35 Whitener Hall (Department of History)
Appalachian State University
Boone North Carolina 28608
828/ 262-2282, 262-6012 ( office) 828/ 262-4976 (fax)
"wiliamsja@appstate.edu@
(e-mail)
EDUCATION
B.A. Tulane University, 1961
Junior Year Abroad: London
School of Economics
M.A. Yale University, 1962
Ph.D. Yale University, 1966 (U.S. History)
EMPLOYMENT
Appalachian State University, Professor of History, 1989-1996, 1998
--
Director, Center for Appalachian Studies, 1989-1996
Mine Safety and Health Administration, Acting Director, Educational
Policy, 1997-1998
Library of Congress American Folklife Center, 1989
Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Jubilee Commission, Director,
1986-1988
National Endowment for the Humanities, Assistant Director, 1979-1986
West Virginia University, Associate Professor/Professor, 1972-1979
University of Illinois Chicago 1971-1972
University of Notre Dame, 1966-71
PUBLICATIONS
Sinking Columbus: Contested History, Cultural Politics and Mythmaking in the 1992 Quincentenary (accepted for Fall 2000 by University Press of Florida [co- authored with Stephen J. Summerhill, Ohio State University.])
West Virginia: A History for Beginners (Charleston WV, 1993; 2nd edn. 1997)
Old Ties and New Attachments: Italian-American Folklife in the West (co-edited with David Taylor [Washington DC, 1992])
West Virginia: A History (New York, 1976)
West Virginia and the Captains of Industry (Morgantown WV, 1976)
Articles, essays and book reviews in Appalachian Journal, History News, Humanities, Indiana Magazine of History, Journal of American Folklore, Journal of American History, Journal of Southern History, Maryland Historical Quarterly, The Pubic Historian, Southern Exposure, Western Historical Quarterly, West Virginia History, Journal of the Appalachian Studies Association, Encylopedia of Southern History, Collier Encyclopedia of the American West, Scribners Encyclopedia of American Social History, American Folklore: An Encyclopedia.
MEMBER
National Historical Publications and Records Commission, 1990-1993.
National Register Advisory Committee (NC) 1993-1997.
PUBLIC HISTORY PROJECTS
Coal (Museum exhibition; Wheeling [Oglebay Mansion Museum], Charleston [State Museum], Huntington Museum of Art, Knoxville TN World’s Fair, 1981-1982) Wrote exhibit script and successful funding application.
Library of Congress American Folklife Center, 1989. Chief consultant and research director; assisted in presentations to funders; co-author of exhibit script and co-editor of book on Italian-Americans in the West. Field research carried out in California, Washington, Nevada, Utah and Colorado, 1989-1991. Museum exhibition traveled to Santa Clara and Orange County CA, Reno NV, Denver CO, New York NY and Washington DC, 1992-1993.
Means and Associates, 1990-1991. Consultant on Southern West Virginia Coal Heritage Project; accompanied and guided heritage tourism development experts through McDowell, Wyoming, Mingo, Logan and Mercer counties.
Huntington Museum of Art, 1992. Consultant and writer, Agent of Change (museum exhibition on West Virginia railroad history).
Matewan Development Center, 1992-1995. Through a grant to Appalachian State’s Center for Appalachian Studies, developed an interpretive plan for a historic district related to Appalachian and labor history. Project involved recruitment and coordination of consultants, training and supervision of graduate student staff, and convening of a committee of experts to review and amend draft report. Final report now serves as the Matewan Development Center’s chief planning document.
Mine Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. Acting Director, Educational Policy and Development, 1997-1998. Accomplishments include reorganization and a strategic plan for the National Mine Health and Safety Academy, Beckley WV; editing a revised and expanded 3-volume set Historical Mine Disasters; production design of a documentary film, Silicosis: It’s Not Just Dust; and reorganization of district training specialists into a national division of educational field services.
Member, editorial board, Encyclopedia of Appalachia, 1997--
Consultant, Parsons, Brinckerhoff / Booker Associates, 1999-- Heritage preservation and tourism development in southern West Virginia.