Public History

Ed's dedication to public history was recognized by a National Humanities Medal awarded by President Barack Obama in 2013 hailing his "commitment to making our history as widely available and accessible as possible." The following projects exemplify his ongoing engagement with American public life.

The Future of America’s Past

From 2018-20, Ed hosted this public television history-on-location series, traveling the United States to meet public historians of all sorts—from National Park Service rangers to museum educators, artists, activists, and more—who are doing innovative and vital work to define the most misunderstood parts of America’s past.

The series received three Emmy Awards and a grant from the National Archives to support use in schools through a partnership with New American History.

Watch now at futureofamericaspast.com →

American Civil War Museum

Following a major expansion completed in 2019, the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia, is the nation's preeminent center for exploration of the American Civil War and its legacies from multiple perspectives: Union and Confederate, enslaved and free African Americans, soldiers and civilians.

Ed served as founding chair of the board of the American Civil War Museum from 2013 to 2019, helping to integrate the former Museum of the Confederacy with the former American Civil War Center into an exciting museum that tells the story of the war and emancipation in innovative compelling ways.

Learn more at acwm.org →

Board and Commissions on which Ed has served:

Monument Avenue Commission
African American History Education Commission
Commission for Historical Statues in the United States Capitol

Selected videos of Ed's work in Public History

"The Thin Light of Freedom" adapted by the American Civil War Museum

The Roots of Segregation in Virginia

What Caused the Civil War?

TEDxRVA: Getting our Bearings

National Humanities Center, "Reclaiming Richmond"

Apple TV+, The Evolution of Abraham Lincoln's Thinking

Gilder Lehrman, Book Talk - Southern Journey: The Migrations of the American South, 1790-2020

Selected articles and essays in Public History

"Our Silent Civil War: Debate over Statues Didn’t Come Out of Thin Air," Salon, October 21, 2017
"Remembering Appomattox," Southern Cultures, Volume 21, Issue 4, December 2015
"The Meaning of Bull Run," New York Times, July 24, 2011
"The Causes of the Civil War, 2.0," New York Times, April 28, 2011
"The Civil War: 10 Things You Should Know (but probably don’t)," New York Times Upfront, April 4, 2011
"The First Occupation," New York Times, May 29, 2005

Selected press about Ed's work in Public History

Field Studio, "Richmond's Journey," April 3, 2015
Chronicle of Higher Education, "U. of Richmond's Leader Pushes City to Face Its Slave History," by Jack Stripling, June 12, 2011
Richmond Times-Dispatch, "The Future of Richmond's Past," Co-authored by Ed and 16 other community leaders in Richmond, Virginia, February 7, 2010