Department of History

Susan M. Abram graduated from Western Carolina University (BS Anthropology, summa cum laude; MA American History). Arriving at Auburn from the Smoky Mountains, Abram majored in Early American History under Drs. Kathryn Braund and Anthony Carey, with minor fields in Modern World History and Modern American History under Drs. Patience Essah and Kenneth Noe, respectively. Abram worked as a GRA for the under Drs. Wayne Flynt and Jeff Jakeman at the newly launched Encyclopedia of Alabama. She has returned to western NC to complete her dissertation, while working as a Visiting Instructor at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee.

Presentations: Georgia Association for History, 2007; American Society for Ethnohistory, 2006 and 2007; Ohio Valley History Conference, 2006; Alabama Historical Association, 2006; Southern Historical Association, 2005; Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, 2005; Pintlala Historical Society, 2004; and Cherokee Studies Conference, 2002. Her research interests focus on Southern History with an emphasis on Appalachia and Southeastern Indians, particularly the Cherokee.

Abram has received the Marguerite Scharnagel Writing Fellowship Award, 2008; a Graduate School Fellowship Research Award, 2006; the Claire D. and Jane A. Heidler Memorial Award, 2005; the Robert L. Partin Award for Department Service, 2003-2004; and Graduate Colloquium Award for best presentation, 2003. In addition, she is a member of the Alabama Historical Association, the American Society for Ethnohistory, Appalachian Studies Association, Bartram Trail Conference, Friends of Red Clay, Georgia Association for History, Organization of American Historians, and the Southern Historical Association, and the Trail of Tears Association. In addition, Abram's entry, "The Cherokees in Alabama," will appear in the online Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Kathryn Lindsay Anderson Wade (Auburn History M.A., 2005) was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated from Sherwood Christian Academy in Albany, Georgia as Salutatorian in 2000. She attended Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History in August 2003. She entered Graduate School at Auburn University in August 2003, and defended her M.A. thesis, "The Intent and Fulfillment of the Morrill Act of 1862: A Review of the History of Auburn University and the University of Georgia," written under the direction of Professor Robert J. Jakeman, in 2005.

He is originally from Smiths Station, Alabama. Keith received his Bachelor's Degree in History from Auburn University in the Summer of 2004.

Drew Davis graduated summa cum laude from Auburn University in fall 2005 with a B.A. in history and a minor in German, and completed his MA in 2008. His interests include historical memory in Germany after World War II, and recently historical memory in the post-Civil War South. In his free time he enjoys playing guitar, reading a good book, or playing badminton.

Brian Duke, a native of Mobile, Alabama, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Spring Hill College in May 2006. He received a B.A. in History with minors in Theology and Sociology. While at Spring Hill, Brian was a member of the Honors program and received the Ron Drago Award in 2006 (presented annually to the History major who is most likely to make important future contributions to the field of History) and the Howard Smith Award in 2005 (presented annually to the outstanding History major in the junior class). Brian was also inducted into Phi Alpha Theta and Alpha Sigma Nu, the honor society of Jesuit institutions of higher education. Also, Brian swam competitively at Spring Hill, twice being name a NAIA Academic All-American Scholar Athlete (2005, 2006).

Christopher M. Duncan has two daighters (Georgia and Clara), and lives in Opelika with his wife Kelli. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at Auburn University in 1997 and his Master of Divinity degree at Beeson Divinity School in 2000.

Amy E. Foster (Auburn History Ph.D., 2005), is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Central Florida.She wrote her dissertation, "Sex in Space: The Politics and Logistics of Sexually Integrating NASA's Astronaut Corps," under the direction of Professor James R. Hansen.

She completed a B.S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at Purdue University in 1993 and an M.A. in the History of Science and Technology at the University of Minnesota in 2001.

Her 2008 article -- "The Gendered Anniversary: The Story of America's Women Astronauts" -- has won the 2008 Arthur W. Thompson Award for Best Article in The Florida Historical Quarterly.

Javan Frazier (Auburn History Ph.D., 2006) wrote his dissertation entitled "Atomic Apartheid: United States-South African Nuclear Relations from Truman to Reagan, 1945-1989" under the direction of Professor Larry Gerber. He earned his B.S. in Secondary Education-Social Studies at Tennessee Technological University in 1996. After teaching middle and high school history in his native Smithville, TN, he entered North Carolina State University in 1999 and earned his M.A. in history. There he completed his Master's thesis entitled "Key Moments in Nuclear Cooperation between the United States and South Africa, 1953-1981" under the direction of Dr. Nancy Mitchell.

In the Fall of 2006 he accepted a tenure-track posting as an assistant professor of history at Middle Georgia College.

Sara S. Frear (Ph.D., August 2007) is currently an instructor in U.S. History at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. She wrote her dissertation, "' A Fine View of the Delectable Mountains ': The Religious Vision of Mary Virginia Terhune (Marion Harland) and Augusta Jane Evans Wilson" under the direction of Dr. Anthony Carey. Her dissertation explores the religious thought of two popular women novelists as a window onto the romantic evangelical culture of mid-nineteenth century America, and examines the impact of the Civil War on the novelists and their culture.

