The Organization of American Historians (OAH) has selected Dr. Cassandra Good, Associate Professor of History at Marymount University, as one of its newest Distinguished Lecturers. She joins a prestigious cohort of 17 U.S. historians appointed this year to the OAH Lectureship Program, which brings historical and scholarly insights to audiences nationwide.
“I’m truly honored to be appointed to the OAH Lectureship Program,” Dr. Good said. “So many historians whose work I admire are OAH Distinguished Lecturers, and joining their ranks feels like a milestone in my career.”
OAH Distinguished Lecturers are leading experts who share their research through in-person and virtual events such as keynote addresses, book talks, professional development workshops and historical commemorations. Established in 1981, the program highlights historians whose work spans the breadth of American history, from the colonial period through the present.
“We are excited to welcome these outstanding historians to our cohort of OAH lecturers,” said Beth English, OAH executive director. “Through their rigorous scholarship and insights, they bring honest, evidence-based history to the public, providing critical context for today’s most pressing national and global issues and advancing OAH’s mission to promote excellence in history and foster open, informed discussion of the past.”
A specialist in early American history with a focus on politics, gender and cultural history, Dr. Good is the author of two acclaimed books. “First Family: George Washington’s Heirs and the Making of America” was a finalist for the George Washington Prize and the Library of Virginia Readers’ Choice Award, and “Founding Friendships: Friendships Between Men and Women in the Early American Republic” was the winner of the OAH’s Mary Jurich Nickliss Prize for best gender or women’s history book. She has also received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Smithsonian Institution and George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Her current project focuses on female political influencers in antebellum America.
Through the OAH Lectureship Program, Dr. Good will offer four lectures rooted in her extensive scholarship:
- “Dialogue and Repair: Interpreting Slavery with Descendant Communities”: New research, resources and approaches have allowed scholars to tell richer and more complex stories of enslaved people. At public history sites today, that work is being done in collaboration with descendant communities. That is less often the case with scholarly publications. In this lecture, Dr. Good explores how her work with descendants of both enslavers and the enslaved connected with the Custis/Washington family has informed both her published work and new interpretations at historic sites. She reflects on the ethical and logistical challenges and opportunities of this approach and the ways reparative history is changing the field.
- “Women and Power in the New Nation”: Women negotiated new political, social and even sexual identities in the late 18th In this lecture, Dr. Good explores women’s rights and roles in the American Revolution and Founding Era. She highlights individual stories, including those of early female writers, political influencers and even voters.
- “Washington Family Fortune: Relics, Power and Identity in 19th Century America”: No family better displayed the enduring value of lineage in the new republic than the next generation of George Washington’s family. His step-grandchildren, the Custises, may not have shared a last name with the first president, but they readily invoked their family connections as a source of prestige and political legitimacy. A key way of doing so was through the prominent display of Washington furniture and relics in their houses, and even on their bodies. This lecture explores the intersections of family, power and material culture in 19th century America.
- “Female Friends of the Founders”: In America’s founding era, friendships between men and women represented the nation’s highest political ideals. More than any other relationship across the sexes, these friendships placed men and women on relatively equal footing. All of the early presidents had female friends who used their proximity to power for political access and influence. This lecture shows that despite even greater restrictions on gender and sexuality in the early national era, men and women carved out space for friendships with one another.
“The lectures I’m offering are based on research I’ve done for books and articles, and I love sharing my work with the public,” Dr. Good added. “I look forward to reaching new audiences, and at the same time raising funds that support the OAH’s work advancing the field of U.S. history.”
Speakers in the OAH program donate lecture fees back to the organization during their three-year renewable terms to help fund its mission. Institutions and organizations can request Dr. Good through the OAH website or by contacting her directly.
