Edward T. O’Donnell is professor of history at Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA. He teaches courses on the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, Theodore Roosevelt, immigration, social reform movements, and American wars. He is the author of five books, including Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age, which examines the life and times of a key social reformer in the tumultuous age of the Robber Barons, as well as The Pullman Strike: A Gilded Age Clash between Labor, Capital, and Government, which tells the story of one of the greatest strikes in US history. O’Donnell’s other books include the US history textbook, Visions of America: A History of the United States (co-author), Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum, which tells the gripping story of one of the greatest maritime disasters in US history, and 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History.

O’Donnell has been a featured historian in many historical documentaries and programs on PBS, History Channel, Discovery Channel, and Netflix. Recent examples include, “Theodore Roosevelt” (History Channel, 2022), “FDR” (History Channel, 2023), “How Disney Built America” (History Channel, 2024), “Wyatt Earp and The Cowboy War” (Netflix, 2024), and “The Gilded Age” (PBS, 2018). O’Donnell also contributes historical insight to the media, appearing recently in features about the Gilded Age on ABC, CBS, and NPR, and writing history-themed op-eds for publications like Newsweek, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. From 2016 to 2020, he hosted a popular US history podcast, In The Past Lane. (www.InThePastlane.com).

Programs:

Leadership Principles from US Presidents: What makes a great leader? In this multimedia presentation, we turn to a range of American presidents who demonstrated the key elements of effective leadership (also, those presidents who failed as leaders). Our focus will range from founding-era presidents such as Washington and Jefferson, to 19th-century presidents like Polk, Lincoln, and Garfield, to modern-era presidents including the Roosevelts, Kennedy, and Reagan. We will examine how they succeeded as leaders by effectively communicating a vision, choosing a strong team, building consensus, handling crises, taking risks, evolving their thinking and strategies based on changing circumstances, and more. These leadership principles drawn from the lives of these extraordinary figures have direct application to the challenges faced by today’s leaders in business, politics, education, and more. Also available as a  presentation tailored to focus on a particular leadership theme or set of themes, or a specific president.

The Remarkable Genius and Legacy of Theodore Roosevelt: Theodore Roosevelt is one of the most fascinating and complicated figures in US history. Born into a life of wealth and privilege, he dedicated himself to politics and social reform, championing causes such as workers’ rights, corporate regulation, and environmental conservation. Along the way he cultivated an image as one who lived what he termed, “the strenuous life” which included military heroics in the Spanish American War, a stint as a cowboy, and hunting and hiking through the American wilderness. Roosevelt also wrote more than 40 books and 150,000 letters. This multimedia talk explores how this remarkable figure played a major role in the making of the world we live in today and what Rooseveltian principles have relevance for our world today.

The Enduring Wisdom of the Founding Fathers (And What We Get Wrong About Them): 250 years after the Declaration of Independence, Americans still revere the Founding Fathers for winning the American Revolution and creating a new nation guided by the oldest constitution in continuous use. Musicals like “Hamilton,” best-selling biographies of figures like Washington and Jefferson, and documentaries on PBS and the History Channel attest to the nation’s fascination with the Founders. In this multimedia talk we will examine three key pieces of wisdom bequeathed to us by the Founders, as well as several popular and pernicious myths about them that have serious consequences for contemporary American society. This talk reveals how a more historically accurate understanding of the Founders can help us resolve some of our most pressing problems facing us today. Also available as, What Did the Declaration Declare? (And How Has It Shaped American History Long After 1776?)

Don’t Know Much about History: Four Myths That Fuel Rage, Partisanship, are Political Paralysis: Why are Americans so divided and why can’t our political leaders provide solutions to our most pressing problems concerning the economy, the environment, education, public health, crime, and immigration? One key reason is that too many Americans approach these issues with a distorted sense of history. For example, when Americans denounce contemporary immigrants as a threat to the nation, they do so by comparing them to mythical immigrants of the past (their ancestors) who were the “good ones” because they worked hard, caused no trouble, and quickly transformed themselves into patriotic Americans. This view ignores the fact that native born Americans in the past denounced immigrants in nearly identical terms, declaring newcomers from Ireland, Germany, Italy, Russia, etc as criminals and radicals, who only brought to America disease, poverty, and socialism. In this multimedia talk, we explore this and other myths concerning taxes, guns, and the military to see how we get the history wrong, but also how a more accurate understanding offers a solution to our fractious politics.

Making Sense of American Immigration: Fact vs. Fiction: Why have so many millions of immigrants come to the U.S. and how has each wave transformed American society? And why, despite our paeans to being “a nation of immigrants,” have Americans historically despised each wave of newcomers? This multimedia presentation explores the key periods of immigration in U.S. history, the major immigrant groups that arrived, their struggles to earn a living and adjust to new surroundings, and the contributions they made to American life. It also addresses the persistent problem of anti-immigrant nativism and the ideas, concerns, and myths that contribute to it. We will also make important comparisons between immigrants of the past and those arriving in the US in recent years. One goal of this presentation is to provide the historical context and information that is sorely needed in our current national debate about immigration, both legal and undocumented. Also available as, The Line Between Us: Making Sense of the US-Mexico Border which focuses on the history and current situation along the border. And as The Greening of America: How the Irish Transformed the US.

