Patrick A. Lewis, Ph.D.

EDUCATION

Ph.D., History, 2012, University of Kentucky

  • Dissertation: “Master for Loyalty’s Sake: Benjamin F. Buckner, Proslavery Unionism, and Civil War Kentucky.”  Directed by Joanne Pope Melish.

M.A., History, 2008, University of Kentucky

  • Thesis: “A ‘Democratic Partisan Militia:’ The Kentucky National Legion, Election Violence, and the Struggle for White Supremacy in the Bluegrass, 1868-1873.”  Directed by Ronald Eller.

B.A., History, 2006, Transylvania University, Cum Laude.

PUBLICATIONS

Books

Articles & Reviews

Digital Publications

RECORDINGS & INTERVIEWS

GRANTS & FELLOWSHIPS

  • Director, Native American Collections Repatriation and Contextualization Project, 2022-23, James Graham Brown Foundation and William Wood Foundation ($200,000 total)
  • Co-Director, Resurrecting The First American West, National Endowment for the Humanities, American Relief Program, 2022 ($146,364)
  • Program Administrator, Community History Fellows Program, Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence [Louisville, KY], 2022-23 ($130,040)
  • Director, Rubbertown Research Project, 2020 [Anonymous Filson Donor] ($30,000)
  • Director, Kentucky Humanities Council, CARES Act Emergency Funding, 2020 ($10,000)
  • Director, National Historical Publications and Records Commission, Publishing Historical Records in Documentary Editions, 2019 ($78,800)
  • AHA Workshop Honorarium, Digital Edition Publishing Cooperative for Historical Accounts, 2019
  • Principal Investigator, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation – NHPRC Digital Edition Publishing Cooperatives Planning Grant, 2018 ($90,000)
  • Director, National Endowment for the Humanities, Scholarly Editions and Translations, 2017-2020 ($300,000)
  • Director, National Historical Publications & Records Commission, Publishing Historical Records in Documentary Editions, 2018 ($63,440)
  • Filson Fellowship, Filson Historical Society, 2017
  • Director, National Historical Publications & Records Commission, Publishing Historical Records in Documentary Editions, 2016-2017 ($62,400)
  • Director, National Historical Publications & Records Commission, Publishing Historical Records in Documentary Editions, 2015-2016 ($62,400)
  • Director, National Endowment for the Humanities, Scholarly Editions and Translations, 2014-2017 ($210,000)
  • Funded Staff Member, National Endowment for the Humanities, Scholarly Editions and Translations, 2012-2014
  • Seminar for Editing Historical Documents, Association for Documentary Editing, 2013
  • Charles Roland Fellowship, University of Kentucky, 2011
  • Futures of American Studies, Dartmouth College, 2010
  • Graduate Student Research Fellowship, Kentucky Historical Society, 2009

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

  • 2019 – 2021, Association for Documentary Editing, At Large Council Member
  • 2019, Southern Historical Association, Local Arrangements Committee
  • 2018 – Present, Society of Civil War Historians, At Large Council Member
  • 2018 – 2019, Southern Historical Association, Membership Committee
  • 2018 – Present, University Press of Kentucky Editorial Board
  • 2017 – 2020, Institute for Editing Historical Documents Advisory Board, Association for Documentary Editing
  • 2017 – 2018, Association for Documentary Editing Nominating Committee
  • 2017, Papers of Abraham Lincoln Review & Planning Team
  • Grant Review Panelist: NEH, NHPRC, KHS
  • 2015 – Present, Kentucky Humanities Council Speakers Bureau
  • 2015 – Present, H-Kentucky Advisory Board
  • 2014 – 2018, LexHistory Board of Trustees
  • 2014, Association for Documentary Editing Annual Meeting (Louisville, KY) Local Arrangements Committee

EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE

Director of Collections & Research, Filson Historical Society. 2020-Present.

  • Supervise a team of thirteen employees, including curators, librarian, registrar, and reference staff
  • Convene meetings of (staff) Collections Management Committee and (board) Collections Committee that approve acquisitions, deaccessions, and loans of manuscript, print and photo, library, and museum object collections
  • Continue duties of Scholar in Residence in the fields of academic research and publications

Scholar in Residence, Filson Historical Society. 2019-Present.

  • Editor of Filson-sponsored publications, including Ohio Valley History
  • Voting member of University Press of Kentucky Editorial Board
  • Oversee Filson Research Fellowship program
  • Member of organizational Leadership Team
  • Consulting Editor, Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition

Managing Editor of Scholarly Resources and Publications, Kentucky Historical Society. 2018-2019

Project Director, Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition. 2014-2018.

