Adrienne Petty is an associate professor at the College of William & Mary and a historian of the United States South who examines the transformation of southern farming and rural life since the Civil War. Petty co-directed the oral history project "Breaking New Ground: A History of African American Farm Owners.” She and the project’s co-director, Mark Schultz, are currently writing a history of African American farm owners that draws upon the interviews. Petty is the author of Standing Their Ground: Small Farmers in North Carolina Since the Civil War and a past president of the Agricultural History Society.