (June 5, 2026). "In Something We Said, Richard Pryor's Daughter Finds Words to Discuss the Unspeakable". The Forward. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Something We Said (review)". Kirkus Reviews. March 23, 2026. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
  17. ↑ Charlton, Lauretta (June 13, 2026). "Richard Pryor's Daughter Grapples With a Flawed Father and a Hateful Word". The New York Times. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
  18. ↑ Schlichenmeyer, Terri (June 3, 2026). "Book Review: Something We Said Reveals Richard Pryor through His Daughter's Eyes". The Miami Times. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
  19. ↑ "Comedian Pryor Becomes Father". The Register. Santa Ana, California. United Press International. April 26, 1967. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "Richard Pryor Gets Dope Rap and Baby Daughter". Jet. May 18, 1967. p. 57.
  21. ↑ Pryor 2026, p. 18.
  22. ↑ Pryor 2026, pp. 139–140.
  23. ↑ Tremaine, Julie (July 13, 2025). "Richard Pryor's 7 Children: All About His Sons and Daughters". People. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
  24. ↑ Pryor 2026, p. 137.
  25. ↑ Pryor 2026, pp. 230–235.
  26. ↑ Pryor 2026, p. 248.

Works cited

  • Pryor, Elizabeth Stordeur (2026). Something We Said: Richard Pryor, a Notorious Word, and Me (Kindle ed.). 37 INK. ISBN 978-1-9821-5452-3.
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