Julio Capó Jr., Ph.D., is associate professor in the Department of History and deputy director of the Wolfsonian Public Humanities Lab at Florida International University.
Professor Capó is a transnational historian whose research and teaching interests include modern U.S. history, especially the United States' relationship to the Caribbean and Latin America. He addresses how gender and sexuality have historically intersected with constructions of ethnicity, race, class, nation, age, and ability.
His first book, Welcome to Fairyland: Queer Miami before 1940 (2017), highlights how transnational forces—including (im)migration, trade, and tourism—to and from the Caribbean shaped Miami's queer past. The book has received six awards and honors, including the Charles S. Sydnor Award from the Southern Historical Association for the best book written on Southern history. His work has appeared in the Journal of American History, Radical History Review, Diplomatic History, Journal of Urban History, Journal of American Ethnic History, Modern American History, GLQ, H-Net, American Studies, and several edited volumes.
Dr. Capó's research extends to his commitment to public history and civic engagement. He curated the exhibition Queer Miami: A History of LGBTQ Communities for HistoryMiami Museum (2019). Prior to entering graduate school, he worked as a broadcast news writer and producer, and his work has appeared in The Washington Post, Time, The Miami Herald, El Nuevo Día (Puerto Rico), and other outlets. He was a commentator for BackStory with the American History Guys (Podcast) and the PBS/Miami Herald documentary The Day It Snowed in Miami. He participated in a National Park Service initiative to promote and identify historic LGBTQ sites and contributed a piece on Miami's queer past for its theme study. The Organization of American Historians recently named him a distinguished lecturer.
Dr. Capó is the recipient of several awards, including the Audre Lorde Prize from the Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender History and the Carlton C. Qualey Award from the Immigration and Ethnic History Society. He currently serves as the co-chair of the Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender History and on the editorial board for the Journal of American History.
Professor Capó earned his Ph.D. in Atlantic history at Florida International University. He also holds a B.A. in journalism and mass communications from New York University.