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Department of History

Megan VanGorder

Assistant Professor
Megan's Profile Image
Office
SCH Schroeder Hall 301
Office Hours
Mondays and Wednesdays, 10 am-12 pm and by appointment.
Office Phone
(309) 438-7212office
phone
Email
mmvang1@ilstu.eduemail
  • About
  • Education
  • Awards & Honors
  • Selected Research

Biography

Megan VanGorder is an Assistant Professor of History at Illinois State University.

Current Courses

HIS 259.001 History Of Illinois

HIS 300.003 Senior Seminar In History

Teaching Interests & Areas

History and Social Sciences Education, Illinois, Social Medicine, Nineteenth Century US, Women's History

Research Interests & Areas

Nineteenth Century U.S. Social Histories
Microhistories
Place-based Histories
Illinois History

PhD History

Nothern Illinois University
DeKalb, Illinois

MA History

Adams State University, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

BA History

Illinois State University
Normal, IL

Indiana Association of Historians' James H. Madison Prize for Best Article

Indiana Association of Historians
2026

Book Review

Review of The Strange and Tragic Wounds of George Cole’s America: A Tale of Manhood, Sex, and Ambition in the Civil War Era
Megan VanGorder.
(2026), 131, 476-477, https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhaf682, American Historical Review
The Sentimental State: How Women-Led Reform Built the American Welfare State by Elizabeth Garner Masarik (review)
Megan VanGorder.
(2025), 15, 393-396, 10.1353/cwe.2025.a968370, The Journal of the Civil War Era
Review of Medicine, Science, and Making Race in Civil War America
Megan VanGorder.
(2023), H-Net
Review of Opium Slavery: Civil War Veterans and America’s First Opioid Crisis, by Jonathan S. Jones
Megan VanGorder.
H-Net
Review of The Surgeon's Battle: How Medicine Won the Vicksburg Campaign and Changed the Civil War, by Lindsay Rae Smith Privette
Megan VanGorder.
Journal of American History

Book, Authored

A Mother's Work: Mary Bickerdyke, Civil War-Era Nurse
Megan VanGorder.
(2026), University of North Carolina Press

Book, Chapter

““Your Friend as Ever, A. Lincoln” and Those who Claimed his Friendship,”
Megan VanGorder.
Wiley Blackwell Companion to Abraham Lincoln, Wiley Blackwell

Journal Article

Imagining the Past: Generative AI Prompting, Source Sets, and the TAP(E) Protocol
Megan VanGorder.
The History Teacher, 49 (1), (2025), https://doi.org/10.33043/7753574bb
Special Acts of Justice: Mary Bickerdyke and the Extension of Civil War Veteran Care
Megan VanGorder.
Indiana Magazine of History, Indiana University Press, 121 (2), pp. 69-102, (2025), 10.2979/imh.00070
Grounding History Instruction: Engaging Place and Scale through Iterative Local Inquiry Design
Megan VanGorder.
The Councilor, A National Journal of the Social Studies, 86 (1), (2023)

Magazine/Trade Publication

Setting the Record Straight: Mrs. Adaline Tyler and Civil War medical advocacy
Megan VanGorder.
Civil War Monitor, (2025)

Presentations

“‘She Ranks Me’: Gender, Power, and the Politics of Care in Civil War Hospitals”
Megan VanGorder.
Society of Civil War Historians Ninth Biennial Conference, Richmond, Virginia, June, 2026