Staff
For more information about our editors and staff members, click on their name.
Staff
Katie Blizzard received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, where she studied Anthropology and History, and developed an interest in the history of American culture and identity.
As an undergraduate, Katie interned as an Associate Editor for the cultural magazine Gadfly Online, and as a communications intern for the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (VFH). She was also the interning coordinator for the Virginia Shakespeare Initiative from June 2015 to December 2016.
In her role at the Papers, she helps to coordinate the outreach efforts of the project.
When asked what compels her most about history, she responded that she enjoys “connecting with people, cultures, and ideas of the past to ultimately better understand ourselves and engage with others.”
Read blog posts written by Katie Blizzard here.
Erica Cavanaugh is a graduate from the University of Virginia and the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
Before working at The Washington Papers, Erica worked for the Dolley Madison Digital Edition – a digitally born documentary edition – and at the University of Virginia Press, helping with their digital publications.
Her work at The Washington Papers primarily focuses on the digital publication of the George Washington Financial Papers, and the development and maintenance of other digital work. Erica is also the Project Developer for the Center for Digital Editing.
Read blog posts written by Erica Cavanaugh here.
Thomas Dulan attended Northern Virginia Community College, received a B.S. in Communications from James Madison University, and received his M.A. in Journalism from The Pennsylvania State University.
Before the Papers, Tom worked for various newspapers in a 16-year journalism career, followed by three years as Manager of Editorial Services for Kesmai Corporation, and then eight years as freelance writer and editor.
Today, as an associate editor, he acts as the publication manager and copy editor for The Washington Papers, as well as project liaison with the University Library System. Until recently, he also served as the project publicist.
When asked which era of history he would most like to live in, he responded that he would like to see “the era of the Revolution and Early American Republic because that generation (the actual “Greatest Generation”) witnessed an astonishing coincidence of great thinkers, who, in turn, produced a tidal wave of global transformation.” However, he adds that considering the primitive state of medical care at that time, he would prefer to make it a visit.
Read blog posts written by Thomas E. Dulan here.
William M. Ferraro received his A.B. from Georgetown University in American Studies, and his A.M. and Ph.D. in American Civilization from Brown University. His emphases while at Georgetown and Brown was politics, the legislative process, and the development of communities in changing economic, technological, and cultural contexts.
William has worked continuously as a documentary editor since 1989, beginning with The Salmon P. Chase Papers at Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, Calif. (1989-92). He then assisted with thirteen volumes of The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (1992-2006) before coming to The Washington Papers at the University of Virginia in June 2006.
As Senior Associate Editor for the Papers of George Washington, his principal editorial work has been on volumes in the Revolutionary War Series. He also took the lead in reviewing and regularizing the short title list found on the Digital Edition resources page and creating spreadsheet authority files for names and places in the Revolutionary War and Presidential series. He is now responsible for indexing letterpress volumes in both active series and assists the project director with financial oversight and grant proposals. A noteworthy success of his was a successful Jefferson Trust grant that led to the creation of the “George Washington, Day-By-Day, 22 February 1732-14 December 1799” website still under development.
Seeing how people faced challenges, achieved triumphs, and endured sadnesses has always fascinated him. He adds that “George Washington’s engagement with his world brings an incredible array of historical actors into view and makes work on his papers both a daily adventure and highly gratifying.”
Read blog posts written by William M. Ferraro here.
Adrina Garbooshian-Huggins received each her B.A. in French, her M.A. in French Studies and her Ph.D. in Modern Languages from Wayne State University. Though her degrees are in French, her doctoral dissertation focused on the French, American, and British Enlightenments.
Before working at the Papers, Adrina was a post-doctoral associate and then Assistant Editor at the Papers of Benjamin Franklin.
Adrina joined the Papers of George Washington in 2013 and is currently an Assistant Editor. Prior to her current role as an editor on the Digital Edition and on Washington’s Financial Papers, she indexed volumes, worked on the digital edition cumulative index, and co-authored Revolutionary War volume 26 with Benjamin Huggins. She currently works on all aspects of the digital edition.
Adrina has always been interested in the American Enlightenment and eighteenth-century history. She is interested in the way in which Washington’s correspondence and financial papers offer clues about life at Mount Vernon.
