University of South Carolina historian elected president of Historical Society

COLUMBIA, SC – September 19, 2008 –  Dr. Mark Smith, a Carolina Distinguished Professor of History at the University of South Carolina has been elected president of the Historical Society, one of the nation’s largest and most active historical organizations in the United States.

Smith, who will serve a two-year term as president, is well known for his provocative approach to 19th-century U.S. history, which examines cultural history through the five senses. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Southampton in 1988 and his master’s and doctoral degrees in history from the University of South Carolina in 1991and 1995, respectively.

Headquartered in Boston, the society publishes The Journal of the Historical Society and Historically Speaking, which is read by more than 10,000 U.S. high-school teachers and by members of the National Council for History Education.