Alumni Placement

 

 

Ph.D. Students: 

 

2018

Cantrell, Kelly. "Consuming Victory: American Women and the Politics of Food Rationing During World War II." Chair: Dr. Andrew P. Haley.

• Current Placement: Instructor and Director of Honors Program at East Mississippi Community College, Scooba, MS

2017

Fitzmorris, John. “Bearing the ‘Double Burden; Chaplains in Combat during the Vietnam War.” Chair: Dr. Andrew Wiest. 

• Current Placement: Instructor at University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA

 

2016

Thompson, Robert. “More Sieve Than Shield: The U.S. Army and CORDS in the Pacification of Phu Yen Province, Republic of Vietnam, 1965-1972.” Chair: Dr. Andrew Wiest. 

 

2015

Blair, Tonya D. “Building Within Our Borders: Black Women Reformers in the South from 1890 to 1920.” Chair: Dr. Douglas Chambers.   

• Current Placement: High School Teacher at Hertford County Public Schools, Hertford, NC

Bius, Joel. “The Soldier and the Cigarette: 1918 – 1986.” Chair: Dr. Louis Kyriakoudes.  

• Current Placement: Air War College, Montgomery, AL

Hemmis, Timothy. “Trading Identities: National Identity, Loyalty, and Backcountry Merchants in Revolutionary America, 1740 – 1816.” Chair: Dr. Kyle F. Zelner.

• Current Placement: Assistant Professor, Texas A&M, TX

 

2013

Conklin, Dennis Blair. “Conflict and Controversy in the Confederate High Command: Johnston, Davis, Hood, and the Atlanta Campaign of 1864.” Chair: Dr. Susannah Ural.

• Current Placement: Attorney, Jackson, MS

Joyner, Wesley Thomas. “Second Families of Virginia: Professional Power Brokers in a Revolutionary Age.” Chair: Dr. Kyle F. Zelner. 

• Current Placement: Social Sciences Teacher at Appomattox Regional Governor's School, Petersburg, VA

Wieland, Robert. “Direct Responsibility: Caspar Weinberger and the Reagan Defense Buildup.” Chair: Dr. Andrew Wiest. 

• Current Placement: Curator at the First White House of the Confederacy, Montgomery, AL

 

2012 

Pinnen, Christian. “ Slavery and Empire: The Development of Slavery in the Natchez District, 1720-1820.” Chair: William K. Scarborough.

• Current Placement: Assistant Professor of History and Political Science at Mississippi College, Clinton, MS

 

2011

Buzard-Boyett, Patricia. “Race and justice in Mississippi's Central Piney Woods, 1940–2010.” Chair: William K. Scarborough.

• Current Placement: Director of Women’s Resource Center at Loyola University, New Orleans, LA. 

 

2010

Stahle, Patrizia. “The Italian emigration of modern times : relations between Italy and the United States concerning emigration policy, diplomacy, and anti-immigrant sentiment, 1870-1927.” Chair: Dr. James P. Smith.

• Current Placement: Associate Professor of History at Coastal Georgia University, Brunswick, GA

 

2009

Anderson, Aaron Dale. “The Builders of a New South: Merchants, Capital, and the Remaking of Natchez, 1865-1914.” Chair: Dr. Louis Kyriakoudes. 

• Current Placement: Instructor of History at Clovis Community College, Clovis, NM

 

2008

Smith, Freddy Carl. “Shadows Over Goshen: Plain Whites, Progressives and Paternalism in the Depression South.” Chair: Dr. Louis Kyriakoudes. 

 

2007

Chappo, John Fabian. “William H. Mahone of Virginia: An Intellectual Biography.” Chair: Dr. Bradley Bond.

• Current Placement: Instructor of History and the History of Technology at Penn College, Williamsport, PA

Spurgeon, Ian Michael. “Man of Douglas, Man of Lincoln: The Political Odyssey of Henry Lane.” Chair: Dr. Bradley Bond. 

• Current Placement: Historian in the World War II Division of the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office, Washington D.C.

 

2006

Black, Stephen Richard. “The Man with a Plan: Theodore Bilbo’s Adaptation of National Progressivism in Mississippi.” Chair: Dr. Bradley Bond. 

Pond, Ann Janine Jurgens. “The Ritualized Construction of Status: The Men Who Made Mardi Gras, 1830-1900.” Chair: Dr. Bradley Bond. 

• Current Placement: Adjunct Professor of History at Spring Hill College and the University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL

Ray, Jeffrey David. “The Education of Robert Lewis Dabney.” Chair: Dr. Bradley Bond. 

