About

Richard Bailey is an American historian. His book, Neither Carpetbaggers Nor Scalawags: Black Officeholders during the 

Reconstruction of Alabama, 1867-1878, was selected by the Alabama Board of Education as a supplemental school text, only the second time a book authored by an African American has been so designated in the state. He is also the author They Too Call Alabama Home: African American Profiles, 1800-1999. This publication was cited by then-governor Don Siegelman and then-Montgomery mayor Bobby Bright. Bailey has erected historical markers at significant sites since 2002. He also leads black history and civil rights tours. 

A native of Montgomery, Alabama, Richard Bailey grew up in the Centennial Hill neighborhood. He studied at Booker T. Washington High School and Alabama State University, graduating with a BS in history and the MEd. Bailey received the MA in history from now-Clark-Atlanta University and the PhD in history from Kansas State University. A joint fellowship from Cleveland (OH) State University and the University of Massachusetts enabled him to travel and study in Europe and Africa. Bailey retired from Maxwell Air Force Base. 

Chairman of the Montgomery Historic Preservation Commission, he served as president of the Alabama Historical Association from 2024 to 2025. Gov. Kay Ivey appointed him to the Alabama Historical Commission and the Committee on Alabama Monument Protection in 2024. 

Would you like to have Dr. Bailey speak to your group, club, family reunion, or church?

(please plan 4-6 weeks advance notice of event).

Contact him now at scholarship1947@gmail.com.

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