Education
Ph.D., U.S. History, 2020
George Mason University
Dissertation: Birthing A Nation: Enslaved Women and Midwifery in Early America, 1750-1820
M.A., U.S. History, 2016
George Mason University
B.A., History, 2013
University of Texas at Austin
Teaching and Research Fields
US History, Digital and Public History, Slavery in the Atlantic World, Women and Gender, History of Medicine
Employment
Assistant Professor, Department of History and Geography, The University of Texas at Arlington, Fall 2024 – present.
Research Assistant Professor, Department of History and Geography and Cemetery Historic Preservation Project, Clemson University, November 2023 – June 2024.
Postdoctoral Fellow in University History, Department of History and Geography and Cemetery Historic Preservation Project, Clemson University, August 2020 – November 2023.
Graduate Research Assistant, Education Projects, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (RRCHNM), George Mason University, 2015 – 2019.
Teaching Assistant, History and Art History Department, George Mason University, 2013 – 2015.
Education Research Intern, National Women’s History Museum, January – April 2019.
Historical Database Intern and Graduate Research Assistant, Digital Humanities, Historic Preservation and Collections Department, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, August 2014 – May 2016.
Publications
Book Manuscript in Progress
Birthing A Nation: Enslaved Women and Midwifery in Early America (proposal under review with the University of Virginia Press)
Chapters in Edited Volumes (peer reviewed)
“‘For serving as midwife’: Enslaved Women and Networks of Care in Revolutionary Maryland,” in The Nursing Clio Reader, eds. Jacqueline Antonovich and Sarah Handley-Cousins. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, forthcoming.
“Building a Relational Database to Explore Enslaved Midwives’ Work in Early America,” in American Revolutions in the Digital Age, eds. Mark Boonshoft, Nora Slonimsky, and Ben Wright. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, August 2024.
“The Labors of Enslaved Midwives in Revolutionary Virginia,” in Women in the American Revolution: Gender, Politics, and the Domestic World, edited by Barbara Oberg. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2019.
Digital Pieces
“George Washington’s Midwives: The Economics of Childbirth under Slavery,” in Lapham’s Quarterly, June 19, 2019.
“Digital Storytelling: Presenting History in New Ways,” Blog post with Andrew Salamone, National Trust for Historic Preservation Forum Blog, November 1, 2017.
Digital and Public History Project Experience
The African American Burial Ground, A. P. Calhoun Family Plot, and Woodland Cemetery Historic Preservation Project, Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Assistant Professor, Clemson University, August 2020 – June 2024. https://www.clemson.edu/about/history/woodland-cemetery/index.html.
Birthing A Nation Database (in development), Creator, Relational database of enslaved midwives and families in early America, August 2017 – Present.
World History Commons, Project Associate, RRCHNM, August 2018 – August 2019 and Summer 2020. Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. http://www.worldhistorycommons.org.
Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of World War II Online Exhibit, Curator, National Women’s History Museum and Google Cultural Institute, 2019. womenshistory.org/exhibits/women-airforce-service-pilots-wasps-wwii.
Maritime Asia: War and Trade, Research Associate, RRCHNM, August 2018 – August 2019. https://www.maritime-asia.org.
The Pilbara Aboriginal Strike, Project Manager, RRCHNM, 2017 – 2018. Funded by the Australian Research Council. http://www.pilbarastrike.org/.
Eagle Eye Citizen, Senior Content Developer and Outreach Assistant, RRCHNM, 2016 – 2017. Funded by the Library of Congress. https://www.eagleeyecitizen.org/.
Digital Humanities Now, Editor-At-Large, RRCHNM, 2016-2017.
Social Network of the Enslaved Community at Mount Vernon, 1754-1799, Creator, Interactive data visualization built for the “Lives Bound Together: Slavery at George Washington’s Mount Vernon” exhibit at Mount Vernon, October 2016.
Database of Mount Vernon’s Enslaved Community, Intern and Graduate Research Assistant, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, 2014 – 2016. www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/slavery-database/.
Mount Vernon Teacher Professional Development Toolkit, Research Associate, RRCHNM, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, 2016.
American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) Burials Database ReDesign, Research Assistant, RRCHNM, Summer 2015.
“Finding Kate,” Creator, Digital story of an enslaved midwife on Mount Vernon that explores women’s history, slavery, and the process of historical research, 2014.
Teaching Experience
Courses
The University of Texas at Arlington
HIST 1301 – US History to 1865, Fall 2024.
HIST 4385 – Digital History, Fall 2024.
HIST 5390 – Directed Studies for Graduate Students in Digital History, Fall 2024.