 

2005

Boler, Jaime Elizabeth. “City under Siege: Resistance and Power in Natchez, Mississippi, 1719-1857.” Chair: Dr. Greg O’Brien. 

• Current Placement: Jones County Junior College, Ellisville, MS

Harsch, George, IV. “‘Puff Graham:’ American Media, American Culture, and the Creation of Billy Graham, 1949-1953.” Chair: Dr. Charles Bolton. 

• Current Placement: Adjunct Professor of History at California State University at Sacramento, Sacramento, CA. 

 

2003

Catino, Martin Scott. “Mussolini’s March on America: Italian Americans and the Fascist Experience, 1922-1941.” Chair: Dr. Geoffrey Jensen. 

• Current Placement: Henley-Putman University, San Jose, CA 

Sarnoff, Jonathan David. “White Women and Respectability in Antebellum New Orleans, 1830-1861.” Chair: Dr. Bradley Bond. '

• Current Placement: Professor of History and Director of the Honors Program at Limestone College

 

2002

Coffey, Michael William. “Bryan Grimes: Power and Patronage among the Nineteenth-Century Planters of Eastern North Carolina.” Chair: Dr. William K. Scarborough. 

• Current Placement: North Carolina Office of Archives and History

 

2001

Vaughn, William Ashley. “Natchez during the Civil War.” Chair: Dr. William K. Scarborough.

• Current Placement: Independent Researcher in Jackson, MS

 

M.A. Students:

 

2018

Greer, Elizabeth. "'There was something grotesque': The Application and Limits of Respectability in the Daughters of Bilitis." Chair: Dr. Rebecca Tuuri.

Partain, Aderian. "Cornerstone of Union Victory: Partnerships in Joint Operations in the West." Chair: Dr. Susannah Ural.

• Current Placement: PhD Student at the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg

2017

Barnett, Tracy L. "Maligned 'Milish:' Mississippi Militiamen in the Civil War." Chair: Dr. Susannah J. Ural.

• Current Placement: PhD Student at the University of Georgia

  

2016

Martin, David. "Mr. Jefferson's Army in Mr. Madison's War: Atrophy, Policy, and Legacy in the War of 1812.” Chair: Dr. Kyle F. Zelner.

• Current Placement: Air Force

Moore, Olivia. "Black and White Together, We Shall Win": Southern White Activists in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement.” Chair: Dr. Kevin Greene.

• Current Placement: PhD Student at the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg 

Nelson, Anna Rikki. “Shaken, Not Stirred: Espionage, Fantasy, and British Masculinity during the Cold War.” Chair: Dr. Allison Abra.

• Current Placement: MA student in Library Science at Washington University, Seattle, WA

 

2015

Williams, Lindsay Anne.  “A Garden Locked, A Fountain Sealed: Female Virginity as a Model for Holiness in the Fourth Century.” Chair: Dr. Courtney Luckhardt.

• Current Placement: Producer and Actress, Hattiesburg, MS 

   

2014

Grubbs, Kevin. "Land Owners and Law Givers: Relations Between Yeomen and Planters in the South Carolina Back Country during the Early Republic, 1790-1830." Chair: Dr. Max Grivno.

• Current Placement: PhD Student at the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS 

Ward, Samuel Howard. "Jackson's Flying Dutchmen: The Significance of the Royal Netherlands Military Flying School.” Chair: Dr. Andrew Wiest.

• Current Placement: Air Force

White, Ruth Poe. "A Tale of Two Cities: Vicksburg and Natchez, Mississippi During the American Civil War.” Chair: Dr. Susannah J. Ural.

• Current Placement: PhD Candidate at the University of Kentucky, Lexington

 

2013

Branstiter, Eugene. “Madness, Scalawagery, and Reconstruction: Dr. William M. Compton and Civil War era politics.” Chair: Dr. Susannah J. Ural.

• Current Placement: PhD candidate at the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS and Training Specialist at VA Palo Alta Health Care System

Foster, Aaron Edward. “Inconspicuous but indispensable: Charles Anderson Dana as Assistant Secretary of War.” Chair: Dr. Susannah J. Ural.

• Current Placement: Air Force

Miller, Chelsea Jo. “Dating the Ideal Soviet Woman: Public Discussion of Gender and Morality in Khrushchev’s Russia.” Chair: Dr. Brian LaPierre. 

Seal, Stephanie Anne. “Victims of Liberty: Virginia's Response to Loyalists and Loyalism in Williamsburg, 1770-1781.” Chair: Dr. Kyle F. Zelner.

