Peter Porsche
Full-Time Temporary Lecturer in History
Areas of Specialization
19th Century American Religion and Race, Civil War/Reconstruction, History of US Citizenship, & American Evangelicalism
Education
Ph.D., Texas Christian University
M.A., Texas Christian University
Th.M., Dallas Theological Seminary
B.S., Lancaster Bible College
Academic Interests & Research Narrative
My research interests lie in the intersection of American Race and Religion with special attention to how these factors shaped debates about and access to US citizenship and its attendant privileges and immunities. I am especially interested in the effects of agitation for equal citizenship made by white and black activists in the nineteenth century and how a small biracial group of political and evangelical pre-Civil War abolitionists turned postwar civil rights advocates pushed for equality and colorblind citizenship. I find much to admire in the determination and resilience displayed by these nineteenth-century progressives who engaged in racial uplift while also pursuing political agitation and institution building in an effort to create a more equal society.
Currently, I am working on editing my dissertation, “Equal Endeavor: An Interracial Alliance’s Postemancipation Pursuit of Colorblind Citizenship in the US Capital," into a book. In addition to this, my research has sparked an ongoing interest to further explore the tactics employed by Congregationalists who sought to transform the nation during the Reconstruction era by planting churches and colleges across the South, a key legacy of their nineteenth-century pursuit of colorblind citizenship.
Selected Publications:
“Strategic Alliance: John Hartwell Cook, O. O. Howard, and the Postwar Fight for Equality at First Congregational Church,” Muster, Society of Civil War Historians, August 2020.
“Frederick Douglass and Reconstruction,” ABC-CLIO, July 2018 (co-authored with Dr. Scott Stabler).
Review, Educated for Freedom: The Incredible Story of Two Fugitive Schoolboys Who Grew Up to Change a Nation by Anna Mae Duane, Journal of African American History, Fall 2021.
Follow Dr. Porsche on:
Twitter: @Peter_Porsche
Regular Course Offerings
- Undergraduate:
- HIS 1300 | US in Global Perspective - The Liberty Effect