KIM CLIETT LONG is an internationally respected scholar of African American maritime and naval history; public historian; and cultural heritage executive. Her work focuses on African-descended maritime labor, naval-adjacent service, port cities, and global trade networks shaped by African diasporic movement. She currently serves as Project Administrator for the Jonathan Green Maritime Cultural Center at the University of South Carolina Beaufort. Her inclusion in The HistoryMakers, the national African American oral history archive housed at the Library of Congress, recognizes her leadership in cultural preservation and higher education.
Dr. Long’s civilian career has involved senior leadership in higher education, public history, and cultural policy. She has held academic and administrative positions including Associate Provost for Administration and Extended Education; Director of Curriculum and Instruction; Director of Distance Learning; Project Manager; and Professor of Organizational Management. Her scholarship is grounded in extensive international field research, including travel to more than 219 port cities across Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, Asia, and the Americas, informing her study of maritime power, commerce, and African-descended seafaring communities.
Her research examines maritime trade, naval infrastructure, urban enslavement in port cities, and African-descended mobility across oceanic routes, including water-based resistance systems known as the maritime Underground Railroad. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, the Royal Society of Public Health, and the Royal Anthropological Institute, and serves as U.S. Ambassador to the Board for National Museums Liverpool. She is the recipient of the 2025 National History Award from Black Women’s Agenda for her contributions to African and African American maritime history.
HOMEPORT: Charleston, South Carolina
AREAS OF EXPERTISE: African American maritime and naval history; port cities and coastal communities; maritime labor and naval-adjacent service; African diasporic seafaring traditions; global trade and oceanic systems.
NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS:
Long, K. C. (2025). The First Marketplace: Africa’s Role in Shaping World Trade.
Long, K. C. (2021). African American Military Women Trailblazers.
Long, K. C. (2021). An Alphabet Salute to the Military.
Long, K. C. (2016). The Way of Tea: The Lowcountry Tea Ceremony.
Long, K. C. (Forthcoming). Urban Enslavement in British Colonial Port Cities. Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Long, K. C., et al. (2024). Leading the AI Revolution: The Crucial Role of HBCUs in Steering AI Leadership.