• Current Placement: PhD Candidate at George Mason University, Arlington, VA and Digital Humanities specialist at Data Services in Fenwick Library

Staten, Tanisha. “Loyalist or Patriot: the Precarious Position of Edmund Randolph, 1774-1786.” Chair: Dr. Kyle F. Zelner.

• Current Placement: Adjunct Instructor of History at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, MS

Talbot, Elizabeth. “From Servitude to Freedom: Gender, Labor, and Domestic Relations among Enslaved Women and Freedwomen in Louisiana's Sugar Country, 1850-1870.” Chair: Dr. Max Grivno.

• Current Placement: Jones County Junior College, Ellisville, MS

 

2012 

Moulds, Zachary. “William Colmer and the politics of New Deal labor legislation 1933-1940.” 

• Current Placement: Ellisville, MS

Riotto, Angela. “Furnish the Balance: The 1863 Roots of Hard War Strategy in the American Civil War.” Chair: Dr. Susannah J. Ural.

Savage, Sarah Theresa. “Panic Behind the Mask: the Spanish Influenza Epidemic of 1918 in New Orleans.” Chair: Dr. Pamela Tyler.

• Current Placement: PhD Student at University College London, UK

Wilson, L. B. “Perception and Realities of the Irish Republican Army during the Second World War.” Chair: Dr. Andrew Wiest.

• Current Placement: PhD Candidate, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS  

 

2011

Barnett, Elnathan. “Family, Feud, and the Conduct of War in Anglo-Saxon England.” Chair: Dr. Phyllis Jestice.

• Current Placement: Fairview, NC

Hand, Shane. “Transmitting Whiteness: Librarians, Children, and Race, 1900-1930s.” 

• Current Placement: PhD candidate at the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS

McGrew, Matthew. “Beneath the Surface: American Culture and Submarine Warfare in the Twentieth Century.” Chair: Dr. Andrew A. Wiest

• Current Placement: Archivist at the West Virginia Archives and History, Charleston, WV 

Monroe, Matthew. "Jackson, Mississippi, Contested: The Allied Struggle for Civil Rights and Human Dignity." Chair: Dr. Curtis Austin.

Nicholl, Nancy. “The Last Victorian Knight: A Study of T.E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt.” Chair: Dr. Amy Milne-Smith.  

 

2010

Ainsworth, Kyle Allen.  “Restoration, Resistance, and Reconstruction: Liberty at Last in Clarke County, Virginia, 1865-1879.” Chair: Dr. Douglas Chambers.  

• Current Placement: East Texas Research Center, Nacogdoches, TX

Lazenby, Kaci Joanne.  "A New Road to Peace? Jimmy Carter’s Middle East Diplomacy: The Break-up of Pan-Arabism and a New Cold War Balance of Power.'" Chair: Dr. Heather Stur.

O’Connor, Kevin Francis, Jr.  “The Many faces of Garibaldi: British Constructions of an Italian Revolutionary.” Chair: Dr. Amy Milne-Smith.

Waldow, Meghan Kerry. "The Catastrophic Position of the Judenrate: Self-Serving Collaborators or Honorable Martyrs?" Chair: Dr. Michael Neiberg. 

 

2009

Bell, Earl William. "Sword of Reform, Sword of Evangelism: The Forging of an Evangelical Military." Chair: Dr. Michael Neiberg.

Colbourn, Colin Michael. "Esprit de Marine Corps: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps through Public Relations" Chair: Dr. Michael Neiberg.

• Current Placement: PhD Candidate at the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS

Holifield, Brian S. “A Reign of Contradiction: The Emperor Honorius’ Attempts to Appease Christians and Polytheists in the Western Roman Empire, A.D. 395-423.” Chair: Dr. Mark Clark.

• Current Placement: Poplaville Highs School, Poplaville, MS

Rayner, Robert Patrick. “On Theological Grounds: Hattiesburg Presbyterians and the Civil Rights Movement.” Chair: Dr. Curtis Austin.

• Current Placement: Air Force

Thomas, Jonathan Daniel. “A Manufactured Rebellion: An Assessment of the Seizure of the West Florida Convention and the 1810 West Florida Rebellion.” Chair: Dr. Brian LaPierre.

• Current Placement: Instructor at St. Philip's College, San Antonio, TX 

Urbanik, Anthony Otis. “The Changing Nature of the Army as Seen through the Lens of Enlisted Personnel Recruitment.” Chair: Dr. Michael Neiberg.

