CV
EDUCATION
2021 - PhD, Pennsylvania State University
Fields: Nineteenth Century US History; Twentieth Century US History; Medieval History
2017 - M.A., History, Pennsylvania State University
Thesis: “The Grand Review of Union Armies and the Disappearance of the Classical Past”
Advisor: Dr. William A. Blair
2015 - B.A. (With Highest Distinction), History, University of Virginia
EMPLOYMENT
2021 - Postdoctoral Fellow, The Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University
PUBLICATIONS
Books:
Under Contract - Republicans and Regulars: Anti-Army Politics in the Civil War Era (LSU Press)
Articles (Refereed):
2020 - “‘Victory’s Long Review:’ The Grand Review of Union Armies and the Meaning of the Civil War,” Civil War History 66, No. 1 (March 2020) (link)
Articles (Nonrefereed)
2022 - “Gettysburg, Readdressed,” Civil War Monitor (Winter 2022)
2020 - “A Widow’s Campaign: Libbie Custer’s Memoirs Detailed her Husband’s Spirited Military Career and Her Life as an Army Wife,” Civil War Times (April 2020) (link)
Essays (In Edited Volumes)
“One Widow’s Wars: The Civil War, Reconstruction, and the West in Elizabeth Bacon Custer’s Memoirs,” in Gary W. Gallagher and Stephen Cushman, ed., Civil War Witnesses and Their Books: New Perspectives on Iconic Works [LSU Press (2021)]
“What If Jefferson Davis Hadn’t Been So Loyal to Braxton Bragg?” in Brian Matthew Jordan and Chris Mackowski, ed., The Great What Ifs of the American Civil War: Historians Tackle the Conflict’s Most Intriguing Possibilities [Savas Beatie (2021)]
Book Reviews:
Engineering Victory: The Union Siege of Vicksburg, Justin S. Solonick, American Nineteenth Century History 19, Issue 2 (2018) (link)
Charging up San Juan Hill: Theodore Roosevelt and the Making of Imperial America, John R. Van Atta, Western Historical Quarterly 50, Issue 2 (2019) (link)
Other Book Reviews For:
H-Net (H-CivWar, H-Nationalism)
The Civil War Monitor
North Carolina Historical Review
Other Writing:
Contributor at Emerging Civil War.
“Gettysburg In Texas: The Challenges and Rewards of Teaching Military History Beyond the Battlefield (2022) [link]
“Men Go to Battle and the Dark Humor of the Civil War,” Muster (a blog from the Journal of the Civil War Era) (2017)
“Reflecting on the Civil War and Colorado’s Purple Mountain Majesties,” The Denver Post (June 30, 2017)
GRANTS AND AWARDS
External Fellowships (long-term):
2019-2020 - U.S. Army Center of Military History Dissertation Fellowship
2019 - The Huntington Library, Wilbur R. Jacobs Fellow
2019 - Masterson Fellowship, Western Historical Collection, University of Oklahoma (link)
External Research Grants:
2019 - William and Madeline Smith Travel Award, The Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas
2018 - Filson Historical Society Fellowship
2018 - Clements Center-DeGolyer Library Research Travel Grant, Southern Methodist University
2018 - Western History Association Graduate Student Prize (Unable to Accept)
2016 - Virginia Center for Civil War Studies Research Grant
Internal:
2019 - Raymond E. Lombra and Roberta Lombra Outstanding Graduate Research Award, Penn State College of the Liberal Arts
2017 - Ann Richards Award for Best Research Paper (Pre-ABD), Penn State Department of History
2015 - Ted H. and Tracy Winfree McCourtney Family Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in American History, The Pennsylvania State University
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
2022 - “Elizabeth Bacon Custer and Civil War Veterans,” The Western History Association, San Antonio, Texas (October 12)
2022 - Roundtable: Indian Policy in the Civil War and Reconstruction, The Society of Civil War Historians Bi-annual Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (June 4)
2020 - “Never Invited to Join in the Parade: Indian Wars Veterans and Civil War Veterans,” The Western History Association, Albuquerque, New Mexico (October 14-17, 2020)
2019 - “The Great Task Remaining: The Reconstruction Era Army in Texas,” Southern Historical Association, Louisville, Kentucky (November 7-10, 2019) [Panel Organizer]
2019 - “Agents of Empire: The Army and American Expansion in the Era of the Civil War and Reconstruction,” Organization of American Historians, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (April 4-6)
2018 - “Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie: Contemplating Reconstruction West of the Mississippi River,” Society of Civil War Historians Bi- annual Conference, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (May 31-June 2)
2017 - “Improvised Warfare: The United States, Canada, and the Sioux in a Civil War Borderland,” Western History Association Annual Conference, San Diego, California (November 1-4)
2017 - “The United States and the Sioux During the Civil War,” Society for Military History Annual Conference, Jacksonville, Florida (March 30-April 2)
PUBLIC TALKS (Invited)
2022 - “Reel History: How Movies Influence American History, and What They Can Teach Students,” American Battlefield Trust Teacher Workshop (July 12)
2020 - “The Grand Review and the Upper Midwest,” Hardtack and Coffee - A Digital Speaker Series at The Civil War Museum, Kenosha, WI (September 28)
2020 - “An Eagle on their Button: The USCT Experience in the Civil War and Reconstruction,” The Pennsylvania Military Museum, Boalsburg, Pennsylvania (May 3) [Cancelled due to Covid-19]
2019 - “The US Army in Reconstruction,” The American Civil War Museum, Richmond, Virginia (July 18) (interview)
2019 - “Frontier Soldiers,” The Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College (June 15)
2018 - “Two Invasions of the North: Gettysburg and the Canadian Frontier in 1863,” The Gettysburg Foundation, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (June 30)
WORKSHOPS
2019 - Weekends With The Accomplished Applied History Workshop, Center for the American West, University of Colorado, Boulder
2018 - John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History, University of Virginia Dissertation Chapter Presentation (February 21)
2017 - Bavarian American International Summer Academy
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2021-22 - Editor on The Past, The Promise, The Presidency – a presidential history podcast from SMU’s Center for Presidential History
2018-21 - Indexer – Compiled indices for a range of projects, including essay collections, monographs, and primary sources
2017-2019 - Editorial Assistant to Judith Giesberg, The Journal of the Civil War Era
TEACHING
At SMU:
Summer 2022 — Leadership and the Battle of Gettysburg
Spring 2022 - ‘From the Last of the Mohicans to Back Hawk Down’: American Military History and Popular Culture
Fall 2021 - The Image of George Washington
At Penn State:
Spring 2021 - Instructor, HIST 130, The Civil War Era
Fall 2020 — Instructor, HIST 020, American Civilization to 1877 (online)
Summer 2019 — Instructor, HIST 130, The Civil War Era
Spring 2017 - Teaching Assistant, HIST 150, America in the Long 1960’s
Fall 2016 - Teaching Assistant, HIST 020, American Civilization To 1877
Spring 2016 - Teaching Assistant, HIST 021, American Civilization Since 1877
SERVICE
2022 - Chief Historian, Emerging Civil War (link)
2020-2021 - Member, Editorial Board, Engaging the Civil War series, Southern Illinois University Press
2018 -2021 - Chair, Graduate Student Connections Committee, Society of Civil War Historians
2018-2021 - Member, Outreach Committee, Society of Civil War Historians
2016-2018 - Member, Graduate Student Connections Committee, Society of Civil War Historians
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
AHA (American Historical Association)
OAH (Organization of American Historians)
WHA (Western Historical Association)
SHA (Southern Historical Association)
SMH (Society for Military History)
SCWH (Society of Civil War Historians)