معرفی
Dr. Lindsey R. Peterson serves as Digital Humanities Librarian and Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of South Dakota, where she leads the Civil War & Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi project and develops the Dakota Territory Papers Project. As Managing Director of the Society of Civil War Historians, she bridges academic research with public-facing digital scholarship through freely accessible documentary editions.
Her educational credentials include:
- Ph.D. in History, University of Southern Mississippi (2022)
- M.A. in History, University of South Dakota (2015)
- B.A. in History & Political Science, Buena Vista University (2013)
- Digital Humanities Graduate Certificate, University of California, Berkeley
Peterson's research centers on American Civil War commemoration in the trans-Mississippi West, analyzing how white Union veterans weaponized Civil War memory to justify western expansion and colonization of American Indians. She emphasizes intersectional approaches examining gender, race, and class in historical narratives, while advancing digital documentary editing methodologies. Her classroom practice prioritizes diversity in both subject matter and analytical frameworks.
Recent publications demonstrate a cohesive trajectory merging digital humanities with critical analysis of Civil War memory, particularly focusing on African American experiences in Mississippi's governors' papers, gendered commemoration practices, and frontier-specific memorialization. This work consistently reveals how commemorative rituals reinforced social hierarchies and territorial claims.
Her scholarly recognition includes:
- Anthony E. Kaye Memorial Essay Award (2023)
- Outstanding Paper by a Graduate Student from the Society of Civil War Historians (2022)
- Part-Time Faculty Honor Award for Excellence in Teaching, University of Sioux Falls (2022)
Peterson mentors students through hands-on involvement in large-scale documentary projects, providing professional training in digital archiving and historical research. She secured major funding including a National Endowment for the Humanities grant (2023-2026) for 'Unheard Voices in War, Freedom, and Uneasy Peace' and a National Historical Publications & Records Commission award (2023-2024) for the Mississippi Governors' Papers digital edition.
She directs collaborative teams on the Civil War & Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi project, which has processed over 22,000 archival documents with full-text searchability and educational resources, while developing parallel infrastructure for the Dakota Territory Papers Project to document territorial governance and indigenous-settler relations.