• Current Placement: IT Procurement Associate at Exxon Mobil, Houston, TX

Waldow, Meghan Kerry. “The Catastrophic Position of the Judenrate: Self-Serving Collaborators or Honorable Martyrs?” Chair: Dr. Michael Neiberg.

 

2008

Cromwell, Joshua Calvin. ““A Question of the Deepest Interest to the State:” The Causes and Consequences of Indian Removal in Mississippi.” Chair: Dr. Greg O’Brien.

• Current Placement: Cook Library Institutional Repository Coordinator

Grantham, Misty LaChelle. "A “Boston Marriage” in Mississippi: The Relationship of Pauline Van de Graaf Orr and Miriam Greene Paslay, 1891-1932.” Chair: Dr. Pamela Tyler. 

Hensley, Tiffany Dawn. “The Native American Response to European Colonization in the Lower Mississippi Valley and Gulf Coast Regions to 1763.” Chair: Dr. Greg O’Brien.

Obinalli, Obinalli Kelechi. “American Foreign Policy and the Internationalization of the Biafran War, 1967-1970.” Chair: Dr. Deanne Nuwer.

Pinnen, Christian. “Slavery in Decline? Elite Planters, Slaves, and the Problem of Revolutionary Rhetoric, 1763-1815.” Chair: Dr. William K. Scarborough.

• Current Placement: Assistant Professor of History at Mississippi College, Clinton, MS

 

2007

Watkins, Aaron Robert. “White Moderates in Mississippi: The Mississippi Council on Human Relations.” Chair: Dr. Bradley Bond.

 

2006

Cantrell, Kelly Elizabeth. “We Can Do It! Hollywood Feature Films, American Servicemen, and the Second World War.” Chair: Dr. Stephen Sloan. 

• Current Placement: PhD Candidate, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS 

Coleman, Rebecca Leigh. “European Violence and the Papal Dream: A Study of Medieval Peace Initiatives.” Chair: Dr. Phyllis Jestice.

French, Wesley Tyler. “Changes and Trends in the American Film Industry and Their Impact on the Vietnam Subgenre, 1965-1990.” Chair: Dr. Bradley Bond. 

• Current Placement: PhD Candidate in Mass Communication and Journalism, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS 

Hession, William David. “Turpentining in the Piney Woods: Hattiesburg and the Naval Stores Industry.” Chair: Dr. Bradley Bond. 

Morgan, Gregory Wayne. “The British Labour Party and Palestine, 1917-1948: A Shift from Idealism to Pragmatism.” Chair: Dr. James Smith.

• Current Placement: Master Tax Advisor for H&R Block, Hattiesburg, MS

Simpson, Daron Ray. “The Vatican and British Politics: Liberal Party Reactions to the Papal Infallibility Dogma, 1870-1874.” Chair: Dr. James Smith.

Stribling, Judy Carol. “The Black and White of Jewish Assimilation in the South.” Chair: Dr. Bradley Bond.

 

2005

Doleac, Miles C. “Citizens of the World: Cynic Syncretism and the Creation of Christian Identity.” Chair: Dr. Phyllis Jestice.

• Current Placement: Assistant professor of Classical Studies at the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS

Ellis, Robert Adam. “Working through a Forest of Change: An Environmental, Labor, and Social History of the Greater Hattiesburg, Mississippi Area, 1880-1910.” Chair: Dr. Greg O’Brien.

Williams, Jennifer Leigh. “Tumultuous Times: Reform and Political Violence in Copiah and Hinds Counties, 1880-1890.” Chair: Dr. Bradley Bond.

 

2004

Hall, David Bradley. “Combat Medical Soldiers: U.S. Army First Echelon Medics in the European Theater of Operations during the Second World War.” Chair: Dr. Andrew Wiest.

Lefferts, Orville DeBruce, III. “Public Policy for Private Purposes: American Business and its Impact on the Foreign and Domestic Policy of Mexico and the United States during the Era of the Porfiriato, 1876-1910.” Chair: Dr. Michael Polushin.

Overby, Lee T. “The Most Horrible War: The Impact of Technology, Logistics and Disease on the Anglo-Asante War of 1873–4.” Chair: Dr. James Smith.

Stewart, Jason Andrew. “Comforting the Vanquished: A History of the Beauvoir Soldiers’ Home.” Chair: Dr. William K. Scarborough.

• Current Placement: History Instructor at Hinds County Community College, Raymond, MS 

Walker, Christopher Drew. “Dixie is America: Expressions of American Identity in the South After Reconstruction.” Chair: Dr. Bradley Bond.

