Kelly L. Marino, Ph.D.
Office Location
Dr. Kelly Marino is a historian of twentieth-century America specializing in women's history and the history of sexuality. A Connecticut native, she is also passionate about state and local history. She earned her B.S.Ed. and Connecticut teacher certification from Central Connecticut State University in 2008, her MA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2010, and her Ph.D. from Binghamton University (SUNY) in 2016. She joined the faculty at Sacred Heart University in 2019, where she teaches courses in United States history and Women's Studies.
Her first book, Votes for College Women (NYU Press, 2024), explores the relationship between women's higher education and the woman suffrage movement, demonstrating how college students and campuses became important sites of political activism during the Progressive Era. Her second book, Daughters of Democracy (Cambridge University Press, 2026), examines the impact of the Nineteenth Amendment on American education, tracing women's continued activism on college campuses during the 1920s and 1930s around issues including gender equality in higher education, civic education, and the Equal Rights Amendment.
Dr. Marino's scholarship explores the role of young people—particularly young women—in shaping social and political movements. Her research focuses on the intersections of education, politics, age, race, class, gender, and sexuality. She is currently conducting research on the woman suffrage movement and women's political leadership in New York State during the early twentieth century.
Degrees & Certifications
- Ph.D., Binghamton University (SUNY), 2016
- Dissertation Title: “Votes for College Women”: Women’s Suffrage and Higher Education in Modern America
- MA, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2010
- B.S.Ed. and CT Teacher’s Certification, Central Connecticut State University, 2008
Teaching Responsibilities
- United States History
- Women/Gender/Sexuality
Awards & Fellowships
- 2025-2026 New England Historical Association Summer Research Fellowship
- 2024-2025 Presidential Seminar Participant, Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Sacred Heart University
- 2019-2020 Faculty Fellowship, “Critical Thinking across the Curriculum” Program, Center for Excellence and Innovation in Teaching, Sacred Heart University
- Fall 2013 Dissertation Research Fellowship, Binghamton University
Research & Grants
Research Interests
- Women’s and Gender History
- History of Sexuality
- History of Education
- Social and Political Movements
- Gilded Age/Progressive Era America
- Connecticut History
- 20th Century American History
Grants
- 2025-2026 EMERGE Research Grant, Sacred Heart University
- 2024-2025 EMERGE Teaching Grant, Sacred Heart University
- Summer 2020 Micro-Grant for Research, The Society of Civil War Historians, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL
- 2018-2019 AAUP Curriculum Development Grant, “Breaking the Mold: Faculty-Student Teaching Opportunities in Residential Life,” Co-applicant and participant, Central Connecticut State University
- Spring 2016 Binghamton Foundation Travel Grant, Binghamton University
- Fall 2014 Binghamton Foundation Travel Grant, Binghamton University
- Fall 2013 Schlesinger Library Dissertation Grant, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
- Fall 2013 Sophia Smith Travel-to-Collections Grant, Sophia Smith Collection & College Archives, Smith College, Northampton, MA
- Fall 2013 Wheeler/Nieman Research Grant, Binghamton University
- Spring 2013 Newcomb Archives Travel-to-Collections Grant, Newcomb Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA