Dr. Julian Maxwell Hayter
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Profile
Dr. Julian Hayter is a historian whose research focuses on modern U.S. history, American political development, African-American history, and the American civil rights movement.
More specifically, his writing and research draws attention to mid-20th-century voting rights in Richmond, Virginia, and in the border South; the implementation of the Voting Rights Act; and the unintended consequences of African-American political empowerment and governance post-1965.
He is the co-author of The Making of Twenty-First-Century Richmond: Politics, Policy, and Governance, 1988-2016 and the author of The Dream Is Lost: Voting Rights and the Politics of Race in Richmond, Virginia. His work has been published in the Journal of Policy History and Richmond Journal of Law and Public Interest. He also contributes to national and local media outlets and is the editor-in-chief of The Interdisciplinary Journal of Leadership Studies.
In the Jepson School, he teaches courses such as Leadership and the Humanities, Justice and Civil Society, and Reimagining Richmond (an urban history of Richmond and the city’s contribution to the freedom struggle).
A popular and creative teacher, he was named Faculty Member of the Year in 2013-14 by the Richmond College Student Government Association and received the University's Distinguished Teacher Award in 2018.
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Awards
Community-Engaged Teaching Award, Bonner Center for Civic Engagement, University of Richmond, 2025
Distinguished Educator Award, University of Richmond, 2018
Faculty Member of the Year, Richmond College Student Government, 2013-14
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Awards
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Selected Publications
Books
Williamson, Thad, Julian Maxwell Hayter, and Amy L. Howard. The Making of Twenty-First-Century Richmond: Politics, Policy, and Governance, 1988-2016. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2024.
Hayter, Julian Maxwell. The Dream Is Lost: Voting Rights and the Politics of Race in Richmond, Virginia. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky Press, 2017.
Journal Articles"Reimagining Resistance: The Voting Rights Act's Immediate Resistance." Liberty University Law Review, Vol. 17, No. 3 (2023), pp. 473-486.
Book Chapters"Give Us the Ballot: The Ratification of the Voting Rights Act of 1965." In Case Studies in Political Leadership, edited by George R. Goethals and Scott T. Allison. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2025.
"Breakthrough: The Rise and 1989 Gubernatorial Election of L. Douglas Wilder." In The New Dominion: The 20th Century Elections That Shaped Virginia, edited by Mark J. Rozell and John G. Milliken. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2023.
"Big Six of the Civil Rights Movement." In The SAGE Encyclopedia of Leadership Studies, edited by George R. Goethals, Scott T. Allison, and Georgia J. Sorenson. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2023.
"Voting Rights Act." In The SAGE Encyclopedia of Leadership Studies, edited by George R. Goethals, Scott T. Allison, and Georgia J. Sorenson. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2023.
Reviews“To Live and Die in Hip-Hop: Slate’s Slow Burn: Biggie and Tupac.” The American Historical Review 127, No. 1 (March 2022): 423-25. https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhac140.
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In the News
175 years of growth: Politics, racism shaped city's expansion (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Wed., Oct. 22, 2025New Books: The Making of 21st-Century Richmond (New Affairs Review podcast)
Thu., Oct. 16, 2025Williams: Henry L. Marsh III left an indelible mark on politics and civil rights (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Wed., Jan. 29, 2025History Repeating: Exploring Richmond's Past and Present with Historian Julian Hayter (Style Weekly)
Tue., Dec. 17, 2024Michael Paul Williams column: Can our doctor mayor heal what ails Richmond (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Thu., Nov. 7, 2024Dr. Julian Hayter: The Historic Election of Governor Doug Wilder (Pod Virginia)
Thu., Oct. 17, 2024Michael Paul Williams column: In Richmond, Black political power has limits (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Sat., Aug. 31, 2024A new kind of history (The People's Reporter podcast)
Thu., Feb. 22, 2024Edward Blum's crusade against affirmative action has used the legal strategy developed by civil rights activists (The Conversation)
Thu., Nov. 30, 2023Williams: 60 years after his killing, let's answer John F. Kennedy's call to action (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Wed., Nov. 22, 2023Who, exactly, is doing the indoctrinating in public education? (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Sun., Sep. 24, 2023Curious Commonwealth asks: Why is a statue of Stonewall Jackson still on Captiol Square (VPM)
Thu., Sep. 21, 2023Williams: Harry Belfonte's bold and generous activism embodied the 'artist as citizen' (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Wed., Apr. 26, 2023Williams: New Civil War? Southern legislators take aim at Black-run cities (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Tue., Mar. 7, 2023McClellan projected to become first Black woman to represent Va. in Congress (Washington Post)
Tue., Feb. 21, 2023