 

2003

Bounds, Jamie Dyan. “The L.N. Dantzler Lumber Company: A Prosperous South Mississippi Lumber Company.” Chair: Dr. Deanne Nuwer.

Conway, Richard Mark. “From Imperialist Images to Independence: Representations of Africa and Africans in the Black American Press, 1935-1957.” Chair: Dr. Curtis Austin.

Graves, James Toby. “From the Old South to the New, A Delayed Transition: Mississippi Cotton Growers and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, 1933-1936.” Chair: Dr. Louis Kyriakoudes.

Schilling, Ryan Aubrey. “Searching for a Cure: A Socio-Environmental History of the Fight to Eradicate Yellow Fever.” Chair: Dr. Brian O’Neil.

• Current Placement: History Instructor at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Perkinston, MS. 

Walters, Andrew Howard. “Initiative in Command: The Learning Curve in the British Army During World War I.” Chair: Dr. Andrew Wiest. 

• Current Placement: Historian, First Air Force, Tyndall Air Force Base

Walters, Ryan Stephen. ““A Union of Equals:” The Southern Rights Movement in Mississippi, 1849-1852.” Chair: Dr. William K. Scarborough.

 

2002 

Cates, Joseph E. “The Fight for an Independent Army: Amalgamation and the AEF in the First World War.” Chair: Dr. Andrew Wiest.

• Current Placement: Oral History Coordinator at Sullivan Museum & History Center at Norwich University

Davis, Edward Harold. “Guadalcanal: 7 August 1942- 26 October 1942.” Chair: Dr. Louis Kyriakoudes.

Holliday, Catherine Lois. “The Clue in the Mixed Messages: The Nancy Drew Series from the 1930s to the 1990s.” Chair: Dr. Marjorie Julian Spruill.

Hudson, Janet Maria. “The Hub City Home Front: Women of Hattiesburg, Mississippi during World War II.” Chair: Dr. Marjorie Julian Spruill.

Jordan, Richard. “The Reverend Ian Paisley and the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement.” Chair: Dr. James Smith.

Loicano, Martin. "An Analysis of the Failure of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces." Chair: Dr. Andrew Wiest.

• Current Placement: Chief Historian, Supreme Headquarters Allies Powers, Europe

 

2001

Boler, Jaime Elizabeth. “Caught between a Pit and a Pedestal: Joan of Acre Finds her Individuality in a Medieval World.” Chair: Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice.

• Current Placement: Professor of history at Jones County Junior College, Ellisville, MS

Fischer, Yorck Nicolai. “A Quest for Normalcy: An Analytical Comparison of the Practices and Development of the Ford Motor Company and the Mercedes-Benz AG after World War II, 1945-1955.” Chair: Dr. Louis Kyriakoudes.

LeCren, Jennifer Claire. “What to Grow? The Effects of the Depression on Agriculture in Leake County, Mississippi, 1929-1939.” Chair: Dr. Neil McMillen.

• Current Placement: Secondary School teacher in Greenville County Schools, Greenville, SC

Schwartz, Robert Michael. “The Lord Let Shine his Countenance” Upon Them: Three Southwest Mississippi Jewish Communities.” Chair: Dr. Bradley Bond.

 

2000

Black, Stephen Richard. “The Elimination of the Bad Seed: Jean Gordon, the Milne Home, and the Eugenics Movement in Louisiana, 1905-1935.” Chair: Dr. Marjorie Spruill Wheeler.

Clark, Wendy Jean Stewart. “The Evolution of an “American” Almanac: Benjamin Franklin’s “Poor Richard” and the Celebration of American Identity.” Chair: Dr. John Guice.

Fandrich, Blain Wallace. “Printed Information and Propaganda as Instruments of Social Control during the Progressive Era, 1900-1924.” Chair: Dr. Charles Bolton.

Finley, Melissa Lynn. “But I was a Practical Segregationist!: Erle Johnston and the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, 1960-1968.” Chair:Dr. Neil McMillen.

Grimsley, Reagan L. “Chasing the Longleaf: Community, Environment, and Sawmill in Mississippi’s Piney Woods, 1880-1950.” Chair: Dr. Kenneth McCarty.

• Current Placement: Assistant Professor of History at Auburn University, Auburn, AL

Seibert, Robert David. “Apollo Hangover: The Space Shuttle Decision.” Chair: Dr. Charles Bolton.

Spencer, David Brett. “Sword of Ulysses: The Unconditional Surrender Doctrine and the Rise of American Imperialism.” Chair: Dr. Kenneth McCarty.