DR. MICHAEL J. PFEIFER
Curriculum Vitae2253 Lab II
The Evergreen State College
Olympia, Wash. 98505
(360) 867-6009
pfeiferm@evergreen.edu
Professional Appointments
Book Review Editor, H-Law,
H-Net Discussion Network for the Scholars of the History of Law, October 2004-.(Co-) Planning Unit Coordinator,
Culture, Text, Language division,
The Evergreen State College, September 2002-June 2005.Faculty Member in American Social and Legal History,
The Evergreen State College,
Olympia, Washington, September 1999-.
Converted to continuing (tenured) status, November 2003.Lecturer, Department of History, University of Iowa, Summer 1999.
Research and Teaching Fields
United States Social and Cultural History,
Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.U.S. Legal History.
U.S. Southern History.
U.S. Western History.
Research Interests
The Social and Cultural History of Collective Violence and Criminal Justice in the United States.Book Manuscripts-in-Progress
"The Roots of Rough Justice: The Origins of Lynching in the United States."
Under contract with the University of Illinois Press.Book
Rough Justice: Lynching and American Society, 1874-1947.
University of Illinois Press, 2004 (paperback edition, 2006).Short Articles
"Lynchings." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 2nd Edition.
Macmillan Reference USA (Thomson Gale), 2006."Lynching." Encyclopedia of Appalachia. University of Tennessee Press, 2006.
"Lynchings." Encyclopedia of the Great Depression. Macmillan Reference USA, 2003.
Articles
"The 1857 Eastern Iowa Vigilante Movement:
Law, Society, and Violence in the Antebellum Midwest."
The Annals of Iowa, forthcoming."Wisconsin's Last Decade of Lynching, 1881-1891: Law and Violence in the Postbellum Midwest."
American Nineteenth Century History, Vol. 6, no. 3 (September 2005), 227-239."'Midnight Justice': Lynching and Law in the Pacific Northwest."
Pacific Northwest Quarterly, Vol. 94, no. 2 (Spring 2003), 83-92."Lynching and Criminal Justice: The Midwest and West as
American Regions, 1874-1947."
Western Legal History, Vol. 14, no. 2 (Summer/Fall 2001), 103-122."Lynching and Criminal Justice in South Louisiana, 1878-1920."
Louisiana History, Vol. XL, no. 2 (Spring 1999), 155-177."Insanity, Sexuality, and the Gallows in
Late Nineteenth-Century Iowa: The Case of Chester Bellows."
The Annals of Iowa, Vol. 57, no. 3 (Fall 1998), 321-336."Iowa's Last Lynching: The Charles City Mob of 1907
and Iowa Progressivism."
The Annals of Iowa, Vol. 53, no. 4 (Fall 1994), 305-328."The Ritual of Lynching: Extralegal Justice in Missouri, 1890-1942."
Gateway Heritage, Vol. 13, no. 3 (Winter 1993), 22-33.Book Reviews
Review of William D. Carrigan, The Making of a Lynching Culture: Violence and Vigilantism in Central Texas, 1836-1916.
(University of Illinois Press, 2004). The Journal of American History, forthcoming.Review of Gregory Mixon, The Atlanta Riot: Race, Class, and Violence in a New South City.
(Southern Dissent Series, University Press of Florida, 2005). The American Historical Review, forthcoming.Review of Diane Miller Sommerville, Rape and Race in the Nineteenth-Century South.
(University of North Carolina Press, 2004). Journal of the History of Sexuality, forthcoming.Review of Frederick Allen, A Decent Orderly Lynching: The Montana Vigilantes.
(University of Oklahoma Press, 2004). Western Legal History, forthcoming.Review of Patricia Bernstein, The First Waco Horror. (Texas A & M University Press, 2004).
The Historian, forthcoming.Review of John D. Bessler, Legacy of Violence: Mobs and Execution in Minnesota.
(University of Minnesota Press, 2003). The Michigan Historical Review, Vol. 30, no. 2 (Fall 2004), 211-212.Review of Christopher Waldrep and Donald G. Nieman, eds., Local Matters: Race, Crime,
and Justice in the Nineteenth-Century South. (University of Georgia Press, 2001).
Posted on H-SOUTH (H-Net Discussion Network for Scholars of the History of the American South), September 2004.Review of Stephen J. Leonard, Lynching in Colorado 1859-1919 (University Press of Colorado, 2002).
Annals of Wyoming, Winter 2003.Review of James Madison, A Lynching in the Heartland: Race and Memory in America (Palgrave, 2002).
The Annals of Iowa, Vol. 62, no. 1 (Winter 2003), 118-120.Retropective Review of C. Vann Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow
(Commemorative Edition, Oxford University Press, 2002).
