Welcome to toddmealy.com, the online home of Todd M. Mealy! Todd is an accomplished author with a diverse range of published works. His titles include:

1. [FORTHCOMING] Fighter's Heaven: Inside the Camp where Muhammad Ali Remade His Legacy (Pennsylvania State University Press, Nov. 2026). This new and original biography of boxing's greatest heavyweight fighter tracks the day-to-day behavior of Muhammad Ali at his training camp in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania. Not only did Ali stage his comeback from this mountainside boxing camp, but between 1972 and 1981, he reshaped the landscape of professional sports and global charity. Fighter's Heaven is currently described by reviewers as the last great addition to the Muhammad Ali canon.

2. 52 Seconds: A Story About Overcoming a Fear of Heights (2025). The second collaboration with his son, Carter, this book offers advice to parents and educators on how to help young children overcome a fear of heights. 

3. Shades of Brown: The Official Biography of Jane Elliott and the Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise (2023): This moving and comprehensive official biography of Jane Elliott uses never before seen documents to reconstruct the life of Jane Elliott along with her controversial Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes exercise.  The book is the three-time recipient of the Sunny Book Prize (2023, 2024, 2025) and was the key resource to the documentary film "Jane Elliott Against the World" (Flatbush Pictures, 2026). 

4. Like A Champion: A Story about Building Confidence (2023): Coauthored with his son, Carter, Like a Champion is an empowering children's book that follows the journey of a sloth who learns the importance of self-belief and willingness to respond to coaching while overcoming fear of performing sports in front of an audience. 

5. The N-Word in Music: An American History (2022): This groundbreaking book explores the complex history and cultural impact of the N-word in music, shedding light on its use, transformation, controversy, and evolving significance. This book received the Harry Shaw and Katrina Hazzard-Donald Award for Outstanding Work in African-American Popular Culture Studies honorable mention recognition by the Popular Culture Association (2025).

6. Race Conscious Pedagogy: Disrupting Racism at Majority White Schools (2020): Highly endorsed, this thought-provoking work concentrates on personal experiences teaching race and ethnic studies at a predominantly white school in rural Pennsylvania before the politicized environment of the 2020s.

7. Displaced: A Holocaust Memoir and the Road to a New Beginning with Linda Schwab (2019): This poignant memoir shares Linda Schwab's inspiring story of survival, resilience, and hope in the face of the Holocaust.

8. Glenn Killinger, All American: Penn State's World War I Era Sports Hero (2018): Focusing on the remarkable life of Glenn Killinger, this book explores his athletic achievements and contributions during and after World War I -- a time of great cultural shifts in the United States.

9. This Is the Rat Speaking: Black Power and the Promise of Racial Consciousness at Franklin and Marshall College in the Age of the Takeover (2017): Offering a compelling historical account, this book examines the Black Campus Movement at Franklin and Marshall College and elsewhere in the Late 1960s.

10. Legendary Locals of Harrisburg (2014): This book celebrates over 100 remarkable individuals who left an indelible mark on the city of Harrisburg.

11. Aliened American: A Biography of William Howard Day, 1825-1900, Vols. I and II (2010): This comprehensive biography chronicles the life and achievements of William Howard Day, an influential figure in the fight against slavery and racial injustice in the 19th century. 

12. Biography of an Antislavery City: Antislavery Activists, Abolitionists, and Underground Railroad Operatives in Harrisburg, Pa (2007): Exploring the rich history of Harrisburg as an antislavery stronghold, this book highlights the courageous individuals who played an important role in Pennsylvania's abolition movement as well as the complicated relationship between white and black abolitionists. 

 

In addition to his books, Todd has contributed chapters in In Sheep's Clothing: The Idolatry of White Christian Nationalism (forthcoming 2023) edited by Dr. George Yancy and From the Pews: The Story of the Bethel AME Church in Harrisburg (2015), edited by Lenwood Sloan. He also has published numerous articles in Pennsylvania Heritage and American Heritage.

 

Todd's scholarship on the Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania along with Black abolitionist and educator William Howard Day has been cited in works by Steve Luxenberg (Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson, and America's Journey from Slavery to Segregation), Richard Blackett (Making Freedom: The Underground Railroad and the Politics of Slavery), and the late Hari Jones ("Deciphering the African American Mystery in American History"). His research on Glenn Killinger is featured in Anne R. Keene's acclaimed book The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II (2018).

 

Mealy holds a Ph.D. from Penn State University, Harrisburg, where he demonstrated his dedication to the fields of American history and American studies. Prior to his doctoral studies, he attained a Master's degree from the same institution. In recognition of his outstanding academic and creative achievements as a Master's student, Todd was honored with the John S. Patterson Award. In 2018, Todd's work on his dissertation earned him the university's prestigious Sue Samuelson Award.

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He is a contributing writer for Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine. His published works within the magazine encompass significant moments in civil rights and sports history. Some notable publications include articles about eighteenth-century civil rights leader, James Forten, and the 19th-century trials that led to the end of legal segregation in Pennsylvania's public schools; a piece highlighting the abolitionist and cofounder of the Liberty Party, Francis Julius LeMoyne; an exploration of Glenn Killinger, an All-American football player from Penn State who reached the pinnacle of his career following World War I; a comprehensive overview of the 100-year rivalry between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Pittsburgh Panthers, capturing the essence of this storied competition; and an examination of Ora Mae Washington, a groundbreaking African American athlete in tennis and basketball before World War II. Todd's scholarship on Ora Washington is featured in the BBC/Stance Studios Podcast "Untold Legends: The Ora Washington Story," where he appears as a history.

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Additionally, Todd has authored several articles that have influenced public memory in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. These include an in-depth exploration of Muhammad Ali's training years at a little-known camp in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, titled "Muhammad Ali at Fighter's Heaven." He also wrote a pieced titled "Without Fear and without Reproach: Octavius V. Catto and the Early Civil Rights Movement in Pennsylvania," which explores the life and impact of Octavius Catto, an African American civil rights activist and educator killed in Philadelphia trying to protect Black voters on October 10, 1871, just a year after the ratification of the 15th Amendment. In December 2021, Todd's article "Fastest Man on Earth: Barney Ewell and the Story of Two Missed Olympics" was published by the magazine.