  • Led web development team for discovery.civilwargovernors.org (Omeka)
  • Managed a team of full-time staff, contract staff, interns, and volunteers which identified, scanned, processed, and transcribed historical documents related to Civil War Kentucky in archives in central Kentucky.
  • Applied for and managed national grants from NEH, NHPRC, and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
  • Oversaw project budget blending state, foundation, and federal funds
  • Managed project workflow, distributing editorial tasks to project staff, recording workrate statistics to project future timelines, and ensuring quality control at all levels
  • Led development of AP/undergraduate curriculum modules and accompanying multimedia on The Caroline Chronicles and “Where I Now Stand
  • Coordinated #CWGK social and traditional media marketing campaign with agency communications department
  • Organized June 2017 CWGK Symposium in Frankfort, Kentucky
  • Traveled to conferences, special events, and donor meetings to raise awareness of and funding for the KHS and the CWGK project

Assistant Editor, Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky Historical Society. 2014-2018.

  • Managed KHS Scholarly Research Fellowship program (2015):
    • Received and evaluated applications; scheduled archival visits; scheduled staff and public presentations; generated payment of fellowship stipends; collected qualitative and quantitative data on fellows and their published products; updated and standardized fellowship application forms, scoring rubrics, and payment forms
    • Solicited Register manuscripts from fellows and other potential authors
  • Edited article manuscripts for content, argument, and adherence to house style

NEH-Funded Research Associate, Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition, Kentucky Historical Society.  June 2012-2014

  • Identified, scanned, processed, and transcribed historical documents related to Civil War Kentucky in archives in Central Kentucky
  • Served on NHPRC-funded project team to develop DocTracker, an open-source scholarly editing database platform (FileMaker)
  • Served on CivilWarGovernors.org web development team (WordPress)
  • Travelled to conferences, special events, and donor meetings to raise awareness of and funding for the KHS and the CWGK project
  • Researcher on KHS HistoryMobile Civil War project “Torn Within and Threatened Without: Kentuckians in the Civil War Era.”
    • Traveling exhibit targeted to 4th, 5th, and 8th Has visited all 120 counties.
    • Worked with artists, graphic designers, videographers, and educators to develop a suite of pre- and post-visit educational materials.

Graduate Editorial Assistant, Kentucky Historical Society.  2010- 2012.

  • Pioneered new collaborative relationship between UK History Department and KHS.
  • Managed book review section of Register of the Kentucky Historical Society in MS Access database
  • Solicited reviews of new books from scholars across the U.S. and internationally
  • Developed relationships with academic and trade press marketing departments
  • Solicited advertising in the Register from academic presses.
  • Edited article manuscripts for content, argument, and adherence to house style, particularly for the landmark Civil War and African American History double issues.

Teaching Assistant, University of Kentucky, History Department.  2008-2010 Academic Years.

  • Taught three 30-student sections of Introduction to U.S. History through the Civil War per semester.
  • Developed syllabi, weekly lesson plans, lectures, quizzes, and paper assignments.

Park Guide, Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park, Ft. Oglethorpe, GA.  Summers 2008, 2009.

  • Led driving, tour bus, and walking/hiking tours of the nation’s largest Civil War military park.
  • Developed standard daily tours as well as tailoring special programming to diverse special-interest audiences.
  • Performed outreach, off-site programming for local schools.
  • Travelled to assist other NPS sites with interpretative programs
  • Coordinated and co-led weeklong Civil War-themed children’s day camp with Chattanooga History Center.
  • Organized and coordinated events for park volunteers and historical organizations, including reenacting groups.

Living History Interpreter, Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park.  Summers 2006, 2007.

  • Gave daily presentations about Civil War soldier life.
  • Circulated among park visitors to perform informal interpretation and answer questions.
  • Led driving, tour bus, and walking/hiking tours.
  • Developed special programming for diverse special-interest audiences.
  • Travelled to assist other NPS sites with interpretative programs.
  • Rewrote and updated CHCH-NMP living history authenticity guidelines.

CONFERENCES & PRESENTATIONS (Selected)

2022

  • “Kentucky’s Road to Loyalty: Secession, Neutrality, and War in 1861,” Camp Nelson National Monument, Winter Lecture Series 

2021

  • “Sharing Black History: An After-Dinner Conversation between the Louisville Urban League and the Filson Historical Society,” Panelist with LUL Director Sadiqua Reynolds

2020

  • “Louisville, Chicago, and the Birth of the Modern Museum,” Filson Historical Society, Virtual Program
  • “The Nineteenth Century Governors Papers,” Journal of the Civil War Era, Webinar
  • Panelist, “Decentering Whiteness: White Folks and The Work” Southeastern Museums Conference, Virtual Program
  • Panelist, “Whistlin’ Dixie in Arizona: A Conversation about History, Memory, and Myth,” Arizona Historical Society
  • “For Slavery and Union, Benjamin Buckner and Kentucky Loyalties in the Civil War,” Filson Historical Society, Virtual Program

2019

  • Guest Faculty, 48th Institute for the Editing of Historical Documents, Princeton, N.J.
  • Participant, “Freedom’s Movements: Mapping African American Space in War and Reconstruction” NEH-funded Digital Humanities Advancement Grant meeting, University of Georgia
  • Panelist, “NHPRC/Mellon Publishing Cooperatives” at American Historical Association, Chicago, Ill.

