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Lindsay Rae Smith Privette
College of Arts and Sciences
College of Arts and Sciences
Associate Professor of History
lprivette@andersonuniversity.edu
Watkins 140
Academic Background
Born and raised in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Lindsay Rae Smith Privette grew up walking the bluffs and ravines that make up Vicksburg National Military Park. Thus, a historian was born. By her senior year in high school, she had landed a job serving as a summer seasonal at VNMP. Dr. Privette specializes in American social and military history, examining the role that the Civil War played in the evolution of the American medical profession during the second half of the nineteenth century. Her first book, The Surgeon’s Battle: How Medicine Won the Vicksburg Campaign and Changed the Civil War is forthcoming with UNC Press.
BA in History, Baylor University
MA in History, University of Alabama
Ph.D in History, University of Alabama
Fast Facts
For me, history is not just about names, dates, and events– it’s about people. It is about the shared story of humanity and how that story helps us understand who we are today. I teach with the belief that every person we study–king or commoner, heroes or flawed leaders– matters. They all have something to teach us, because all are part of God’s greater narrative.
I want students to leave my class not just knowing what happened, but to understand why it happened. Consequently, I strive to create a classroom environment that is rooted in respect, empathy, and a recognition of the density in every human being. I encourage my students to think deeply, ask questions, and wrestle with the complexities of history. Through that process, we learn to respond to the world today with greater wisdom and grace.
I was honored to receive a $10,000 grant from the state of South Carolina to develop a series of Traveling Trunks– hands- on teaching kits designed to help local teachers bring the American Revolution to life in their own classroom. Each trunk is filled with curated primary sources, replica artifacts, and interactive activities that make this period in our nation’s history more engaging and meaningful for students. Read more about the Traveling Trunk project here: https://andersonuniversity.edu/news/a-revolutionary-idea-traveling-trunks-for-schools/
I work hard to bridge the gap between studying history within the classroom and understanding real world implications. One of the most meaningful experiences I offer is through a course called Tragedy and Memory. In this class, we explore how society remembers difficult chapters in its history. To bring this idea of life, I take students on a field trip to local monuments and public history sites. Read more about these this class and our experiences in the field here: https://andersonuniversity.edu/news/appreciating-andersons-african-american-history/
United States History, Nineteenth-Century, Civil War and Reconstruction, Military History, History of Medicine, Environmental History, Emotions History
Monographs:
- The Surgeon’s Battle: How Medicine Won the Vicksburg Campaign and Changed the Civil War, forthcoming with University of North Carolina Press, fall 2025.
Articles and Book Chapters:
- “A Hard Place to Be Well: Soldiers’ Health and the Environment during the Vicksburg Campaign,” The Journal of Mississippi History LXXXVI, no. 3 and 4 (Fall/Winter, 2024): 59-84.
- “Contaminated Water and Dehydration during the Vicksburg Campaign,” In American Discord: The Republic and its People in the Civil War Era, edited by Lesley J. Gordon, Megan L. Bever, and Laura Mammina, 99-115. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2020.
- “’We Yet Survive’: Physician Patient Relationships and the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1853,” Social History of Medicine 32, issue 1 (February 2019): 80-98
- “More than Paper and Ink: Confederate Medical Literature and the Making of the Army Medical Corps,” Civil War History 64, 1 (March 2018): 30-55.
Popular Articles and Websites:
- “Invaders in a Foreign Land: Nature, Climate, and the Vicksburg Campaign,” ANZASA Online, February 24, 2020
- “Out of the Shadows Redux: A Graduate Student’s Thoughts at the SHA,” Muster: Reflections on Popular Culture Brought to you by the Journal of the Civil War Era, November 18, 2016. (Published as Lindsay Rae Smith)