CV
Below are highlights from my C.V., with a particular focus on recent work. My complete C.V. is available on request.
Employment
2005- present
Professor of History, High Point University, High Point, NC
2004-2006
Content Advisor, “The Time Warp Trio,” WGBH-TV, Boston, MA
2002-2005
Instructor, Program in History and Literature, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Education
2005
Ph.D. in History of American Civilization, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
1994
J.D., Boston College Law School, Newton, MA
1990
A.B. in History, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Public History Work
2023
Historian, One High Point Commission, High Point, North Carolina
Instructor, High Point University Athletics Integration Film Project
During the Spring 2023 semester, students in my History Detectives advanced methods class are interviewing athletes and faculty who participated in the integration High Point College between 1965 and 1975.
Students will develop an archive of these interviews for the HPU library as well as a short documentary film on the project.
Consultant, Facing History and Ourselves, Newton, MA
2022- present
Co-Creator, Moore Family Project
A historical true-crime project that spans eight generations of a Black American family in Wilmington and High Point North Carolina from 1795 through the Wilmington Massacre , a murder investigation in the 1920s, the civil rights movement in High Point, and the racial justice movement of 2020.
Working with descendants of the family and production colleagues; currently pitching a podcast with a book to follow.
2022- present
Consultant, ICivics, Cambridge, MA
2021- present
Co-Producer, History BLK
Working with a group of scholars, filmmakers, and musicians to remix the Schoolhouse Rock model with a focus on Black History.
Funding application under review by NEH Media Projects
2014- present
Director, The William Penn Project, High Point University
2019
Director, Congregational United Church of Christ Project, High Point University
Publications
Books
Commercializing Childhood: Children’s Magazines, Urban Gentility, and the Ideal of the American Child (University of Massachusetts Press, 2015) Recipient of the 2015 Honor Book Award from The Children's Literature Association for "outstanding scholarly work in the field of children's literature."
Kid History, Inc.: Selling Children the American Past (under contract with University of Massachusetts Press, expected publication 2025)
Articles
“The Brownies Book and the American Children’s Publishing Industry” in The Edinburgh History of Children’s Periodicals, eds. Kristine Moruzi and Michelle Smith (Edinburgh University Press, 2024)
“The Dark Frigate and the Use of Masculinity in Early Newbery Culture” in Dust Off the Gold Medal: Rediscovering Children’s Literature at the Newbery Centennial, eds. Sara Schwebel and Jocelyn VanTuyl (Routledge, 2022)
“Transforming Rebellion into Affirmation: A History of Youth Literature and Reading Cultures” in The Oxford Handbook of Youth Cultures, ed. James Marten (2021)
“A Victorious Union: Oliver Optic Sells the Civil War to Northern Youths, 1863-1898” in Buying and Selling the Civil War, eds. Caroline Janney and James Marten (University of Georgia Press, 2021)
“Schoolhouse Rock for a New Generation: What Should It Look Like?,” The Public Historian (February 2021), 82-101
“The Communal Possibilities of Baseball,” NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture (Fall 2019-Spring 2020), 186-191
“Incorporating ‘Growth Mindset’ Into Public History Teaching,” History@Work: The National Council of Public Historians Blog, October 23, 2019
"Can Facebook Help Public Historians Build Community?" History@Work: The National Council of Public Historians Blog, August 11, 2017
Media Articles
“The Black History Knowledge Gap is Widening, and GOP Politicians are Making it Worse,” The Conversation, March 6, 2024
“Red Sox Nation, Meet Your Horn-Tooting, Rabble-Rousing Granddaddies, the Royal Rooters,” Boston Globe, September 8, 2022
“The Return of ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ Could Pave the Way for Better Knowledge of History,” Washington Post, April 7, 2021
“Toys Are Ditching Genders for the Same Reason They Took Them On,” Washington Post, March 2, 2021
“Why a Shootout Between Black Panthers and Law Enforcement 50 Years Ago Matters Today,” The Conversation, February 8, 2021
"The Insidious Logic of 'Stick to Sports'," The Atlantic, October 2, 2017
"Turn-of-the-Century Kid's Books Taught Wealthy, White Boys the Virtues of Playing Football," Smithsonian, September 15, 2017
"How Banning Books Marginalizes Children," The Atlantic, October 1, 2016
"Baseball on the Margins in 1916," The Hardball Times, September 16, 2016
"Babe Ruth, Ring Lardner, and Baseball on the Verge in 1916," The Hardball Times, August 26, 2016
"Reflecting on the High Point Sit-ins Anniversary," High Point Enterprise, February 15, 2016
"Why Children Get Gifts on Christmas: A History," The Atlantic, December 25, 2015
"The Star Wars Plot Device That's 150 Years Old," Time Magazine, December 18, 2015
"The 1915 World Series and the Rise of the Modern American Sports Fan," We're History, November 3, 2015
“What’s Next for Sesame Street?” We’re History, September 4, 2015
Interviews/Invited Talks
“Writing the Civil War for Kids,” The Ribbon Book Club(podcast), August 3, 2023.
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Quantifying Racial Disparities in the High Point Public Schools, 1897-1993,” One High Point Commission, High Point, NC, June 1, 2023
“Rethinking Reconstruction: Why a Scholarly Debate about the 19th Century Should Matter to 21st Century Teachers and Students" Facing History and Ourselves, May 17, 2023
“Do We Need Another ‘Schoolhouse Rock’? Celebrating Fifty Years of the Educational Songs,” Here & Now, WBUR-FM, National Public Radio, March 13, 2023
“Royal Rooters,” New England Sports Network, September 9, 2022
“Schoolhouse Rock for a New Generation,” Omohundro Institute for Early American History, The College of William and Mary, March 31, 2021
“Proposed Missouri Bill Targeting Children’s Books Could Land Librarians in Jail,” January 22, 2020
“The History of Gift-Giving in America,” Cross Country Checkup, CBC Radio, December 1, 2019
“The More Complete History of of Civil Rights in High Point,” The State of Things, WUNC-FM, National Public Radio, January 23, 2018
"Why Children's Magazines Matter: Studying Artifacts of Popular Culture," The Rembert W. Patrick Memorial Lecture, Guilford College Department of History, April 24, 2017
"Nineteenth Century Developments in Childhood Culture," Bank Street Graduate School of Education, November 3, 2016
"When Children Become Consumers," "The State of Things," WUNC 91.5 North Carolina Pubic Radio, October 11, 2016
"Building Youth Culture Through Media," Wake Forest University Museum of Anthropology, February 23, 2016