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John & Abigail Adams Living Room
Jefferson, Adams & Franklin writing the Declaration of Independence
The Adams Scholars
The Scholars Program connects authors and scholars who are knowledgeable about the Adams Family with the Adams Memorial Foundation and its work. They lend their expertise to this important public education initiative and amplify the Adams family's enduring legacy, with the goal of informing and inspiring the public about this crucial chapter in American history. The scholars’ biographies and books can be seen below.
Dr. Lindsay M. Chervinsky
Dr. Lindsay M. Chervinsky is a historian of the presidency, political culture, and the government. She is the Executive Director of the George Washington Presidential Library. Her research can be found in publications from op-eds to books, speaking on podcasts and other media, and teaching for every kind of audience.
Dr. Chervinsky’s book, "The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution," was published in 2020 (paperback February 2022). She also co-edited "Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture" (2023). She is a regular guest on podcasts and appears frequently on the "Listening to America" podcast. She is the creator of the Audible course, "The Best and Worst Presidential Cabinets in U.S. History." Her newest book, "Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents that Forged the Republic," was published on in 2024.
Books by
Dr. Chervinsky
Dr. John Ferling
John Ferling is the author of several books on the American Revolution and the Early American Republic, including "Winning Independence: The Decisive Years of the Revolutionary War," published in 2021 by Bloomsbury Press. Ferling’s books on the American Revolution include "Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson and the American Revolution (2000)," Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence (2007)," Independence: The Struggle to Set America Free (2011)," and "Whirlwind: The American Revolution and the War That Won It (2015)."
He has also authored biographies of George Washington and John Adams, and a study of the lives and philosophies of Jefferson and Hamilton. The Adams biography is "John Adams: A Life" (1992) and remains available in a paperback edition. "Whirlwind" was a 2015 finalist for the Kirkus Prize. "Almost A Miracle and A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic" (2003) won prizes as the best books of the year on the American Revolution era.
He had a 40-year teaching career, most of it at the University of West Georgia in suburban Atlanta. He retired from teaching in 2004 in order to have more time for writing. He has appeared on National Public Radio, in several television documentaries, and he has been a guest on C-Span’s “Booknotes,” “Q&A,” and “In Depth” programs. He and his wife, Carol, live in metropolitan Atlanta.
Books by
Dr. Ferling
Dr. Marianne Holdzkom
Marianne Holdzkom has been fascinated with John Adams since the Bicentennial, when she saw the musical "1776." Her expertise in drama and history animates her teaching and her scholarship. She is an associate professor of history at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia, where she specializes in the colonial and revolutionary periods of United States history.
Her book, "Remembering John Adams: The Second President in History, Memory and Popular Culture" (2023), offers the first comprehensive overview of our second president’s place in memory and popular culture. She has further disseminated the story of this underappreciated Founding Father through podcasts, interviews, public lectures, and her Facebook page.
Dr. Woody Holton
Dr. Woody Holton is the McCausland Professor of History at the University of South Carolina and an award-winning historian specializing in the American Revolution, the Founding Era, and early American politics. He is the author of several acclaimed books, including the Bancroft Prize-winning "Abigail Adams" (2019), which offers a fresh perspective on one of America's most influential founding figures and her role in shaping the nation's future.
Dr. Brooks D. Simpson
Brooks D. Simpson is ASU Foundation Professor of History at Arizona State University. He writes and speaks on American political and military history, especially during the era of the American Civil War and Reconstruction, as well as the American presidency; he is most recognized for his scholarship about Ulysses S. Grant. Among his books is "The Political Education of Henry Adams" (1996), and he has spoken several times on C-SPAN about the Adams family heritage through the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Dr. Randall B. Woods
Woods received his Ph.D. in History from the University of Texas at Austin in 1972. He has been employed continuously as a faculty member at the University of Arkansas since 1971, being promoted from Instructor to Distinguished Professor. He has served as both Associate Dean and Dean of The J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. Courses taught focus on U.S. Diplomatic and Political History. He has served as president of both the Arkansas Humanities Council and the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations and has been a visiting distinguished professor at both Williams College and the University of Oxford.
He is the author of 10 books, including "Fulbright: A Biography," "LBJ: Architect of American Ambition," "Shadow Warrior: William E. Colby and the CIA," and most recently "John Quincy Adams: A Man for the Whole People" published this past June. Both "Fulbright" and "LBJ" were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award."LBJ" and "Shadow Warrior" were New York Times editors’ choices. He is married with two children and four grandchildren and resides in Fayetteville, AR.