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

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. Connect with Jonathan on: TwitterLinkedIn----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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 Stater30:47 — Lightning Round Q&A33:37 — Outro For more alumni stories, visit pennstatermag.com