About the author

Louis P. Masur is William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of American Institutions and Values, and Director of the American Studies Program, at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. He received his B.A from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and his M.A. and Ph D. from Princeton University. His publications include Rites of Execution: Capital Punishment and the Transformation of American Culture, 1776-1865, 1831: Year of Eclipse, Autumn Glory: Baseball’s First World Series, and The Soiling of Old Glory: The Photograph that Shocked America.

His articles have appeared in numerous scholarly journals including the New England Quarterly, Journal of American Studies, and Journal of American History. He has also published essays and reviews in the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Chronicle of Higher Education. Since 1998, he has served as editor of Reviews in American History. In 2003, he was elected to membership in the American Antiquarian Society, and in 2005 he was elected a fellow of the Society of American Historians.

He has received fellowships from the Whiting Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Mellon Foundation, and he has twice received awards for excellence in teaching. He teaches courses in American cultural history and visual culture.  

He can be reached at louis.masur@trincoll.edu