August M. Butler

Bio

August Butler received the PhD from William & Mary in 2019 for a dissertation entitled "Making a Home Out of No Home: 'Colored' Orphan Asylums in Virginia, 1867–1930."  It explores how these institutions functioned as sites of racial renegotiation in postwar Virginia, and how they can serve as a lens on Southern visions of the future in an uncertain moment. August graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in History and Psychology from Texas A&M University in 2010, and an M.A. from William & Mary in 2014 with a thesis on the role of toys and literature in nationalizing children in the early republic. 

August was an apprentice with the Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture from 2012-2013; they received the Colonial Dames Fellowship in Historical Editing in June 2013 and the Christopher Wren Association Fellowship in Historical Editing in June 2014. They served as Treasurer of the History Graduate Student Association from 2013-2015 and President for 2015-2016. August has worked with the National Institute of American History & Democracy since 2008.