About Me

About me:

My name is Dr. Jamie L.H. Goodall and I am a historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History in Washington, D.C. All views expressed on my website are my own and are not reflective of my employer, the U.S. Army, or the Department of Defense. I also teach part-time at Southern New Hampshire University in their College of Online & Continuing Education.

I am the author of Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay: From the Colonial Era to the Oyster Wars (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2020), National Geographic’s Pirates: Shipwrecks, Conquests, and their Lasting Legacy (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2021), Pirates and Privateers from Long Island Sound to Delaware Bay (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2022), and The Daring Exploits of Black Sam Bellamy: From Cape Cod to the Caribbean (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2023).

Formerly, I was Assistant Professor of History at Stevenson University in Baltimore, MD for five years where I taught courses on a wide variety of historical subjects, including American and World History surveys, Intro to Public History, and Pirates of the Caribbean among many others.

I wish I could remember the exact moment I decided to enter the historical profession, but the truth is, a love of history has been with me since before I can remember. I recall mentally devouring my mother’s old Time Life books on ancient Egypt and Rome. As fond as I am of the fiction genre, I was always that weird kid whose nose was stuck in a non-fiction book–and it was usually a history book. It was a long and windy road that brought me to the PhD in history, but history has been the underlying theme of everything I’ve done.

Academically:

My doctoral dissertation examined the ways in which taste making and material culture developed in Caribbean islands via informal commercial networks among pirates, smugglers, merchants, government officials, and residents of the 17th and 18th century Atlantic world.

I received my B.A. in Archaeology and my M.A. in Public History-Museum Studies from Appalachian State University (Boone, North Carolina) in 2008 and 2010 respectively.  I received my PhD in History from The Ohio State in 2016.

Professionally:

I taught a variety of history courses at The Ohio State University while earning the PhD, at DeVry University, at Southern New Hampshire University, and at Stevenson University. My experience includes online teaching, the classroom environment, and hybrid-learning that combines the two. I also volunteer for organizations like the Society for Military History and GlobalMaritimeHistory.com. And I’ve been a consultant for television programs like National Geographic’s Appetite for Adventure and Saloon Media’s Mysteries from Above and The History Channel’s History’s Mysteries.

Additionally, I served as a reviewer for both the 2021 Harriet Tubman Prize Reader’s Committee and the Discovery Grant for the National Endowment for the Humanities. And I have helped MarineLives.org with transcriptions of the High Court of Admiralty records as part of a massive digitization effort. My other professional development includes serving as a freelance editor/academic consultant for McGraw-Hill Education, contributor to the online textbook The American Yawp, subject matter expert for Cengage Learning and for Southern New Hampshire University, and as a judge for the Maryland State finals of the American Legion Oratorical Scholarship Contest. I have published book reviews for various organizations and a digital exhibition review for HASTAC.

You’ll often find me presenting my work at regional, national, and international conferences. Past presentations include the 2022 Society for Military History Annual Meeting, 2021 American Historical Association Annual Meeting, the 2020 Annual CLAH/AHA Meeting, the 25^th Annual Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture Conference, the New York University Atlantic Workshop, and the 49^th Annual Association of Caribbean Historians Meeting, among others.

I have been interviewed for numerous podcasts, news segments, and have given a variety of talks to diverse groups.

Personally:

I grew up a Navy brat before my father left the service and we settled in North Carolina. The military lifestyle we had for some years instilled in me a perpetual case of wanderlust. I cannot travel enough! My heart belongs to my three beautiful puppy dogs: Thomas Jefferson (T.J.) and his brother John Tyler (J.T.), both Boxers; and my dearly departed Laddie, who was an eleven year old mixed breed of mysterious origins. I am adept at procrasti-cleaning and procrasti-napping. I enjoy being crafty (jewelry making, painting, designing, etc), taking photographs, reading, and writing. My passions include tattoos, history, teaching, true crime, sunshine, the ocean, the mountains, and–of course–pirates.

I  can be found on Twitter and Instagram (both handles are the same): @L_Historienne

You can also find me sometimes at the Maryland and Virginia Renaissance Festivals dressed as my alter ego: Torienne, Ship’s Scholar of the crew Mare Nostrum! I drink and I know things.