James Peyton McCrary

Peyton McCrary retired from his position as a historian in the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice in 2016, but since leaving government service has testified as an expert witness in several voting rights cases. From 1969-1989, he taught history at the University of Minnesota, Vanderbilt, and the University of South Alabama. Before joining the government in 1990, Dr. McCrary testified as an expert witness in 14 voting rights cases, beginning in 1981 with Bolden v. City of Mobile, on remand from the Supreme Court. In 1998-99, he took leave from the government to serve as the Eugene Lang Visiting Professor at Swarthmore College, where he taught courses in voting rights law and civil rights policy in the Department of Political Science. Over the last 43 years, he has published a prize-winning book, 14 journal articles or book chapters, and 7 law review articles. His work for the Department of Justice focused on the development of expert testimony in voting rights litigation. In 2011 Dr. McCrary received the Maceo Hubbard Award for sustained commitment to the work of the Civil Rights Division.