Posted on H-SOUTH (H-Net Discussion Network for Scholars of the History of the American South), May 2003.Review of Dominic J. Capeci, The Lynching of Cleo Wright
(University of Kentucky Press, 1998).
American Journal of Legal History, 2000.Review of Ann Gorzalka, Wyoming's Territorial Sheriffs (High Plains Press, 1998).
Annals of Wyoming, Spring 1999.Review of Christopher Waldrep, Roots of Disorder: Race and Criminal Justice in the American South, 1817-80
(University of Illinois Press, 1998).
Posted on H-SHEAR (H-Net Discussion Network for the Scholars of the History of the Early American Republic), April 1999.Review of Clare V. McKanna, Jr.,
Homicide, Race, and Justice in the American West, 1880-1920
(University of Arizona Press, 1997).
The Annals of Iowa, Vol. 57, no. 2 (Summer 1998), 174-175.Conference Presentations
"Violence, Race, Resistance, and Law in the Antebellum American South: the Lynchings of Slaves."
Presented at the American Historical Association-Pacific Coast Branch's
Ninety-Seventh Annual Meeting, San Jose, California, August 6, 2004."A Lethal Transition: Regulator Movements, Law, and Extralegal Punishment in the Antebellum United States."
Presented at the British Association of American Studies (BAAS) Meeting,
Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom, April 16, 2004."Lynching, Law, and Region in the Postbellum United States."
Presented at the Lynching and Racial Violence in America: Histories and Legacies Conference,
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, October 5, 2002."Scandal in the Progressive Era Northwest."
Gave comment on the forenamed panel,
55th Annual Pacific Northwest History Conference,
Seattle, Washington, April 6, 2002."'…the already scarlet record of Jefferson parish':
Analysis of a Lynching Syndrome, 1892-1897."
Presented at the Southern Historical Association’s Sixty-Seventh Annual Meeting,
New Orleans, La., November 17, 2001."'Midnight Justice’ in the Pacific Northwest: Lynching and Law in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, 1882-1919."
Presented at the American Historical Association-Pacific Coast Branch's
Ninety-Fourth Annual Meeting, Vancouver, British Columbia, August 11, 2001."Race and Lynching in the American West in the Early Twentieth Century."
Presented at the British Association of American Studies (BAAS) Meeting,
Keele University, Newcastle-under-Lyme, United Kingdom, April 7, 2001."Lynching and Criminal Justice: The Midwest and West as
American Regions, 1878-1920," in the session
"Western Violence, Law, and Economic Development."
Presented at and organized panel for the
Thirty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Western History Association,
Portland, Ore., October 6-9, 1999."'More Justice and Less Law': Lynching and Criminal Justice
in the Early 20th-Century American West."
Presented at the Twenty-second Anniversary Meeting
of the Social Science History Association, Washington, D.C., October 17, 1997."The Case of Chester Bellows: Insanity, Sexuality, and the Gallows
in Late Nineteenth Century Iowa."
Presented at Iowa Heritage Expo1997, Des Moines, Ia., June 13, 1997."Lynching and Criminal Justice in North Louisiana, 1880-1910."
Presented at the American Society for Legal History,
1996 Annual Meeting, Richmond, Va., October 18, 1996."Criminal Justice and Lynching in South Louisiana, 1877-1910."
Presented at the Twenty-first Anniversary Meeting
of the Social Science History Association, New Orleans, La., October 11, 1996."Race, Criminal Justice, and Lynching in Iowa, 1900-1910."
Presented at Iowa Heritage Expo1996, Des Moines, Ia., June 14, 1996."Racial Constructions of the West: Race, Lynching, and Criminal Justice
in Wyoming, 1880-1920."
Presented at Missouri Valley History Conference, Omaha, Neb., March 9, 1996."Rural Crime, Social Control, and Criminal Justice in Iowa, 1880-1910."
Presented at the Twentieth Anniversary Meeting
of the Social Science History Association, Chicago, Ill., November 16, 1995."Iowa's Last Extralegal Execution: The 1907 Lynching of James Cullen
in the Context of Progressive Era Iowa."
Presented at Great Lakes History Conference, Grand Rapids, Mich.,
October 1, 1994."New Southern Racial Conflict, Gender Identities, and the Workplace:
Northeastern Georgia, 1890-94."
Presented at Missouri Valley History Conference, Omaha, Neb., March 1993.Scholarly Consultation
Advisor for "American Lynching: Strange and Bitter Fruit."
Feature Documentary, Gode Davis, Producer, May 2000-.Reader for University of British Columbia Press, University of Nebraska Press, The Journal of Southern History,
and the National Science Foundation.Public and Press Citations of Research
Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Introduction to Senate Resolution 39,
"Apologizing to Lynching Victims and their Descendants," June 13, 1005, Congressional Record-Senate, S6366-6370.KOMO 1000 News, July 22, 2005, interview on Senate Lynching Apology.