2018

  • Panelist, The ADE Seminar on Critical Issues, “Creating New Technological and Human Infrastructures: A Forum on the NHPRC-Mellon Digital Edition Publishing Cooperatives” at Association for Documentary Editing, Olympia, Washington.
  • “Whether Bourbon or Documentary Editing, Every Project Needs a Mashbill: A Roundtable Discussion on the Development and Implementation of a Web-based Annotation Tool” at Association for Documentary Editing, Olympia, Washington.
  • “Classrooms, Clinics, and Civil War Governors: Public History’s Role in Graduate Training” at 2018 American Historical Association, Washington D. C.

2017

  • “PTSD and Civil War Veterans” at Kentucky Historical Society Food for Thought.
  • Panelist, “Reimagining Archives” at Kentucky Museum and Heritage Alliance conference, Frankfort, Kentucky.
  • “The ‘Most Notorious’ Mr. Jennings: Coal, Transatlantic Capitalism, and Guerrilla War” at 2017 CWGK Symposium, Frankfort, Kentucky.

2016

  • “The Caroline Chronicles: A Story (And Classroom Experience) of Race, Urban Slavery and Infanticide in the Border South” at Kentucky History Education Conference, Frankfort, Kentucky.
  • “Teaching Confederate Memoir” at Symposium on Teaching Confederate History, Seminary Ridge Museum, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
  • “Ben and Helen Buckner: A Kentucky House Divided” at Bluegrass Heritage Museum, Winchester, Kentucky.

2015

  • Panelist, “The More You Share, The More We Grow: The Win-Win of Student Engagement, Mentorship, and Collaboration in Documentary Editing” at Joint Meeting of the Association for Documentary Editing and the Society for Textual Scholarship. Lincoln, Nebraska.

2014

  • Kentucky Genealogical Society: “Civil War Social Networking: 21st Century Reconstructions of 19th Century Kentucky” and “Civil War CSI: Murder, Politics, and the Louisville Horse Pile”
  • Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program, (on-site, KHS): “Assassinations and the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition
  • Panelist, Roundtable Discussion of “Civil War: The Untold Story” PBS Documentary Film, University of Kentucky.

2013

  • “‘That Mania Secession:’ Benjamin F. Buckner, the Ohio Valley, and Proslavery Unionism” at 79th Annual Meeting of the Southern Historical Association. St. Louis, Missouri.
  • “Kentucky Confronts the ‘Forced and Unnatural’ Amendment: Benjamin F. Buckner and the War on Reconstruction in a Loyal Slave State” at Third Biennial UnCivil Wars Conference. University of Georgia.
  • Moderator, “Panel Discussion: Emancipation Proclamation and its Importance and Legacy for Kentucky” at Camp Nelson Heritage Park.  Nicholasville, Ky.
  •  NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Teacher Training Workshop, (on-site, KHS): “Introduction to the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition
  • “Serving New Scholarship on Emancipation and Freedom: The Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition” at The War for Freedom: The Underground Railroad During the Civil War.  Little Rock, Ar.
  • Co. Aytch 2.0: The Online Life of Confederate Memoirist Sam Watkins” at American Historical Association 127th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, La.

2012

  • “Frank Wolfordʹs Jewel‐Studded Sword: Appraising the Value of Slavery and Union in Civil War Kentucky at Society of Civil War Historians Biennial Meeting. Lexington, Ky.

2011

  • “Sanker, Sam Watkins, and Civil War History: Searching for the ‘Big Show’ in a Civil War Classic” at Kentucky-Tennessee American Studies Association Annual Conference. Murfreesboro, Tn.
  • “‘I Feel Impelled to Pause a Moment: A Proslavery Unionist Faces the Resignation Crisis” at Pathways to Freedom: Kentucky and the Civil War. University of Louisville.

2010

  • “High Private: How Sam Watkins’ Sideshow Obscured the Big Show of American History” at The Face of Battle: The Secession Crisis Symposium. Chickamauga & Chattanooga NMP.  Oglethorpe, Ga.
  • “The ‘Simple Fifth’ Kentucky: The Orphan Brigade and the Boundaries of Postwar ‘Kentucky’” at Appalachian Studies Association Conference. University of North Georgia.
  • University of Kentucky Banning Seminar Lecture: “‘What is to Become of Kentucky it is Impossible to Tell’: Benjamin F. Buckner and the Social Crisis of Civil War Kentucky.”
  • Panelist: “History Outside of the Academy Roundtable: Perspectives from Professionals in Public History” at Bluegrass Symposium. University of Kentucky.

2009

  • Panelist: “Bearing the Standard: Public Historians Role in the Commemorations of the Sesquicentennial of the American the Civil War” at National Council on Public History Annual Meeting. Providence, R.I.

2008

  • “‘So Goes Democratic Law in a Democratic State:’ The Kentucky National Legion and Kentucky’s Southern Identity, 1868-1873” at Ohio Valley History Conference. Austin Peay State University.
  • “‘The Black Peril:’ The Kentucky Militia and the Struggle for White Supremacy 1870-1873” at Bluegrass Symposium. University of Kentucky.