Clemson University
HIST 3890 – Creative Inquiry in History: The Cemetery Preservation and Memorial Project, Fall 2021 – Spring 2024.
Teaching Assistant
Hidden in Plain Sight, Online Teacher Recertification Course, George Mason University, January 2017-April 2017.
History 100: Western Civilization, George Mason University, August 2013 – May 2014 and August 2015 – December 2015.
History 121: Formation of the American Republic, George Mason University, August 2014 – May 2015.
History 122: Making of Modern America, George Mason University, August 2014 – May 2015.
Workshops
Digital Storytelling Workshop: Using Storymaps to Engage Students in Public History, with Felicia Bevel, The Organization of American Historians Annual Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 14, 2024.
Building and Managing Datasets for Digital Public History Projects with Airtable, with Amanda Regan, Digital Public History Lab, National Council on Public History Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, April 12, 2023.
The Cemetery as Text: Using Historic Cemeteries to Teach History, Public Engagement, and Service-Learning, with Mandi Barnard, Marquise Drayton, Sarah Richardson, Historic Cemeteries Research Symposium, Clemson University, October 24, 2022.
Enslaved Women in 18th Century Virginia, Just for Educators Workshop, George Mason’s Gunston Hall, August 14, 2019.
Graffiti Houses: The Civil War from the Perspective of Individual Soldiers Teaching Assistant, An NEH Landmarks in American History and Culture Workshop for Teachers, George Mason University, June and July 2016.
Mentoring
Co-Mentor, Carolyn Mason’s Bigger Fish to Fry Podcast, Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP), George Mason University, Fall 2020.
Guest Lectures
Rachael at Monticello: Using Digital Tools to Recover Histories of Enslaved Midwives in Early America, HIST 3180: History of American Women, Clemson University, October 18, 2023.
Woodland Cemetery and African American Burial Ground: Researching Histories and Practicing Community Engagement, HIST 3060: Public History, Augusta University, October 26, 2022.
Birthing A Nation: Enslaved Women and Midwifery in Revolutionary America, HIST 3010: American Revolution and the New Nation, Clemson University, October 17, 2022.
Relational Databases and Historical Research, HIST 8500: Digital Methods for History I Graduate Course, Clemson University, October 12, 2022, and October 25, 2023.
Digital Archives for Researching Historic Cemeteries, ENG 1030: Service-Learning Project for Woodland Cemetery, Clemson University, October 4, 2022.
Woodland Cemetery and the African American Burial Ground Historic Preservation Project, HIST 1010: US History to 1877, Clemson University, April 7, 2022.
Content Management Systems, HIST 8500: Digital Methods for History I Graduate Course, Clemson University, September 28, 2021.
Digital Sources for Studying Slavery, HIST 4900: Global History of Slavery, Clemson University, January 27, 2021.
Primary Sources and Midwifery, Honors 240: Mason’s Legacies, George Mason University, February 25, 2020.
Omeka and Building Online Exhibits, History 390: The Digital Past, George Mason University, June 19, 2019.
Perspectives on Digital Storytelling, History 390: The Digital Past, George Mason University, November 14, 2018.
Conference Presentations
“Research and Digital Storytelling for Woodland Cemetery and the African American Burial Ground Project at Clemson University,” with Mandi Barnard, Historic Cemeteries Research Symposium, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, October 10, 2023.
“A Visual History of Cemetery Hill: Researching and Sharing Complex Histories through Digital Storytelling,” with student Lucas DeBenedetti, South Carolina Universities Studying Slavery Conference, Frances Marion University, Florence, South Carolina, February 3, 2023.
“Recovering the Multi-layered Histories of Cemetery Hill at Clemson,” with student Alexis Thomas, Historic Cemeteries Research Symposium, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, October 25, 2022.
“‘The children of her daughters’: The Life and Work of Betsey Bailey, An Enslaved Midwife in Early America,” Southern Association of Women Historians Triennial Conference, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, June 12, 2022.
“Building a Relational Database to Explore Enslaved Midwives’ Work on Early Southern Plantations” panelist on the roundtable “Material and Digital Approaches to Labor, Health, and the Political Ecology of Slavery,” Omohundro Institute for Early American History and Culture 2020 Annual Conference, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, June 18, 2021.
“Revolutionary Labors: Creating a Relational Database to Explore Enslaved Midwives’ Work in Early America,” The Age of Revolutions in the Digital Age Symposium and Workshop, Iona College, New Rochelle, New York (held virtually), September 12, 2020.
“‘Paid the Midwife (Rachael)’: Enslaved Women and the Business of Childbirth on Early Southern Plantations,” panelist on the roundtable “Slavery at the Intersection of Medical Labor, Geography, and Environmental Risk in Early America,” Front Range Early American Consortium Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, October 12, 2019.
