Education

• M.A., Columbus State University – History
• B.A., University of Wisconsin La Crosse – History and Archaeological Studies

Background

After graduating from Fox Valley Lutheran High School in Appleton, Wisconsin, I earned a B.A. in History and Archaeological Studies from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse. A minor in Public History (especially a required internship) led me to employment in libraries and archives. While working in the Archives and Special Collections at Columbus State University (Columbus, GA), I earned an M.A. in History on the Race, Ethnicity & Society track from Columbus State University. I am currently writing my dissertation for the PhD program in Rural, Agricultural, Technological & Environmental History at Iowa State University. My call to teach at WLC began in January 2026. My family and I are active members at Living Hope Lutheran Church in West Allis.

Teaching

• HIS 101 – American History 1, 1492-1865
• HIS 102 – American History 2, 1866-1945
• HIS 103 – Modern America
• HIS 384 – The American West

Research Interests

I am interested in the long nineteenth century in the United States. My research examines the intersections between immigration and race/ethnicity through the lenses of religion and voluntary associations, especially Freemasonry. Much of my recent and current work, including my dissertation, has focused on nineteenth-century Irish and German immigration to the American Midwest. My research has been supported by the Albert Bernhardt Faust Research Award and Graduate Student Symposium Grants from the Society for German-American Studies, a Dissertation Fellowship from the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Roswell and Elizabeth Garst Foundation Fellowship, and I have benefitted from workshops with the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, the State Historical Society of Iowa, the Institute for Humane Studies, and the Nineteenth-Century Studies Association.

• Immigration
• Religion in America
• Historical Archaeology

Scholarly Works

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

“‘Not a Finer Body of Men’: The Turners of Madison, Wisconsin, and their Irish Drill Instructor at the Start of the Civil War,” Yearbook of German American Studies 60 (2025): 67-81.

“‘Some Ceremony Peculiar to Themselves’: The Continuation of a European Masonic Ceremony in Nineteenth-Century Wisconsin,” Yearbook of German-American Studies 56 (2021): 21-40.

“‘No Ill Will’: The Experience of a Black Conservative Lutheran in the Civil Rights-Era South,” Journal of the Lutheran Historical Conference (2018): 181-202.

Book Reviews

Review of By the Sweat of His Brow: The R. M. Probstfield Family at Oakport Farm, by Carroll Engelhardt, Annals of Iowa 83, no. 1 (Winter 2024): 68-70.

Review of Germans in America: A Concise History, by Walter D. Kamphoefner, Journal of American Ethnic History 42, no. 4 (Summer 2023): 124-125.

Review of A Potter’s Progress: Emanuel Suter and the Business of Craft, by Scott Hamilton Suter, Western Folklore 82, no. 1 (Winter 2023): 104-106.

Review of Breathing in Manhattan: Carla Speads – The German Jewish Gymnastics Instructor Who Brought Mindfulness to America, by Christoph Ribbat. Yearbook of German-American Studies 57 (2022): 170-172.

Review of Legends, Lore & True Tales of the Chattahoochee, by Michelle Smith. Muscogiana 27, no. 1 (2016): 43-44.

Conference Presentations

“German Americans and Masonic Baptism in the Antebellum United States,” at the 12th International Conference on Freemasonry, Berkeley California, March 30, 2024.

“The Founders of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod Encounter American Freemasonry,” at the Lutheran Historical Conference, St. Louis, Missouri, October 6, 2022.

“Irish and German Immigrants in Madison, Wisconsin, during the Civil War,” Midwestern History Association, Grand Rapids, Michigan, May 19, 2022.

“From ‘Boll Weevil Blues’ to ‘Sweet German Melodies’: The Cotton Boll Weevil and the Establishment of Lutheran Missions in Wilcox County, Alabama,” Western Social Science Association, Denver, Colorado, April 1, 2022.

“Taken Out of Context: Nineteenth-Century Masonic Baptisms and the De-Christianization of Freemasonry,” at the Midwest American Academy of Religion, April 22, 2021.

“Addie Graves (1922-2007) and the Creation of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Columbus, Georgia,” St. George Tucker Society, Milledgeville, Georgia, July 27, 2019.

“Addie Graves (1922-2007) and Lutheran Church Desegregation in Columbus, Georgia,” at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Boston, November 18, 2017. Part of Martin Luther and Global Lutheran Traditions Unit panel.

“Developing the Mill Economy in Columbus, Georgia, 1825-1855,” Georgia Association of Historians, Jekyll Island, Georgia, February 18, 2016.

Invited Talks

“That Religion in Which All Men Agree: Freemasonry in American Culture Review,” [book review] with Robert L. D. Cooper. Masonic Authors’ Guild International. Season 2: MAGI Reviews, podcast, audio, July 29, 2024. https://www.patreon.com/posts/that-religion-in-109004055 

“Researching Germans in the Midwest: Immigration, Settlement, and Research Strategies,” with Michael Lacopo. Part of Midwest Family History Research: Migrations and Sources, GRIP Genealogy Institute 2024 (virtual), National Genealogical Society, June 24, 2024.

“Foreign Traditions and Fraternal Bonds: German American Freemasons in the United States,” Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, virtual, April 24, 2024. https://youtu.be/duMfCO4h0fY

WLC Service

• Faculty Advisor, Phi Alpha Theta and the History Club, 2026-present

Other Service

• Public School Confirmation instructor, Living Hope Lutheran School, West Allis, Wisconsin, 2026-present
• Member of the School Committee, Living Hope Lutheran School, West Allis, Wisconsin, 2026-present
• Board Member, Lutheran Historical Conference (elected to a six-year term), 2022-present
• Member of the Program Committee, Lutheran Historical Conference biennial meeting, 2026
• Chair of the Program Committee, Lutheran Historical Conference biennial meeting, 2024
• Chair, Church Archives and Records Committee, Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Columbus, GA, 2018-2019

Professional Memberships

• Agricultural History Society
• American Conference for Irish Studies
• American Historical Association
• Association of Professional Genealogists
• Civil War Roundtable of Milwaukee
• Immigration and Ethnic History Society
• Lutheran Historical Conference
• Nineteenth-Century Studies Association
• Organization of American Historians
• Phi Alpha Theta
• Society for German American Studies
• Society for Historians of the Early American Republic
• Wisconsin Historical Society