Mark Metzler Sawin

Now, a new book by Mark Metzler Sawin, associate professor of history, sheds new light on Kane through his cultural biography, Raising Kane: Elisha Kent Kane and the Culture of Fame in Antebellum America.

Dr. Sawin, who joined the 91短视频 faculty in 2001, is on sabbatical for the 2008-09 academic year. He is currently serving as a Fulbright scholar on the faculty of philosophy at the University of Zagreb in the central European nation of Croatia. During his year in the capital city, he is teaching American cultural studies courses and helping launch a PhD program in American studies. He will return to Harrisonburg in July 2009.

The 350-page paperback examines how Elisha Kent Kane used his family’s influence with the burgeoning popular press to promote himself, turning his globe-traveling adventures into best-selling books that inspired and thrilled the nation in the years leading up to the Civil War.

Hero of the Age

“At the time of his untimely death in 1857, Kane was the hero of the age,” Sawin said. “The nation mourned his death via a funeral procession that lasted nearly a month as his casket wound from New Orleans to Philadelphia in a funeral procession that is, to date, second only to Abraham Lincoln’s.”

Sawin’s book examines how Kane methodologically constructed his fame, but also the price this fame exacted, preventing him from marrying the woman he loved and ultimately, and ironically, leading to him being largely forgotten withing a generation after his death.

“Following Kane’s exploits from the Mexican War through his Arctic adventures and ill-fated romance with the Spiritualist medium Margaret Fox, Mark Sawin ties this singular figure into the main currents of mid-nineteenth century popular culture, opening a new vista on the meanings of masculinity, celebrity, and heroism,” notes reviewer Robert S. Cox of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

“This work comprises two initiatives: a new and exhaustive research work into the life and accomplishments of a remarkable adventurer, as well as a sociological analysis of popular perceptions of Kane’s work and feats,” noted Charles O. Cowing, chairman of the Elisha Kent Kane Historical Society.

Sawin said of his book, “Kane is a fascinating and wonderfully-flawed character. His reckless exploits, unabashed self-promotion and tumultuous love affair with spirit-rapper Maggie Fox sound more like fiction than fact. I just hope my book conveys this remarkable life in a way that engages readers as much a Kane’s letters, journals, and life have engrossed my attention over the past decade.”

“My goal was to shed a bit of light on this tumultuous and exciting era of US history,” Sawin added. “It was the age of the American Literary Renaissance, of the rise of the popular press and of massive and aggressive Manifest Destiny, all of which addressed and helped fuel the internal conflicts that ultimately led to the Civil War.”

Sawin received his PhD in American studies from the University of Texas at Austin. He is past president of the Middle-Atlantic American Studies Association and is currently beginning work on Ned Buntline, a popular 19th author who wrote over 140 “best-selling” pulp-novels, including a series of Westerns that launched the career of William “Buffalo Bill” Cody.

Sawin’s current book, published by the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, is available from the 91短视频 bookstore and other book outlets and from Amazon.com.

An 91短视频 professor has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture at the University of Zagreb in the central European nation of Croatia during the 2008-09 academic year.

Mark Metzler Sawin, associate professor of history at 91短视频, is focusing on themes related to “constructing identity: teaching and the cultural work of history and literature” at the university in the capital city of Zagreb from September 2008 through June 2009.

The Fulbright program, America’s flagship international educational program, is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The program was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas.

Since its inception, some 286,500 people – 108,160 Americans have studied, taught or done research abroad while 178,340 students, scholars and teachers from other countries have engaged in similar activities in the U.S. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.

91短视频’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding has welcomed more than 60 Fulbright fellows into graduate programs in conflict transformation, peacebuilding and trauma healing since 2000. The program continues to enroll one to three Fulbright-funded scholars each year.

Fulbright award recipients are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement as well as demonstrated leadership in their fields.

Sawin, who joined the 91短视频 faculty in 2001, completed his undergraduate work in English at Goshen (Ind.) College and earned MA and PhD degrees in American studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

He is the author of the forthcoming book on Arctic explorer Elisha Kent Kane, “Raising Kane: Dr. Kane and the Consequences of Fame in Antebellum America” (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 2008).

Metzler is active in researching local African-American history and is president of the Mid-Atlantic American Studies Association.

More information on the Fulbright Program is available at .