After graduating from Mary Washington College in 2008 with my BA in Historic Preservation I moved to the old colonial capital of Williamsburg and took a job working at Colonial Williamsburg while beginning my Master’s degree. Almost immediately I dove into Williamsburg’s forgotten story – the Civil War. Thus began my career in public history.

One of the multiple positions I held while working for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation was as part of their small staff who delivered Civil War walking tours during the Sesquicentennial. This enabled me to not only to understudy with Carson O. Hudson who is the expert on Civil War Williamsburg but also put many likeminded individuals together who created the Williamsburg Battlefield Association in 2014. As the Acting Director of the Williamsburg Battlefield Association that organization and Board worked tirelessly to pull together a coalition which not only advocated for but we ultimately successful in conserving hundreds of acres of ‘core’ battlefield. That same year I was honored with a Gubernatorial Appointment to serve as a member of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Board of Historic Resources.

In August 2015 I was selected to become the Executive Director of Civil War Trails. Although it is a lofty title as many people can attest I spend much of my time in overalls fixing signs across the nation. With over 1,500 sites across six states and nearly 200,000 square miles, Civil War Trails is the world’s largest “open air museum.” Being at the helm of one of the most recognized and most sustainable history-oriented tourism initiatives is both incredibly fun and rewarding.

However, when I am not on the road I am still advocating for the Williamsburg battlefield and providing tours to groups from around the world. In 2016 after a successful completion of their testing and vetting I became a licensed tour guide for the City of Williamsburg, which is a requirement for anyone operating tours in the historic area. A few short years later I was honored to have the Emerging Civil War team, specifically Doug Crenshaw ask me to co-author a new book on the Peninsula Campaign which was released in 2023.

Beyond tours of the Williamsburg battlefield and of the historic area I am also available to lecture at your Civil War roundtables. For a look at my complete resume please check out Linkedin here. If you are interested in booking me for a tour or lecture please contact me here.