About Me

I am a historian of the American Civil War Era. I received a PhD in History from Boston University and am a Lecturer in the History Department at BU. I teach Early American History, the Civil War Era, the History of Boston, and Memory of the American Civil War. My dissertation, “Architects of Civil War Homecoming: Northern Relief Workers and Returning Union Veterans,” explores the efforts of wartime and postwar humanitarian relief organizations as well as state and local governments to aid to Civil War veterans and their families. This complex network of aid, often overlooked due to its decentralized nature, provided vital, multilayered forms of support to discharged soldiers.

Before entering Boston University’s PhD program, I worked in public history for nearly 20 years, primarily as Executive Director of the Duxbury Rural and Historical Society and, later, as Executive Director of the nationally accredited Pilgrim Hall Museum.

I am the author of two books on local history and have published papers the New England Quarterly and the Historical Journal of Massachusetts. I was the recipient of the BU History Department’s Distinguished Teaching Award and an Andrew Mellon Research Fellowship from the Massachusetts Historical Society, among other awards. I continue to be involved as a volunteer and advisor for historical organizations on the South Shore of Massachusetts.