George W. Boudreau, Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. George Boudreau is a historian of eighteenth-century Anglo-America, with particular interests in the cultural history of early Pennsylvania. His research explores the intersections of history, art, material culture, and literature, and particularly looks at what these topics tell us about the transformations that took place during the American enlightenment. He holds a B.A. in history from Manchester College, and master’s and doctoral degrees from Indiana University. His current projects range from studies of portraits and poems to club behavior and the way people formed memories.

In addition to his teaching and research, Dr. Boudreau is also an active public historian, working with museums and historic sites to tell the story of America's heritage. He has received five major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities to lead workshops in Philadelphia's historic district that explored the life of Benjamin Franklin and his contemporaries. His recent book, Independence: A Guide to Historic Philadelphia (Westholme Publishing, 2012), tells the stories of the diverse women and men who lived in the city from its founding through 1800.

Professional Affiliations

• Senior Research Associate, the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, University of Pennsylvania
• Commonwealth Speaker, Pennsylvania Humanities Council
• Omohundro Institute for Early American History and Culture
• Pennsylvania Historical Association
• Historical Society of Pennsylvania
• Society of Early Americnists

Research Interests

• American colonial, revolutionary, and early national history
• Benjamin Franklin
• Public history
• History of Pennsylvania
• Cultural history
• English history
• Material culture
• History of American religions
   

Courses Taught

• History 012 – Pennsylvania History (on campus and Web)
• History 020 – U.S. History to 1877
• History 152 – African American History
• History 153 – Native American History
• History 440 – American Colonial History
• IHUM 300W – Interpretations in the Humanities
  
   

Publications and Research

• Independence: A Guide to Historic Philadelphia (Westholme Publishing, 2012).
• “Benjamin Franklin’s Philadelphia Years,” in David Waldstreicher, editor, The Blackwell Companion to Benjamin Franklin (Blackwell, 2011), 25-45.
• Essays on “Clubs and Societies in the American Enlightenment” and “The American Philosophical Society” in The Encyclopedia of the American Enlightenment, Mark G. Spencer, editor, Continuum Press (forthcoming).
• "Penn, Paine, Pacifism, and Pennsylvania Politics: Memory and Society in Revolutionary Philadelphia" in George Boudreau and Margaretta Lovell, editors, Faces and Places: The Material Worlds of Early America.
• “Solving the Mystery of the Junto’s Missing Member: John Jones, Shoemaker,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 131, 3 (July 2007), 307-17.
• "Memory, Identity, and Heritage in the Great Depression: The LaPorte, Indiana Centennial of 1932 as a Case Study." Indiana Magazine of History, (June 2007).
• "Provost Smith and his Circle: The College of Philadelphia and the Cultural Transformation of Pennsylvania" in Educating the Youth of Pennsylvania: Worlds of Learning in the Age of Franklin, John Pollack, editor
• "Professional Education" in Paul Finkleman, editor, Encyclopedia of the New American Nation (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2006), 1: 430-432.
• Thomas Paine, Common Sense and Other Writings. Introduction by Gordon S. Wood, notes and bibliography by George W. Boudreau (New York: The Modern Library, 2003).
• "’Done by a Tradesman’: Franklin’s Educational Proposals and the Culture of Eighteenth-Century Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania History 69, 4 (Fall 2002) 524-57.
• Entries on the American Philosophical Society, Boston Philosophical Society, Dartmouth College, King’s College, Massachusetts School Acts, the College of Philadelphia, and extended essay on colonial American education for The Facts on File Encyclopedia of American History Series, vol. 2. Billy G. Smith, volume editor, Gary B. Nash, general editor (New York: Facts on File, 2003).
• Biographies of Michael Hillegas and Isaac Norris, American National Biography, John A. Garraty, editor (Oxford University Press, 1999).
• “Highly Valuable and Extensively Useful:” Community and Readership among the Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia Middling Sort, Pennsylvania History 63, 3 (Summer 1996) 302-29.
  Manuscripts in Progress
• ‘Useful Knowledge:’ Learning, the Enlightenment, and the Transformation of Franklin’s Philadelphia (book manuscript in revision).
• "’Mr. Breintnall’s Poem on the Junto:’ Rediscovering and Reattributing an Eighteenth-Century Text."
• Faces and Places in Early America: Art and the World of Objects, George W. Boudreau and Margaretta Lovell, editors (compilation and editing of conference essays in progress).

Scholarly Editing

• Founding Editor, Early American Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal. Semiannual journal published by the University of Pennsylvania Press for the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, 2002-2006.
• Editor, with William Pencak. Explorations in Early American Culture, 1998-2001.