I’m a lifelong Western Massachusetts native with undergrad work in American Studies at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and graduate studies in the teaching of history at Westfield State University. My primary areas of focus are the period of social change and upheaval in the United States from the mid-19th century through the early 20th, with special interests in Shays’ Rebellion, the American Civil War, and the reform movements of the Progressive Era. In addition, I have a long and abiding love of 19th century “base ball” and in particular how the game spread and was became standardized throughout the Civil War era.
My approach to history is bottom-up, preferring to focus on the experiences of the common person over the “Great Person” theory. An analogy I like to use is that history is like a mosaic– each little pebble in that mosaic is a critical element. Each pebble, an individual life. With them all assembled together, one might see a majestic work of art without really knowing and understanding the small actions, movements– flapping of a butterfly’s wings– but those are what provides the context. And context is king.
I would look to highlight the pebbles, and in doing so, inform the understanding of the grand mosaic in context.