Amy Stallings

 

Adjunct Lecturer of History & NIAHD

acgreen@wm.edu
Regional Areas of Research: Early America
Thematic Areas of Research: Colonial Virginia, Atlantic World, Material Culture

 

Amy Stallings’s association with NIAHD began during her freshman year at William & Mary, when she enrolled in one of the Institute’s seminars. This set her on a course to join NIAHD’s undergraduate program and inspired her to work for NIAHD’s Summer Pre-College Program in American History as a Resident Program Assistant and historic dance mistress. After obtaining her BA in History in 2006, she resumed her studies as a graduate student, specializing in early American history with an outside field of Tudor/Stuart Britain. Her Masters’ Thesis, “‘Dance, Dance Revolution’: The Function of Dance in American Politics, 1763-1800,” received the 2008-2009 Distinguished Thesis Award. Shortly thereafter, Stallings was honored with the 2010-2011 John Selby Fellowship for excellence in teaching. While writing her dissertation, she moved into the role of Instructor for the NIAHD Pre-College Program, as well as assisting Dr. Jim Whittenburg with his seminars throughout the academic calendar. Since obtaining her PhD in 2016, she has frequently served as an adjunct professor of history for NIAHD classes such as Colonial and Revolutionary Williamsburg and the Era of Jamestown as well as two classes that she developed, Mythologizing Virginia and Vanished Virginia.

Stallings began working for Jamestown Rediscovery in April 2022, helping to develop both third-person tours and first-person programs about the women of Jamestown.  She has researched, written, sewn costumes for, and presented a range of character interpretations to the public, ranging from a tobacco bride to an indentured servant to the wife of Governor Sir William Berkeley. Stallings is delighted to have the opportunity to marry her scholarly interests with her theatrical background, bringing to life the challenges and triumphs of seventeenth-century women with an informed imagination. Most recently, she conducted a session of her Era of Jamestown class while costumed as Lady Frances Berkeley for CSPAN’s Lectures in History.