Presenters, Guides & Historians Biographies

More Bios and Speakers to Come!
 

Presenters, Guides & Historians

Garry Adelman

A graduate of Michigan State University and Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, Garry Adelman is the award-winning author, co-author or editor of 20 books and 50 Civil War articles. He is the vice president of the Center for Civil War Photography and has been a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg for 25 years. He has conceived and drafted the text for wayside exhibits at ten battlefields, has given thousands of battlefield tours at more than 60 sites and has lectured at hundreds of locations across the country including the National Archives, the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian. He has appeared as a speaker on the BBC, C-Span, Pennsylvania Cable Network, American Heroes Channel, and on HISTORY where he was a chief consultant and talking head on the Emmy Award-winning show Gettysburg (2011) and Blood and Glory: The Civil War in Color (2015). He works full-time as Chief Historian at the American Battlefield Trust.

Sarah Kay Bierle 

Sarah Kay Bierle graduated from Thomas Edison State University with a BA in History, works in the Education Department at American Battlefield Trust, and volunteers as managing editor at Emerging Civil War. She has spent years exploring ways to share quality historical research in ways that will inform and inspire modern audiences, including school presentations, writing, and speaking engagements. Sarah has published three historical fiction books and her first nonfiction book, Call Out The Cadets: The Battle of New Market, is part of the Emerging Civil War series.

Andrew Dalton 

Andrew Dalton is Executive Director of the Adams County Historical Society and Beyond the Battle Museum. A 2019 graduate of Gettysburg College, he has received project funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and is the author of a book, Beyond the Run: The Emanuel Harmon Farm at Gettysburg (2013), as well as numerous journal articles. His work as a historian and non-profit executive has been featured in The Washington Post, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Harrisburg Patriot, and Hallowed Ground Magazine, among other publications. He is a frequent contributor and guest at the American Battlefield Trust, Gettysburg National Military Park, and Gettysburg College. From 2020-2023, Andrew spearheaded successful planning and fundraising efforts for the historical society's $12 million debt-free capital campaign to build its new history center and museum in Gettysburg. 

Daniel Davis

Dan Davis, Senior Education Manager at the American Battlefield Trust. He is a native of Fredericksburg, VA where his love for the Civil War began on childhood trips to local battlefields. Dan is a graduate of Longwood University with a bachelor’s degree in Public History. Dan has worked as a Ranger/Historian at Appomattox Court House National Historical Site and the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. He is the author or co-author of numerous books and articles on the Civil War. 

Codie Eash

Codie Eash serves as Director of Education and Museum Operations at Seminary Ridge Museum and Education Center in Gettysburg, and is a 2014 graduate of Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in communication/journalism and held a minor in history. In addition to museum tours and interpretation, he lectures for American Battlefield Trust conferences, National Park Service sites, historical societies, Civil War roundtables, educational groups, and other organizations. Codie is a founding contributor to the collaborative project Pennsylvania in the Civil War, writes book reviews for Civil War Monitor, and is a member of the Gettysburg Magazine editorial board.

Eric Gimbi, Jr.

I have been a full-time 8th-grade American History teacher in York County, Pennsylvania since 2019. Teaching history is my dream job, and I am lucky enough to get to do it in my home district with some of my best friends. Bobblehead George has allowed me to continue my love of history and opened doors that I never imagined would be possible. Besides history, I try to spend as much time as possible with my amazing wife and enjoy playing guitar, grappling, and coaching.

William Griffith 

William Griffith is a native of Branchburg, New Jersey and currently resides in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He received his BA in History from Shepherd University in 2014, and MA in Military History from Norwich University in 2018. His passion for history can be traced back to his first trip with his father to Fort William Henry along the southern shore of Lake George when he was five-years-old. William has been published in Garden State Legacy magazine and has written for the U.S. Navy Cruiser Sailors Association periodical, Emerging Civil War, The Journal of Civil War Medicine, and the American Battlefield Trust. While completing his undergraduate studies at Shepherd, he spent his time as a volunteer with the Gettysburg Foundation and the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War, and also worked as an intern and substitute librarian at the David Library of the American Revolution. He has previously worked as a historical interpreter with both Fort Frederick State Park in Big Pool, Maryland, and with the Prince William County (Virginia) Office of Historic Preservation. He currently serves as Leadership Program Coordinator for the Gettysburg Foundation, as a Revolution Fellow for the American Battlefield Trust, and leads tours as a Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide. When not indulging himself in military history, he can be found closely following his second passion: the New York Yankees. William’s first book, The Battle of Lake George: England’s First Triumph in the French and Indian War, was released by The History Press on September 5, 2016. He is also the author of A Handsome Flogging: The Battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778, which was released in 2020 as part of Savas Beatie’s Emerging Revolutionary War Series.

