John Wesley Blassingame (March 23, 1940 – February 13, 2000) was an American historian and pioneer in the study of slavery in the United States.

[3] The achievements for which he is best remembered include his editorship of the papers of Frederick Douglass, abolitionist and author.

[5] His doctoral dissertation, written under the supervision of C. Vann Woodward, was titled A Social and Economic Study of the Negro in New Orleans, 1860–1880.

He was a co-author with Mary F. Berry of Long Memory: The Black Experience in America (1982), and a co-editor with Louis Harlan of The Autobiographical Writings of Booker T. Washington (1972).

[7] Blassingame was a lifelong member of many history preservation, heritage, and educational organizations such as the American Historical Association, Southern History Association, the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, and the Phi Alpha Theta honor society.