Thomas A. Desjardin (born June 10, 1964) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 historian who has written books on the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 and American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

.

Desjardin was born at St. Mary's Hospital, now Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center (Maine)

Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center (Maine)

Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center is a hospital at 45 Golder Street in Lewiston, Maine adjacent to Bates College.-History:The original late-Gothic style hospital building was built in 1902 and added to the National Historic Register in 1987. The hospital was founded in June 1888 by the Sisters...

 in Lewiston, Maine

Lewiston, Maine

Lewiston is a city in Androscoggin County in Maine, and the second-largest city in the state. The population was 41,592 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included within the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine...

.

Academic career

Desjardin earned a bachelor's degree in government and a master's degree in communication from Florida State University

Florida State University

The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...

, where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta

Phi Gamma Delta

The international fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta is a collegiate social fraternity with 120 chapters and 18 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848, and its headquarters are located in Lexington, Kentucky, USA...

 fraternity. He holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Maine

University of Maine

The University of Maine is a public research university located in Orono, Maine, United States. The university was established in 1865 as a land grant college and is referred to as the flagship university of the University of Maine System...

 and has taught at his alma mater (FSU), at Bowdoin College

Bowdoin College

Bowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...

, and the University of Maine

University of Maine

The University of Maine is a public research university located in Orono, Maine, United States. The university was established in 1865 as a land grant college and is referred to as the flagship university of the University of Maine System...

. He is also a former fellow at the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, founded in New York by Richard Gilder and Lewis E. Lehrman in 1994, was set up to promote the study and love of American history.The Institute serves teachers, students, scholars, and the general public...

 in New York City.

Books

• Stand Firm Ye Boys From Maine: The 20th Maine and the Gettysburg Campaign (Oxford University Press) ISBN 0-19514-082-6
• These Honored Dead: How the Story of Gettysburg Shaped American Memory (DaCapo Press) ISBN 0-30681-267-3
• Through A Howling Wilderness: Benedict Arnold's March to Quebec, 1775 (St. Martins Press) ISBN 0-31233-904-6
• Joshua L. Chamberlain: A Handbook (Greystone Communications) ISBN 1-892636-15-8

Television & Film

1993 - Feature Film Gettysburg (1993 film). Historical advisor to actor Jeff Daniels

Jeff Daniels

Jeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels is an American actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan...

1999 & 2006 C-SPAN

C-SPAN

C-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...

's Book TV

Book TV

Book TV is the name given to weekend programming on the American cable network C-SPAN2 airing from 8 a.m. Eastern Time Saturday morning to 8 a.m. Eastern Time Monday morning each week. The 48 hour block of programming is focused on non-fiction books and authors, featuring programs in the format of...

1999 - History Channel - Unknown Civil War series - on air historical consultant

2000 - History Channel - Joshua L. Chamberlain

2000 - A&E Network

A&E Network

The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...

 - Biography

Seminole Trivia

While a student at FSU in 1984, Desjardin was the emcee at a pep rally and introduced the famous "Seminole War Chant" to FSU fans for the first time.

Career

A former archivist/historian at Gettysburg National Military Park

Gettysburg National Military Park

The Gettysburg National Military Park is an administrative unit of the National Park Service's northeast region and a subunit of federal properties of Adams County, Pennsylvania, with the same name, including the Gettysburg National Cemetery...

, much of his historical research has been devoted to Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, on the mythology of the Gettysburg

Battle of Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...

 story, and Maine history. His work was twice nominated for the prestigious Lincoln Prize

Lincoln Prize

The Lincoln Prize, endowed by Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman and administered by the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, has been awarded annually since 1991 for the best non-fiction historical work of the year on the American Civil War. It is named for U.S...

. Desjardin has appeared in nationally televised documentaries numerous times and was the historical consultant for actor Jeff Daniels

Jeff Daniels

Jeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels is an American actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan...

 in his role as Chamberlain in the 1993 movie Gettysburg. He now serves as the historian for Maine's Department of Conservation.

Sources

• The Florida State Times http://one.fsu.edu/community/page.aspx?pid=1203
  
• Stand Firm Ye Boys From Maine: The 20th Maine and the Gettysburg Campaign (Oxford University Press) ISBN 0-19514-082-6