Matthew Rohn

Matthew Rohn is a fourth year PhD candidate studying the history of African American migration and U.S. empire in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. His dissertation research, supervised by Dr. Quito Swan, focuses on African American migration to the Philippines, Hawaii, and the Indian Territory around the turn of the twentieth century and how these frontiers with different degrees of legal incorporation into the United States offered migrants conflicting opportunities for resistance to, collaborated with, and sometimes escape from U.S. imperial ambitions.

Matthew received his BA in government and history from Franklin & Marshall College, his MA in history from Brandeis University, and his MPhil in history from George Washington University. His MA thesis, "Outside the Constitution but Under the Flag: Plans for Black Migration to the Insular Territories in the Decade of the Spanish-American War," examined Black Americans' proposals for migration campaigns to the newly annexed U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines. He is currently an Archives Fellow at the U.S. Senate, ensuring that senators' papers are well preserved for future historians.

Prior to his time at GW, Matthew worked in affordable housing development and as the head coach of debate at St. Joseph's University, Brandeis University, and at Georgetown University where he coached the team to their first ever national title in 2019.