Lauren Nicole Henley

Dr. Lauren Henley is a historian whose research focuses on violent crime in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She investigates how age, race, gender, and religion contribute to perceptions of criminality in the South and West.

She teaches required courses such as Historical Foundations of Leadership and Justice and Civil Society. Her popular elective, Killers and Cults: Leadership Gone Awry, unpacks the dark history of nefarious influence and stereotypical assumptions of cult leaders and serial killers. In 2023, Henley was awarded Faculty Member of the Year from the University of Richmond’s Epsilon Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa. In 2025, she was awarded a National Bonner Recognition: From Action to Impact, for her commitment to community engaged learning.

Henley is the author of Inquisition for Blood: The Making of a Black Female Serial Killer in the Jim Crow South. Her work has appeared in the Journal of African American History and Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society. She also serves as a reviewer for academic journals and textbook supplements.