Edward Schmitt

Teaching Interests

I teach courses on recent American history, race & ethnicity, African American history, poverty in American history, history of Wisconsin, and historiography, among others.

Research Interests

I research the intersections of politics, social change, and popular culture. I am currently working on a biography of activist and entertainer Dick Gregory.

Consulting Interests

Selected Publications

: Dick Gregory biography, University of Chicago Press (231 pp.)

2022: The Essential Dick Gregory, HarperCollins/Amistad (288 pp.)

2021: Review of Sidney M. Milkis and Daniel J. Tichenor, Rivalry and Reform: Presidents, Social Movements, and the Transformation of American Politics, American Historical Review (334-335 pp.)

: Milwaukee in Popular Culture, (12 pp.)

2012: To Right These Wrongs: The North Carolina Fund and the Battle to End Poverty and Inequality in 1960s America by Robert Korstad & James Leloudis, American Historical Review (3 pp.)

2011: "The War on Poverty", Wiley-Blackwell (35 pp.)

2011: Review of William S. Clayson, Freedom is Not Enough: The War on Poverty and the Civil Rights Movement in Texas, Journal of Southern History (1 pp.)

2010: President of the Other America: Robert Kennedy and the Politics of Poverty, University of Massachusetts Press (324 pp.)

2010: "Wanted: leaders in anti-poverty battle", Political Bookworm Blog of the Washington Post (1 pp.)

2009: "The Appalachian Thread in the Anti-Poverty Politics of Robert F. Kennedy", Register of the Kentucky Historical Society (22 pp.)

2008: Review of "The Cost of Being Poor: A Comparative Study of Life in Poor Urban Neighborhoods in Gary, Indiana" by Sandra L. Barnes, Indiana Magazine of History (1 pp.)

2008: Book Review - Ray E. Boomhower, Robert F. Kennedy and the 1968 Indiana Primary, Register of the Kentucky Historical Society (2 pp.)

2004: "Anna McGarry's Quest for Community in Philadelphia", U.S. Catholic Historian, University of Notre Dame Press

Teaching Awards

2013: Stella Gray Teaching Award Nomination, Committee on Teaching & Learning

Departmental Service

2012: Committee Member - History Department Latin America Assistant Professor Search

2012: Committee Chair - History Department Middle East Assistant Professor Search

College Service

2018: Committee Member - M.A. Program in Professional Studies (M.A.P.S.) Task Force

2017: Committee Member - CSPSS Distinguished Alumni Award Committee

University Service

2022: Committee Member - Committee on Teaching and Learning

2017: Committee Member - History Dept. Liaison to IPED

2014: Guest Speaker - Adventures in Lifelong Learning - Guest Lecture

Public Service

2022: Guest Speaker - Office of Multicultural Student Affairs and Black Student Union

2020: Guest Speaker - UW-Parkside College of Social Sciences and Professional Studies

2020: Guest Speaker - UW-Parkside Library Community Read

2019: Other - Foxconn Oral History Project

2017: Task Force Member - Kenosha Civil War Museum

2017: Guest Speaker - Adventures in Lifelong Learning

2016: Other - National History Day

2015: Guest Speaker - American Association of University Women, Kenosha

2014: Guest Speaker - UW-Sheboygan

2014: Guest Speaker - UW-Parkside Library

2014: Guest Speaker - New VISTA Volunteers Orientation

2014: Guest Speaker - Racine Public Library

2013: Other - Public Talk, "So Much is Happening! Dick Gregory and the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s"

2012: Committee Member - Council of University of Wisconsin Libraries (CUWL)

2011: Guest Speaker - Wisconsin Community Action Program Association

2011: Guest Speaker - Friends of the Racine Public Library

2011: Guest Speaker - Milwaukee Chamber Theatre

2011: Guest Speaker - Racine Coalition for Peace & Justice

2011: Guest Speaker - Perspectives on Religious Issues, UW-Parkside