Roraig Finney is a historian of the U.S. South, studying under Michael Woods. His research focuses on the politics and political economy of immigration in the South from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth century. His dissertation, ‘Strangers in Dixie’s Land: How the South Confronted the Age of Mass Migration, 1850-1924,’ explores how changes in southern political economy – from slavery, to secession, to emancipation, to ‘New South’ development – shaped and reshaped arguments over both national and local immigration policy.

Roraig’s research and travel have been supported by funds from the American Historical Association, UT’s Denbo Center for the Humanities and the Arts, the Briscoe Center for American History, LSU Libraries, and others. He has organized and presented on conference panels at the American Historical Association and Southern Historical Association, and has received several awards from the UTK History Department, including the Charles O. Jackson Award for American History.

Roraig also serves on the Graduate Council of the Southern Historical Association.

He obtained his MA from University College London in 2019, and his BA from the University of Virginia in 2016.

Research Interests: 19th & Early 20th Century U.S. South, Political History, Immigration, Political Economy