The Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR), recently named Lt. Col. Mark Boonshoft, associate professor in the Department of History and holder of the Conrad M. Hall ’65 Chair in American Constitutional History at Virginia Military Institute, co-editor of its quarterly publication, Journal of the Early Republic (JER).
SHEAR is an association of scholars dedicated to exploring the events and the meaning of United States history between 1776 and 1861, Boonshoft’s term as co-editor will be for five years beginning at the conclusion of the July SHEAR conference in Philadelphia, Pa.
Additionally, VMI will be recognized as a sponsor of JER — the first liberal arts college to serve in that capacity since the journal was first published in 1981 — and many cadets will be given the opportunity to help with the editorial work.
Originally from New York, Boonshoft attended the University at Buffalo-SUNY where he majored in history. He earned his doctorate in United States history, focusing on the era of the American Revolution and Founding, at Ohio State University.
He served as a historian at the New York Public Library (NYPL) in Manhattan where he worked on a project that digitized 50,000 pages of original manuscript sources from the late 18th century and early 19th century, wrote about history for the NYPL website, advised on exhibitions, and organized various educational programs.
He also taught at Norwich University and Duquesne University and worked for a time as the executive director of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, an interdisciplinary academic organization devoted to studying the history and arts of the 18th century world.
Boonshoft’s first book, “Aristocratic Education and the Making of the American Republic,” was published in 2020 by the University of North Carolina Press and was a finalist for the 2021 George Washington Book Prize. He is currently working on a book tentatively titled, “The Violent Origins of Constitutional Democracy in Revolutionary America,” using New York state as a case study.
He is also the author of two JER articles, one of which received the biennial History of Education Society Prize.
Boonshoft, who has taught at VMI since 2022, has served JER as contributor, book reviewer, and peer-reviewer. He was a member of the editorial board from 2021 to 2024, and currently acts as associate editor for critical engagements.