“Eagle Eye Citizen: Online Civics Interactive,” Teaching with Primary Sources Poster Session, National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference, Chicago, IL, November 30, 2018.
“Metacognition and Media: Developing Students’ Critical Thinking Skills,” American Federation of Teachers Share My Lesson Virtual Conference, March 15, 2018.
“Eagle Eye Citizen: Online Engagement with Civics,” Middle State Council for the Social Studies (MSCSS) Conference, Tysons Corner, VA, March 2-3, 2018.
“Eagle Eye Citizen: Exploring Civics, History, and Primary Sources,” SOURCES Annual Conference, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, January 27, 2018.
“Eagle Eye Citizen: Interactive Engagement with Civics and History,” International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference, San Antonio, Texas, June 28, 2017.
“Eagle Eye Citizen: Teaching Civics and History Using Primary Sources,” with Jessica Kilday, National Council for History Education (NCHE) conference, Atlanta, Georgia, March 31, 2017.
“Digital Storytelling: Communicating Academic Research Beyond the Classroom,” with Dr. Kelly Schrum, Beth Dalbec, and Matt Boyce, Innovations in Teaching and Learning Conference, Fairfax, VA, September 22, 2017.
“Teaching Graduate Students to Code,” contributor to poster session with Dr. Lincoln Mullen, Peter Carr Jones, Jannelle Legg, Anne Ladyem McDivitt, Dr. George D. Oberle III, and Amanda Regan, January 2015, American Historical Association (AHA) conference, New York.
Campus and Community Talks
“Mapping Clemson History,” with Drs. Joshua Catalano, Andrea Feeser, and Rhondda R. Thomas, Clemson University, January 24, 2022.
“Enslaved Women and Midwifery in Virginia and Maryland, 1750-1830″ Burke Historical Society, Burke, Virginia, February 23, 2020.
“Birthing A Nation: Enslaved Women and Midwifery in Early America,” Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington, Mount Vernon, Virginia, May 9, 2019.
“Birthing A Nation: Enslaved Midwives in the Revolutionary Chesapeake,” Virginia Daughters of the American Revolution Meeting, Fairfax Station, Virginia, December 8, 2018.
“Birthing A Nation: Enslaved Women and Midwifery in Early America, 1750-1820,” Virginia Historical Society, June 6, 2018.
“Re-Interpreting Slavery in Eighteenth-Century Virginia,” George Mason’s Gunston Hall, Lorton, Virginia, March 8, 2018.
“Digital Pedagogy,” with Dr. Kelly Schrum and Andrew Salamone, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, April 3, 2017.
“Interpreting Slavery in Eighteenth-Century Virginia,” George Mason’s Gunston Hall, Lorton, Virginia, October 20, 2016.
“Finding Kate: A Digital Story,” George Mason University and Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media: Graduate Student Digital Projects, Fairfax, December 8, 2014.
Awards, Honors, and Fellowships
Finalist, Dissertation Prize, Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR), 2021.
Dissertation Completion Fellowship, George Mason University, 2019 – 2020.
Mount Vernon Research Fellowship, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, 2018 – 2019.
Mellon Research Fellowship, Virginia Historical Society, 2018.
Provost’s Summer Research Fellowship, George Mason University, 2018.
Joseph and Dorothy Censer Fellowship, George Mason University, 2018.
Cosmos Scholars Research Grant, Cosmos Club Foundation, 2018.
Archie K. Davis Fellowship for Dissertation Research, North Caroliniana Society, 2017 – 2018.
Louise and Rudolf Fishel New Media Fellowship, George Mason University, 2017.
Passed PhD Minor Field Exam Slavery in the Atlantic World with Distinction, George Mason University, 2016.
Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association 500 Sustained Service Hours Award, May 2016.
Digital Skills
Programming and Web Development Languages: R with R Studio, HTML and CSS
Content Management Systems and Web Publishing: WordPress, Drupal, Omeka, Cascade (introductory level)
Relational Database Management: Airtable, Omeka S
Mapping: Basic maps in ArcGIS Online and Georeferencing in ArcGIS Pro (introductory level)
Digital Storytelling: ArcGIS Storymaps, Final Cut Pro X, iMovie, Canva, Pixlr, Photoshop, InDesign, TimelineJS, JuxtaposeJS, Voyant
Service
Research Advisory Council, Patrick Henry’s Red Hill, 2021-Present
Professional Affiliations
Member, American Historical Association
Member, Organization of American Historians
Member, Southern Historical Association
Member, Society for Historians of the Early American Republic
Member, Association for the Study of African American Life and History
Member, National Council on Public History