Participant Info

First Name
Holly
Last Name
White
Country
United States
State
VA Virginia
Affiliation
Website URL
Keywords
Childhood, Youth, Age, Family, Gender, Life Cycle, Early America, Early Republic, Legal History, Motherhood
Availability
Media Contact
Additional Contact Information
PhD
PhD

Personal Info

Photo
About Me

I am a historian of early America. My research focuses on the history of age, childhood, and youth as well as the histories of gender, family, and law in the early republic. I received my Ph.D. in early American history from the College of William & Mary in 2017; my MA in American History from the College of William & Mary in 2011; and my BA in History from the University of California, Davis in 2009.

My first book, Protecting the Innocents: Legal and Cultural Debates About Age and Ability in the Early United States is forthcoming with the University of Virginia Press in 2025. My other book project, Encountering Childhood in Vast Early America, an edited collection, is forthcoming with Routledge Press in 2024.

Recent Publications

“Considering ‘Double Age’ in the History of American Childhood and Youth: An Introduction,” The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth 15 (3), 355-361 (Fall 2022)

“Judging the Bodies of Children: Racial Science and Double Age as Legal Strategy in the Early United States,” The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth 15 (3), 399-409 (Fall 2022)

“Why Do We Still Have Archaic Age Laws in Modern America?”Washington Post, May 29th, 2019.

“Seeing Age in Early American Sources; or Considering a Visual Culture of Age” The Society for the Study of Children and Youth.Org, February 20th, 2019.

Contributor to “Roundtable: The History of Childhood and Youth” The Junto: A Group Blog on Early American History, November 2nd, 2018

“‘young appearance’: Assessing Age through Appearance in Early America” The Junto: A Group Blog on Early American History, September 18th, 2018

Media Coverage
Country Focus
United States
Expertise by Geography
United States
Expertise by Chronology
Pre-17th century, 17th century, 18th century, 19th century, Early Modern
Expertise by Topic
American Civil War, American Revolution, American Founding Era, Children & Youth, Family, Gender, Law, Race, Rebellion & Revolution, Sexuality, Women