Connor Nakamura is a senior studying History with minors in Urban Studies and Creative Writing. He is interested in 20th-century social movements, political thought, ethnic studies, and urban history. His recent research focuses on how racialized groups understand their identities in the context of broader social movements and collective demands. Connor currently works as a consultant for the University City Historical Society on Japanese American history, and he previously served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Penn History Review and Community Projects Assistant at the Kislak Center. In his free time, he enjoys trying new restaurants in Philadelphia, competing in intramural basketball, and playing board games.
Connor Nakamura
Wolf Humanities Center Undergraduate Fellow
2024—2025 Forum on Keywords
Connor Nakamura
History
CAS, 2025
Cloaked Radicalism: Bayard Rustin and the Socialist Civil Rights Strategy (1955–65)
My research examines the political strategy of Civil Rights organizer, Bayard Rustin, between 1955-1965. A key leader within the socialist left and the Civil Rights Movement, I discuss the constituent parts of his strategy — coalition-building and national progressive politics — and how these ideas evolved throughout the “classical” phase of the Civil Rights Movement. I analyze both Rustin’s organizational activities and political writings, centering on his attempts to marry grassroots activism to a broad-based political movement.