Dr. Chris Mackowski

Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Emerging Civil War. He is the series editor of the award-winning Emerging Civil War Series, published by Savas Beatie, and the “Engaging the Civil War” Series, published in partnership with Southern Illinois University Press. Chris is a professor of journalism and mass communication at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, NY, and historian-in-residence at Stevenson Ridge, a historic property on the Spotsylvania battlefield in central Virginia. He has also worked as a historian for the National Park Service at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, where he gives tours at four major Civil War battlefields (Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania), as well as at the building where Stonewall Jackson died. Chris has authored or co-authored a dozen books on the Civil War, and his articles have appeared in all the major Civil War magazines. 

Wayne Motts

Wayne E. Motts is a native of central Ohio who has lived and worked outside the Gettysburg Battlefield in Pennsylvania for nearly four decades. Wayne graduated with a BA in the field of military history from the Ohio State University and holds an MA in American History from the Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. He is the President Emeritus & Historian of the Gettysburg Foundation which is the philanthropic non-profit partner of Gettysburg National Military Park and the Eisenhower National Historic Site. He is the author of Trust in God and Fear Nothing: Gen. Lewis A. Armistead, CSA and the co-author (with James A. Hessler) of Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg: A Guide to the Most Famous Attack in American History. Wayne has been a licensed battlefield guide at the Gettysburg National Military Park for the past 36 years.

James "Jim" Percoco

A nationally recognized history educator and author, Jim taught for 32 years at West Springfield High School in Fairfax County prior to joining the Loudoun School for Advanced Studies faculty in 2016. Jim is the recipient of numerous teaching awards including: Outstanding Social Studies Teacher of the Year at the Walt Disney Company American Teacher Awards, the Archivist's Award for Achievement presented by the National Archives and Records Administration, the Mount Vernon Teacher of the Year Award, and the Civil War Trust's Teacher of the Year to name a few. In June 2024 he was picked as the Best Middle School Teacher in “The Best of Ashburn” issue for Ashburn Magazine. He has also written a number of books, such as A Passion for the Past: Creative Teaching of US History, and Summers with Lincoln: Looking for the Man in the Monument. He has appeared on C-Span and Book TV. In 2011, Jim was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. A devotee of Thomas Merton, Jim aspires to Merton's conviction that “We do not exist for ourselves alone, and it is only when we are fully convinced of this that we begin to love ourselves properly and thus also love others. What do I mean by loving ourselves properly? I mean, first of all, desiring to live, accepting life as a very great gift and a great good, not because of what it gives us, but because of what it enables us to give others.”

Jonathan Pinkerton 

Biography coming soon. 

David Raymond

Since 1995, I have taught American History to 8th graders in York County, Pennsylvania.   Bobblehead George has given me the opportunity to enjoy my passion of teaching history in new and unique ways.  Along the way, I have made many new friends, collaborated with amazing organizations, and have visited places that I never thought possible.   When I'm not teaching history I'm incredibly passionate about spending time with my family, riding my bike, and spending time in the great outdoors.

Robert "Bob" Rinehart 

Bob Rinehart was born in York, PA and graduated from West York High School (1983). He worked in television production for eight years after graduating from High School. During this time, the station (Cable-4-York) and Bob earned several awards for Excellence in their productions. Bob has a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education – Social Studies from York College of Pennsylvania (1994) and a Master’s Degree in Administration and Supervision from Loyola College of Maryland (2001). He was named Preservation Teacher of the Year by the American Battlefield Trust (then the Civil War Trust) in 2004, was awarded the American Battlefield Trust Chairman’s Award in 2010, and was named the Gilder/Lehrman Maryland Teacher of the Year in 2014. Bob has volunteered for the American Battlefield Trust since 2004 for both the Summer Teacher’s Institute and the member Annual Conference. He is married to his wife Maureen, and they have five children ranging from 17 – 25 years of age.

Timothy H. "Tim" Smith 

Timothy H. Smith has been a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg National Military Park for over 25 years and is currently the Director of Education at the Adams County Historical Society (ACHS). He was also named County Historian in 2023. Tim has been involved with ACHS since the late 1980s when he began volunteering as a research assistant. He is the author of ten books and numerous articles about the Civil War, the Gettysburg Campaign, and a host of other local history topics. Tim is also a historical consultant for the American Battlefield Trust and a frequent lecturer at Civil War Round Tables and Seminars, and appears regularly on the Pennsylvania Cable Network’s Battle Walks Series. Tim is recognized as one of the leading experts on the Battle of Gettysburg and all aspects of Adams County history.

Kristopher D. White 

Kris is the director of education & events at the American Battlefield Trust. White is a graduate of Norwich University with an M.A. in Military History and California University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in History. He served as a ranger-historian at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. He has also served the Penn-Trafford Recreation Board as a historian, and as a continuing education instructor for the Community College of Allegheny County. White is the co-founder and chief historian emeritus of Emerging Civil War and co-creator of the Emerging Civil War Series. An award-winning speaker and editor, White has authored, co-authored, or edited some two dozen books, including four covering the Battle of Gettysburg. Kris frequently leads tours and staff rides in the United States and Europe.

More guides, presenters & historians will be announced soon.