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I'm a historian of the early United States who writes about places, objects, and what their histories mean for us today. My first book, Historic Real Estate, examines the history of historic preservation in the 18th and 19th centuries. It explores how early Americans debated the fate of sites such as Indigenous earthworks, colonial churches, and old houses to shape economy and society: what should - and should not - be for sale, how consumers should behave, and how labor should be valued. In 2023, it won an "On the Brinck" Book Award from the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of New Mexico.
I'm working on a new book that examines the history of Charles Willson Peale's portrait gallery from its origins as a private collection in the 1780s to its transformation to property of the Philadelphia Museum Company beginning in 1821 to its sale at public auction in 1854. I tell this story to consider why residents of the early United States regularly turned to corporate ownership of objects of collective significance, and what effects incorporation had on the valuation of these “permanent collections.” I recently worked on this project as a Townshend fellow at the Clements Library at the University of Michigan and an AAS-NEH fellow at the American Antiquarian Society.
Though I'm a history professor, you'll often find me doing history outside the classroom. I am currently working on a special history study about the Longfellow family and historic preservation for the National Park Service and the National Council on Public History. This research will inform interpretation at the Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
I have partnered with graduate students and The Woodlands of Philadelphia to create a podcast series about the site's history and with Hidden City Philadelphia to publish articles about underrepresented urban histories. I have also co-curated history exhibits featuring the art of Dox Thrash and Sam Maitin in the Villanova University Art Gallery. Recently, I worked with Morris Animal Refuge to organize their archives and create history displays for their 150th anniversary. Whether you are a curious reader, prospective student, fellow historian, journalist on deadline, or kindred-spirited Philadelphian, I hope you'll take a look around and be in touch.
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