Tacoma News-Tribune, July 22, 2005, "Researcher Find More Lynchings than U.S. New."
Janesville (Wis.) Gazette, June 26, 2005, "Rock County Lynching Triggered Emotions that Differed Greatly."
Shreveport (La.) Times, June 14, 2005, "Database Lists Lynchings in Caddo, Bossier."
White Plains (N.Y.) Journal-News, June 14, 2005, "Addressing Our Past" (editorial).
USA TODAY, June 13, 2005, "Senate Moves to Apologize for Injustice."
New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 13, 2005, "Senate Finally to Address Legacy of Lynching."
Newsday, June 12, 2005, "An Apology for Old Form of Terror."
Bakersfield Californian, June 12, 2005, "Legacy of Shame: Author Says Kern Prominent in Story of Lawlessness."
New Orleans Gambit Weekly, January 14, 2003, "Ties that Bind."
Centralia (Wash.) Chronicle, April 13, 2002, "Documents Discovery Casts New Light on Lynchings."
Courses Taught at the Evergreen State College--Upper Division
Slavery in Africa and the Americas, Spring 2005. Co-taught with Babacar M'Baye.Documenting the Northwest (Pacific Northwest History), Spring 2004.
Co-taught with Sam Schrager.Postbellum (American History and Literature, 1865-1920), Winter 2004.
Co-taught with Babacar M'Baye.The American City since 1945 (Recent American Urban History and Literature), Fall 2003.
Co-taught with Babacar M'Baye and Greg Mullins.Antebellum (American History and Literature, 1800-1865), Spring 2002.
Courses Taught at the University of Iowa--Upper Division
The Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, Summer 1999.The Civil War and Reconstruction, Summer 1999.
Courses Taught at the Evergreen State College--Lower Division
Old and New Worlds: The Making of the Western Tradition
(American History and Literature to 1865 and Western Civilization Surveys),
Fall and Winter, 2004-2005. Co-taught with David Marr and Andrew Reece.The Folk: Power of an Image
(Introduction to American, African, and Russian Cultures and Histories),
Fall and Winter, 2003-2004. Co-taught with Babacar M'Baye and Patricia Krafcik.Children's Literature and Lives
(Children's History and U.S. Cultural and Social History Surveys),
Fall and Winter, 2002-2003. Co-taught with Stacey Davis and Thad Curtz.Individuals vs. Societies
(Introduction to American and Japanese History and Literature),
Fall and Winter, 2001-2002.American Community
(American History, Literature, and Philosophy Surveys),
Fall, Winter, and Spring, 1999-2000. Co-taught with David Marr and Sam Schrager.Senior Theses Directed
Joshua Salzmann, "The Politics of Conciliation and Suppression:
Progressive Era Governor Ernest Lister and His Dealings with Organized Labor 1913-1919."
(The Evergreen State College, Spring 2000).Service
Faculty Advisor, Catholic Student Group,
The Evergreen State College (Spring 2000-.).Education
Ph.D. in History, University of Iowa, May 1998.
Ph.D. dissertation (directed by Allen Steinberg), "Lynching and Criminal Justice in
Regional Context: Iowa, Wyoming, and Louisiana, 1878-1946."M.A. in History, University of Iowa, May 1993.
B.A. (summa cum laude) in History,
Washington University, St. Louis, May 1991.
Senior thesis (directed by Rowland Berthoff),
"The Ritual of Lynching:
Extra-Legal Justice in Missouri, 1890-1942."Studied in School of English and American Studies,
University of East Anglia, Norwich, England,
October 1989-June 1990.Grants and Fellowships
Sponsored Research Summer Grant, Provost's Office, The Evergreen State College, Summer 2005.State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) Research Grant, 2002-2003.
Sponsored Research Summer Grant, Provost's Office, The Evergreen State College, Summer 2001.
State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) Research Grant,
1996-97.Elizabeth Bennett Ink Fellowship for dissertation research,
Department of History, University of Iowa, April 1995.Honors
Charles Gates Award, Washington State Historical Society,
for best article to appear in the Pacific Northwest Quarterly in 2003.J. Walter Goldstein Prize for best senior thesis in History,
Department of History, Washington University, St. Louis, Spring 1991.Phi Beta Kappa, Washington University, St. Louis, Spring 1991.
References
Sam Schrager, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington.Babacar M'Baye, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington.
Allen Steinberg, Department of History, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
Leslie Schwalm, Department of History, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
W. Fitzhugh Brundage, Department of History, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Christopher Waldrep, Department of History, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California.