She specializes in teaching public history, with a focus in museum studies. Burns received her B.A. in History from Michigan State University and her Ph.D. in History from the University of Minnesota in 2008. Her book, From Storefront to Monument: Tracing the Public History of the Black Museum Movement, was published in 2013 by the University of Massachusetts Press, as part of their “Public History in Historical Perspective” series. It received the Best Book Award from the National Council on Public History in 2015. Copyright © 2017 Blowing Rock Museum.