Her deeply researched historical writing has challenged dominant narratives of U.S. history

Citlalli Chávez-Nava

UCLA historian Kelly Lytle Hernández, the holder of the Thomas E. Lifka Endowed Chair in History, has been elected vice president of the Society of American Historians, further cementing her deeply researched historical writing challenging dominant narratives of U.S. history.

A member of the society since 2019, Lytle Hernández will join its executive board, the principal governing body of the society, which guides the fulfillment of the organization’s mission.

“It’s a career honor to serve the Society of American Historians,” said Lytle Hernández.  “The Society’s mission, to advance and recognize excellence in historical writing, is increasingly urgent in our world.”

Founded in 1939, The Society of American Historians, was founded with the mission of promoting literary distinction in the writing of history and biography. The Society’s membership includes more than 450 academic scholars, public historians and professional writers working on topics in American history. Members are elected based on achievement in the vivid and compelling presentation of history and biography in a variety of forms, including books, essays, film, drama, museum exhibitions and other emerging forms of public communication.

Known for her unflinching examinations of race, power and state violence, Lytle Hernández is the author of several award-winning books. Her 2010 publication, “Migra! A History of the U.S. Border Patrol” (University of California Press), traces the untold history of the United States Border Patrol from its beginnings in 1924 to its emergence as a large professional police force drawing on lost on archival materials stored in garages, closets, an abandoned factory and in U.S. and Mexican repositories.

Her 2017 book, “City of Inmates: Conquest, Rebellion, and the Rise of Human Caging in Los Angeles” (University of North Carolina Press), investigates how Los Angeles became the global epicenter of incarceration and chronicles the resilience and rebellion of targeted communities. Her latest book, “Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire, and Revolution in the Borderlands” (Norton, 2022), tells the dramatic story of the magonistas, the migrant rebels who sparked the 1910 Mexican Revolution from the United States. Her forthcoming book, “Racist by Design: Two Centuries of U.S. Immigration Control,” will be published by Norton in Oct. 2026.

In 2019, Lytle Hernández received the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in recognition of her historical and contemporary work, from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Lytle Hernández co-directs Mapping Deportations, a project that uses maps, data, and timelines to unmask the relationship between race and U.S. immigration enforcement throughout U.S. history and was the founding director of Million Dollar Hoods, a big data research initiative housed at UCLA’s Bunche Center for African American Studies that maps the fiscal and human cost of mass incarceration in Los Angeles. She is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Pulitzer Prize Board.

This year, the society also elected Alexandra Minna Stern, dean of the UCLA College Division of Humanities, to its membership.