E. Wayne Carp
Benson Chair, Emeritus
- Professional
- Biography
Additional Titles/Roles
- Professor of History
Education
- Ph.D., American History, University of California, Berkeley, 1981
- M.A., American History, University of California, Berkeley, 1973
- B.A., American History, University of California, Berkeley, 1972
Areas of Emphasis or Expertise
- American Business and Economic History
- Families and Children in American History
- American Society and the Vietnam War
- American Slavery
- Colonial America
- American Revolutionary Era
Books
- Jean Paton and the Struggle to Reform American Adoption (University of Michigan Press 2014) : View Book
- Adoption Politics: Bastard Nation and Ballot Initiative 58 (University Press of Kansas 2004) : View Book
- Adoption in America: Historical Perspectives edited by E. Wayne Carp (University of Michigan Press 2002) : View Book
- Family Matters: Secrecy and Disclosure in the History of Adoption (Harvard University Press 1998) : View Book
- To Starve the Army at Pleasure: Continental Army Administration and American Political Culture, 1775 - 1783 (University of North Carolina Press, 1984) : View Book
Selected Presentations
- Invited Speaker, 2014 Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture’s Fifth International Conference on Adoption: “Adoption Crossing Boundaries”, Book Session: E. Wayne Carp, “Jean Paton and the Struggle to Reform American Adoption”, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL (March 27-30, 2014)
- Invited Panelist, 2012 Annual Meeting of the Social Science History Association, Book Session: John E. Murray, 'A World of Children: The Charleston Orphan House,1790-1860” (University of Chicago Press, 2012), Vancouver, British Columbia (November 1-4, 2012)
- Invited Speaker, 2012 Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture’s Fourth International Conference on Adoption and Culture, "Mapping Adoption: Histories, Geographies, Literatures, and Politics.” Paper: “The Christian and the Atheist: Jean Paton and Madalyn Murray O’Hair and How the Stigma of Illegitimacy in the 1950s Radicalized their Lives”, The Claremont Colleges, CA (March 22–25, 2012)
Selected Articles
- "The Sentimentalization of Adoption: A Critical Note On Viviana Zelizer’s Pricing the Priceless Child." Adoption & Culture Vol. 5, forthcoming.
- "The History of the Law of Adoption in the United States." Bibliography issue, Adoption & Culture Vol. 4, 2014: 32-42.
- "The History of Orphans and Orphanages in the United States." Bibliography issue, Adoption & Culture Vol. 4, 2014: 43-51.
Accolades
- Chair, Grace Abbott Award, Society for the History of Childhood and Youth, 2014
- Chair, Merle Curti Award, Organization of American Historians, 2013-2014
- Fulbright Distinguished Lectureship, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. Spring, 2008
- Regency Advancement Award, Pacific Lutheran University, 2009-2010
- National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for College Teachers and Independent Scholars, 2001-2002
Biography
E. Wayne Carp, Benson Family Chair Emeritus, was a Professor of History at Pacific Lutheran University, where he has taught US history for 30 years. He retired in 2016. He is the recipient of numerous honors including several NEH fellowships and a Fulbright Distinguished Lectureship to Seoul, South Korea where he taught at Yonsei University in 2008. In addition to numerous articles, his major publications include Family Matters: Secrecy and Disclosure in the History of Adoption (Harvard University Press,1998) and Adoption Politics: Bastard Nation and Ballot Initiative 48 (University of Kansas Press, 2004). He is also the editor of Adoption in America: Historical Perspectives (University of Michigan Press, 2002).
E. Wayne Carp’s recently completed book, Jean Paton and the Struggle to Reform American Adoption has been published by the University of Michigan in the Fall 2013. Several chapters from the book have recently been published including, “The Evolution of a Reformer: Jean Paton and the Early Decades of Sealed-Adoption Records, 1949-1980,” in Adoption & Culture, 3 (2012): 33-62 and “The Atheist and the Christian: Madalyn Murray O’Hair, Jean Paton, and the Stigma of the 1950s,” in The Journal of the Historical Society 12:2 (2012): 205-227. A third article, “Jean Paton, Christian Adoption, and Reunification of Families” was published in the Journal of Christian Legal Thought, 2:1 (spring 2012): 1-22 and can be read online at http://www.clsnet.org/document.doc?id=357/. Professor Carp was recently selected by the Organization of American Historians as Chair of the 2013 Curti Prize Committee (The Merle Curti Prize is awarded annually by the Organization of American Historians, the most prestigious and influential US historical organization, for the best book in American social and/or intellectual history).
For additional information about Professor Carp, go to https://sites.google.com/a/plu.edu/e-wayne-carp/.