Read blog posts written by Adrina Garbooshian-Huggins here.
Kathryn Gehred received her B.A. in History with a minor in Women’s Studies from Bowling Green State University, and her M.A. in Women’s History from Sarah Lawrence College.
Before the Papers, Kathryn worked as an editor for Re/Visionist Online Magazine at Sarah Lawrence College, and as a House Tour Supervisor at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.
Today, she works as a Research Editor for The Washington Papers, helping with transcribing, annotating, and accessioning documents.
When asked what compels her most about history, she responded, “I believe in blurring the lines between the public and private spheres as completely separate historical categories. You cannot truly understand George Washington without understanding the world in which he lived, and that includes his family relationships, his home life, and his plantation.”
Read blog posts written by Kathryn Gehred here.
Benjamin Huggins received his B.S. in Computer Science from the Citadel, his M.S. in Systems Technology from the Naval Postgraduate School, and both his M.A. in United States History and Ph.D. in History from George Mason University.
Before the Papers, Ben worked twenty years as an officer in the United States Navy and Navy Reserve.
Today, he works as an Associate Editor for the Papers of George Washington, and as an Associate Professor for the University of Virginia. In his role as an editor, he focuses on the Revolutionary War Series, and is Co-editor of the Papers of George Washington Addendum Volume with Adrina Garbooshian-Huggins.
Ben has a strong interest in the history of the Revolutionary War era and the founding fathers. He has always admired George Washington, as well as has always had a strong interest in all eras of European and United States history.
Read blog posts written by Benjamin L. Huggins here.
Jennifer E. Stertzer attended Florida State University and Appalachian State University, where she studied both History and Geography, focusing on environmental and southern Appalachia histories during the Antebellum Period.
Jennifer has been with the project for 18 years, and is currently Director of The Washington Papers, in addition to her position as Director of the Center for Digital Editing.
Read blog posts written by Jennifer E. Stertzer here.
Mary Wigge earned her undergraduate degrees in History and Art History at the University of Virginia. Her thesis in the art history program focused specifically on mid-nineteenth-century photography.
While an undergraduate at UVa, Mary worked part-time for the Presidential Recordings Program, specifically the Presidential Recordings of Lyndon B. Johnson Digital Edition, at the Miller Center of Public Affairs. After graduating, Mary served as development assistant at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation’s Monticello.
Today, she is now a Research Editor for the Martha Washington Papers project, as well as for George Washington’s Barbados Diary. In that role, she catalogs, transcribes, researches, and begins identifying content from the manuscript documents. In addition to those responsibilities, she also searches for books and other relevant resources that would be useful in preparing in-depth annotation.
Read blog posts written by Mary Wigge here.
Jeff Zvengrowski is originally from Canada, where he obtained a BA with honors in history at the University of Calgary in 2007. Graduating from Toronto’s York University with a history MA in 2008, Jeff came to take an interest in the persistence of French—particularly Bonapartist—influence in the antebellum South/Confederacy at the University of Virginia, from which he graduated with an American history PhD in 2015. His dissertation, entitled “They Stood Like the Old Guard of Napoleon: Jefferson Davis and the Pro-Bonaparte Democrats, 1815-1871,” is on track to be published by Louisiana State University Press in revised form.
Jeff worked on the Founders Online project for Documents Compass from 2013-2015 as a proofreader and transcriber before joining the Papers of George Washington as an assistant editor. In that capacity he is currently editing volume 28 of the Revolutionary War series.
Intrigued by historical connections between America and France in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Jeff says that if he could travel back in time he would certainly like to meet Lafayette, Rochambeau, Baron de Kalb, Claudius Crozet, and others.
Read blog posts written by Jeffrey L. Zvengrowski here.
Editors Emeriti
Donald Jackson,* Editor Emeritus, 1969-1977
W. W. Abbot,* Editor Emeritus, 1977-1992
Dorothy Twohig,* Editor Emeritus, 1992-1998
Philander D. Chase, Editor Emeritus, 1998-2004
Theodore J. Crackel, Editor Emeritus, 2004-2010
* Deceased