Need a Historian for Hire?

I can help with that! I have almost twenty years of experience researching and writing about local history. I have particular experience with:

Architectural research like National Register of Historic Places nominations or Historic Tax Credit research
Documenting buildings with digital photography
Writing, preparing and leading a specified walking tour of Winchester, VA for a small group, or helping you design a self-guided tour to meet your needs
Writing historical markers or other explanatory texts and finding relevant historic images to illustrate your project (think Civil War Trails markers)
Tracking developments for a niche topic, especially in Winchester or Frederick County, VA
Editorial help for books and publications; fact checking and clarity are specialties
Transcribing cursive documents into typed format for easy reading and research
Bonus! Familiarity with creating files for print to multiple online providers to their specifications

A resume is available on request.

Does it seem like I could help you? Drop a note in the contact form (see the sidebar) and tell me about your project! Alternately, I have a profile on Upwork and commission slots on Ko-fi.

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The Dog-Eating Monsters from the Great Dismal Swamp

In the early 1900s, reports of animals - primarily dogs - being killed by an unknown creature around Suffolk and Norfolk were attributed to a nebulous Great Dismal Swamp Monster. The first wave took place in 1902, with stories originating in Suffolk. The Times printed a story that ran one day earlier in the local paper of a strange creature that has been attacking people and dogs around Nansemond in February of 1902: The Strange Monster That Eats Dogs in Nansemond. (Special Dispatch to The Times.) The strange Dismal Swamp monster, which one day this week killed seven of Ed. Smith's dogs, ate two of them, and later attacked Mr. Smith, himself, has been seen again. Mr. Smith lives about twelve miles from Suffolk. Last night L. Frank Ames, a merchant, who lives near Bennett's Creek, saw the same thing and suffered from its ravages. Hearing a strange noise, Mr. Ames went out with a pistol. He thought at first it was a strange dog. When he learned it was the much-sought monster Mr....

Halloween Clip Art, 1921

As a fun Halloween bonus, here are some clip art images from the Richmond Times Dispatch, Oct. 28, 1921 . These images should all be in the public domain due to their age, so feel free to use and adapt them. Larger versions should be available if you click on them. I did not completely "pretty them up," as I often like the old stamp look in my vintage clip art. If you enjoy them or use them, please drop a little something in my Ko-fi jar to compensate the time it took me to find, crop, and clean them up! "Halloween" text Black cat and pumpkin with text "Halloween fancies!" Sitting black cat, head-on Black cat, bat, and pumpkin, with text "05 - OCT - 21" Cat with arched back and raised tail Owl on a branch with bats in the background Black owl with large eyes Jack-o-lantern A ghost, black cat, and candle, with a crescent moon and stars A person looking scared or surprised A man and woman dressed for a costume ball A witch with a broom A witch and...

The Song of the Type

While correcting a local newspaper, I took a break from the endless news of Civil War pardons to switch to the Poet's Corner and peruse the offering of the day. The poem selected for the Winchester News of August 18, 1865 is an ode to the printing press as a means to redress wrongs (fitting for a newspaper still stinging over the recent Confederate defeat). The poem, in its entirety, runs thus: Song of the Type Click, click, click, List to the Song of the Type, Now breathing as soft and as light, As a sigh from the heart’s first emotion, Now swelling in grandeur and might As billows that roll on the ocean. Far reaching, eternal, its tones, From its clime where the ice-mountains shine Are borne over earth’s ample zones To the land of the myrtle and vine. Click, click, click, List to the Song of the Type, To the nations down-trodden, oppressed, It speaks like the voice of a God, Of the wrongs of the people redr...

Relic on the Lethe

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