A native of upstate New York, Dr. Frear earned a B.A. in East Asian Studies at Yale University, graduating summa cum laude in 1982. While a Ph.D. candidate at Auburn, she received the 2006 Merriwether Fellowship from the Graduate School, the 2005 Milo B. Howard and Graduate Student Research Awards for dissertation research, and the 2005 Colonial Dames and Malcolm C. McMillan Awards for outstanding papers. Her presentation at the 2002 Graduate Student Colloquium won first prize. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies. Her article "'You My Brother Will Be Glad With Me': The Letters of Augusta Jane Evans to Walter Clopton Harriss, January 29, 1856, to October 29, 185[8?]" was printed in the April 2007 issue of the Alabama Review.

Tom Glynn (Auburn History Ph.D., 2005) wrote his dissertation on the topic of "Books and the Public Sphere: New York Libraries and the Culture-Building Enterprise, 1754-1904," under the direction of Professors Anthony Carey and Ruth Crocker.

He currently serves as library liaison for British and American history and the history of science in Rutgers University's Alexander Library. He holds an undergraduate degree in history from the University of Chicago (1988) and a Master of Library and Information Science and a master's degree in history from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He worked as a social sciences reference librarian in Auburn's Ralph Brown Draughon Library from 1995 to 1998.

Bruce T. Gourley is Associate Director of The Center for Baptist Studies at Mercer University, Macon, Georgia, and Online Editor for the news journal Baptists Today, also located in Macon. Bruce has undergrad degrees in English (BA, Mercer University, 1988) and Theology (MDIV, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1992), and for a number of years was a college chaplain and professor of Church History at Yellowstone Baptist College in Billings, Montana. Bruce's professional interests include Baptist History, Church History and the American Civil War, on which he has written a number of articles and book reviews. In addition, Bruce currently is a semi-professional photographer and an Internet entrepreneur. His primary commercial website is Yellowstone Net, and he also maintains a personal website.

Kristin Grabarek (Auburn History M.A., 2006) wrote her M.A. thesis, "Protest Activities in Southern Universities, 1965-1972," under the direction of Professor David Carter.

She received a bachelor of arts from Greensboro College in North Carolina, where she studied history and music.

Keith S. Hébert wrote his dissertation under the direction of Professor Kenneth W. Noe. He holds a B.A. in History from the University of West Georgia (1998) and an M.A. in History from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (2001).

Hébert's research interests include: the American Civil War, Southern Medicine, and history of American professions. In 2001, he completed a M.A. thesis under the direction of Crandall Shifflett entitled "A Case Study in Nineteenth Century Medicine: Robert Ellett's Medical Career, 1850-1904."

He currently holds the position of Historian at the Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Historic Preservation Division. He also works part-time at the University of West Georgia. He has an upcoming article in the Georgia Historical Quarterly and an article in a new anthology named Reconstruction in Appalachia. He is also writing a book length history of the 51st Alabama Cavalry regiment, sponsored by the Friends of the Alabama Archives along with Bradley Hale and the Hale family.

Originally from Moulton, Alabama, John holds the BA and the MA in history from Auburn University, and the MAR in Biblical Studies from Lipscomb University in Nashville. His work experience in historical and related fields includes stints as a graduate assistant with the Alabama Review, the Encyclopedia of Alabama, and the world history program; adjunct teaching at Faulkner University in Montgomery; and full-fledged employment as an archivist for the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Alvin, or Ling-Pei (Auburn History Ph.D., 2006) wrote his dissertation "Sound at Heart and Right in Hand: Mobile's Road to Secession" under the direction of Professor Anthony Carey.

Alvin was born and grew up in Taipei, Taiwan, the Republic of China (R.O.C). He received his B.A. in history in 1992 and M.A. in American Studies in 1996 from Tamkang University in Taipei, Taiwan.

After serving as a second lieutenant in the R.O.C. Army Infantry, in September 1998, Alvin came to the United States and entered the Ph.D. program in history at Auburn University. He majored in Early American History under Dr. Anthony Carey, with minor fields in Early Modern Europe History and Modern American History under Drs. Donna Bohanan and Larry Gerber. Alvin's primary research interest is the antebellum U.S. South, with an emphasis on slavery, sectionalism, and secession.

In the Fall of 2006 he accepted a posting a tenure-track position in American history at Soochow University in Taipei City, Taiwan. Soochow was established in 1900 by missionaries of the American Methodist Church and was the first private university in Taiwan and China.

Greg was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and graduated from Rhode Island College with a bachelors in political science in 1980. After graduation, he served as a military journalist in the U.S. Army at various sites around the world and U.S., retiring in 1996. He served two years as a military historian with the only active-duty military history detachment and he was named U.S. Army Europe Journalist of the Year in 1993 for his coverage of the deployments to Croatia and Macedonia. After leaving the Army, he spent five years as an award-winning journalist covering politics and the military for newspapers in Opelika/Auburn and Albany, Georgia.

