Kasha Appleton (she/her) received her B.A in History and Classics from Monmouth College. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Indiana University in American History with an outside minor in Law. Her current research focusses on nineteenth-century Black mothers and the various ways they laid claim to their children and negotiated specific rights for themselves as mothers and citizens using habeas corpus. Her research braids together legal history, race, gender history, and family history. The women that she researches sit at various levels of oppression and privilege, yet each one found themselves at the mercy of the American court system. She is interested in uncovering the various experiences that women had while they navigated the court systems to negotiate the rights of themselves and their children. She is also a Graduate Editorial Assistant at the Journal of American History.