Today’s guest is the amazing teacher, Civil War historian, and former Gettysburg battlefield guide Dr. Jennnifer Murray. Jennifer is a teaching associate professor of history at Oklahoma State University and was formerly an assistant professor of history at the University of Virginia at Wise and served as a historian in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Jennifer was also, for several summers, a seasonal ranger at Gettysburg National Military Park and has led hundreds of battlefield tours. She earned a BS at Frostburg State University and an MA from James Madison University before being awarded a PhD from Auburn University.

Jennifer is the author of On A Great Battlefield: The Making, Management, and Memory of Gettysburg National Military Park, 1933–2013 (Tennessee), which won the Bachelder-Coddington Award in 2014, and The Civil War Begins: Opening Clashes, 1861, which is part of the US Army Center of Military History’s Campaign Series. Her current book project is a biography of General George Gordon Meade. Jennifer has participated in dozens of Civil War Roundtables and has been featured on C-SPAN and NPR. She also consulted for “Who Do You Think You Are?” Jennifer is a member of the editorial board of Kent State University Press’ Interpreting the Civil War: Texts and Contexts Series and formerly served in the same capacity at Gettysburg Magazine.

Join us for a fun and interesting chat with Jennnifer Murray. We’ll talk Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen, “Stump the Ranger,” college softball, Mrs. Maisel, and writing a massive biography of an often underrated Civil War general.

Content warning: Brian reveals he has attended a Billy Joel concert!

Shoutout to Wright’s BBQ in Johnson, Arkansas!

Rec.: 02/16/2024