Greg graduated from the Georgia Archives Institute, an intensive two week course at The Georgia Archives in Atlanta. He also attended two classes at the Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET) facility in Atlanta: Audio-visual Preservation, and Quality Reference Service. Greg had an article on the Coke Archives published in the SALA newsletter, and he is scheduled to have articles on the GAI in the newsletters of the SGA, SALA, and the Society of Florida Archivists.

Greg presented papers at the 2007 Southern Political Science Association Convention in New Orleans and at Phi Alpha Theta conferences in Alabama (2005, 2007) and Georgia (2006). He is a member of honor societies in history, political science, and education. Professional memberships include the Organization of American Historians, American Political Science Association, Alabama Association of Historians, Society of American Archivists, Oral History Association, and the three state societies: SALA, SGA, and SFA. His wife Angeline retired from Auburn in 2001 after 30 years as an editor, including her last job as managing editor of The Engineering Economist. They live in Auburn with Riddler, a 12-year-old tortoiseshell cat.

He is married to Katie Markow and is active with the National Council for International Visitors.

Taylor McGaughy's interests include overall constitutional development, the decline of monarchical prerogatives, British History, Russian History, and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He received his B.S. degree in History from the University of Montevallo.

Eric McLendon (Auburn History M.A., 2006) wrote his M.A. thesis, "Slave Missions and Membership in North Alabama," under the direction of Professor Anthony Carey.

Eric McLendon is from Florence, Alabama. He received a bachelor's degree from Auburn University in 2004 and decided it wouldn't hurt to stick around. His primary interest is in southern church history, and his thesis concentrated on the churches and organizations of north Alabama.

Jennifer Newman Treviño received her BA in history from Auburn University Montgomery in the spring of 2004. She wrote her dissertation, "Writing, Religion, and Women's Identity in Civil War Alabama" under the direction of Kenneth Noe. She is currently a lecturer at the University of Texas – Pan American.

Jennifer received numerous awards from the History Department at Auburn including the Milo B. Howard Research Award in 2007 and in 2008, the Edna Floyd Booth Award for Graduate Research in 2007, and the Robert L. Partin Award for Service to the History Department in 2007. Some of her other awards include the Clinton Jackson and Evelyn Coley Research Grant from the Alabama Historical Association in 2007, the Colonial Dames Outstanding Paper Award in 2007, the Daughters of the American Colonists Outstanding Student of History Award in 2007, and the Friends of the Alabama Archives Fellowship in 2006.

Steve Pomeroy (Auburn History Ph.D., 2006) wrote his dissertation, "Echoes That Never Were: American Mobile Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, 1956-1983," under the direction of Professor William Trimble.

Steve is an air force lieutenant colonel currently teaching at the Air Force Academy's Department of Military Strategic Studies. He is married with two children.

Kristen Starr completed her PhD under Dr. James R. Hansen. At Auburn, Kristen has taught courses in the History of Space Travel and Technology and Civilization. During the summers of 2001 and 2002, she worked as a Research Historian for the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Dr. Starr has been selected as the 2008-2009 Guggenheim Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Air and Space Museum, a program that promotes research into, and writing about, the history of aviation and space flight. More information about the NASM program can be found here.

Kristen graduated with honor from Agnes Scott College in 1998, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in both History and English. As an undergraduate, she also studied at the University of Cambridge in England and traveled around the world with Semester at Sea. A native of Auburn, Kristen has also lived in Cairo, Egypt; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; and Atlanta, Georgia.

Rodney J. Steward received his Ph.D. from Auburn University in August 2007. His dissertation, "David Schenck and the Contours of a Confederate Identity," which was directed by Dr. Kenneth W. Noe, is a contextual biography of North Carolinian David Schenck. His manuscript is currently being revised in preparation for publication. Dr. Steward will be serving the department as a visiting assistant professor during the academic year 2007/2008.

Melanie is originally from a small town about 30 miles outside of Little Rock, Arkansas. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Central Arkansas, located in Conway, Arkansas, in August 1999, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. She came to Auburn University to undertake graduate studies in history in fall semester 2000.

She wrote her doctoral dissertation "Politics and Poverty: Women's Reproductive Rights in Arkansas, 1942-1980," under the direction of Dr. Ruth C. Crocker. She graduated in May 2009, receiving her PhD in history. Melanie's award-winning essay "Violence and the Decline of Black Politics in St. Francis County" was published in the Winter 2001 issue of the Arkansas Historical Quarterly. She won the Auburn University History Department's Malcolm C. McMillan Award for outstanding graduate student paper in 2001 and 2007.

Mark Wilson (Auburn History Ph.D., 2005) is the Program Manager for the Alabama Center for the Book's Community Cultural Programming Initiative at Auburn's Center for the Arts and Humanities at Pebble Hill.

At Auburn, he wrote his dissertation, "Advancing Progressive Orthodoxy: William Owen Carver and the Reconciliation of Progress and Southern Baptist Tradition," under the direction of Professor Wayne Flynt.

He received his Master of Divinity degree from McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University (2000), and his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Mobile (1997).