What Was the Gilded Age (and Are We in Another One Now?): The popular HBO series, “The Gilded Age,” has sparked considerable interest in this period of American history (1870-1900), as has the growing belief that we are currently living through a “Second Gilded Age.” The original Gilded Age was marked by stark dualities, as the nation experienced both astonishing growth in prosperity, population, and industry, but also urban squalor, political corruption, Robber Baron ruthlessness, and an alarming growth in the gap between rich and poor. This multimedia presentation examines the key aspects of this fascinating era, including the emergence of the super rich with names like Rockefeller and Vanderbilt, as well as the social tumult in the form of strikes, riots, and political upheaval. And we’ll learn how the big questions raised in the Gilded Age led to the U.S. entering a period (The Progressive Era) marked by wide-ranging reform movements. Finally, we will look at the numerous parallels between the original Gilded Age and our current moment.

Wars and Rumors of Wars: How War Has Shaped and Reshaped American History: From the very beginning of European settlement in North America, war has shaped and reshaped American society. Some of these conflicts, like the Revolution, the Civil War, and World War II, are very familiar. Others, like King Philip’s War (1675-76), the War of 1812, or nearly all the wars in the west involving Native Americans, are not. Yet virtually every American war has generated rapid, unexpected, and often unwanted social change. The Civil War, for example, led to emancipation, even though few Americans at the start of the conflict wanted or expected it. Similarly, World War I led directly to women gaining the right to vote. But wars have also led to profound changes in Americans have come to understand and define the role of the state, civil liberties, and the Constitution. This multimedia presentation examines these and many other compelling aspects of how war has made, and continues to shape, American history. Also available as a focused talk on a specific war such as World War II or Vietnam.

The Statue of Liberty: The Story of An American Icon: The Statue of Liberty is an icon, a national treasure, and one of the most recognizable figures in the world. Each year millions who cherish its ideals make the journey to experience its history and grandeur in person. Most visitors, in part because Ellis Island is close by, see the Statue as a symbol of freedom, inspiration, and hope for successive waves of immigrants to the U.S. They would be shocked to learn that the Statue originally had nothing to do with immigration. It was, rather, an extraordinary gift from the people of France to the people of the United States to commemorate the centennials of the American (1776) and French (1789) Revolutions, as well as celebrate the close relationship between the two countries. This presentation examines this origin story and how the Statue was gradually transformed into an immigration icon and a very powerful and pliable political symbol used to both condemn and celebrate immigration.

How Christmas Was Made in America: The religious origins of Christmas obviously have nothing to do with America, but so many aspects of the way the holiday is celebrated in our time did originate in the US. In this multimedia presentation we will discuss the rocky origins of the Christmas holiday in America (in most colonies it was ignored; in Massachusetts it was banned), as well as the sources of its exploding popularity in the 1800s. Along the way we’ll learn how the eight reindeer got their names, how Santa went from a stern 4th century bishop in Turkey to a jolly grandfatherly figure living at the North Pole, and why so many Christmas songs like “Rudolph” were written by Jewish songwriters. And we’ll consider the ways that Christmas has been the source of controversy, whether from lawsuits about displaying a creche on public property to the so-called “War of Christmas.”

The Greening of America: How the Irish Transformed the US: Virtually every chapter of American history has been shaped by the millions of immigrants who have arrived on these shores over the centuries. And none more so than the Irish. This multimedia talk will focus on the most crucial period of Irish arrival, roughly 1830-1930, when more than 5 million Irish immigrants arrived on American shores. The many themes it will examine include the immigration process, the struggle to establish themselves in America, the challenge of nativist hostility, efforts to assimilate while retaining key aspects of Irish culture, and the rise of key institutions like labor unions, political machines, and the Catholic Church. We’ll also examine what it means to be Irish American in the 21st century.

Uncle Sam, Lady Liberty, and All That: The History of American Symbols: Throughout the history of the United States, Americans have developed symbols to express their most cherished values, hopes, and institutions. These include familiar ones like the American flag, Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell, Uncle Sam, the White House, and the bald eagle. They also include symbols that challenge the establishment to promote social change – like the peace sign during anti-Vietnam War protests or the clenched fist of the Black Power movement. And what about all those now forgotten symbols that once carried so much significance—like the pineapple (hospitality), bee hive (hard work), and the ballot box (democracy)? This multimedia presentation explores the role of symbols in American history and these key questions: Where do these symbols come from? How have they functioned in society? How and why does their meaning change over time?

Why History Matters: How an Understanding of the Past Is Essential to Our Democracy: Almost everyone knows a variation of the quote by the philosopher George Santayana: “Those who do not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat its mistakes.” But do we really know why it’s important to study history? How much history shapes our current world? How myths and false claims about history fuel rage, partisanship, are political paralysis? This multimedia presentation will broaden participants’ understanding of the significance of history beyond some elusive notion of “learning lessons.” Focusing on historical topics such as the American Revolution, slavery, the abolitionist movement, the Civil War, Japanese Internment, and women’s suffrage, we’ll explore the five essential elements of history and how they hold the potential to strengthen our democracy, promote human rights, boost a healthy patriotism, and inform our public policy decisions on issues such as taxes, healthcare, war, and privacy.