Episode 62 — Writing About American Civil War History With Professor Jonathan W. White '01

The People of Penn State

Today's episode of The People of Penn State is for all of you history buffs out there as we're joined by accomplished American Civil War author and professor, Jonathan W. White!
Jonathan is professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University and the author or editor of 17 books that cover a variety of topics about the Civil War, including "Emancipation, the Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln," the award-winning "A House Built By Slaves: African American visitors to the Lincoln White House," and an exciting new children's book, "My Day With Abe Lincoln."
Among his many other awards is the 2019 State Council of Higher Education for Virginia’s Outstanding Faculty Award, which is the highest award given to college faculty by the Commonwealth of Virginia.
We talked with Jonathan about how his time at Penn State still impacts him today, choosing Civil War topics to write about, the inspiration of his new children's book, lessons from the Civil War with modern day relevance, and much more.
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Timestamps for our conversation with Jonathan:
0:00 — Intro
1:45 — Jonathan's Penn State story
8:55 — The process for coming up with topics to write about
10:00 — Jonathan's book "Emancipation, the Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln"
14:00 — Studying and writing about African American visitors to the White House during Abraham Lincoln's presidency
19:05 — Writing "My Day With Abe Lincoln"
24:35 — Lessons from the Civil War and Reconstruction with modern day relevance
26:09 — The influence of Penn State on Jonathan's teaching career
27:55 — Upcoming work with a fellow Penn Stater
30:47 — Lightning Round Q&A
33:37 — Outro

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