Kenneth W. Howell received his B.S. degree in history from the University of Texas—Tyler, his M.A. degree in history from Texas A&M University—Commerce, and his Ph. D. in history from Texas A&M University in College Station. Dr. Howell taught for 12 years in the Texas public school system before becoming an Assistant Professor of History at Prairie View A&M University. He has also taught at Texas A&M University in College Station, Blinn College in Bryan, and Trinity Valley Community College in Athens. Dr. Howell is the author or coauthor of several publications that focus on Texas and southern history, including Henderson County, Texas, 1846-1861: An Antebellum History (Austin: Eakin Press, 1999); The Devil’s Triangle: Ben Bickerstaff, Northeast Texans, and the War of Reconstruction (Best of East Texas Publishers, 2007); Texas Confederate, Reconstruction Governor: James Webb Throckmorton (Texas A&M University, 2008); "George Adams: A Cowboy All His Life," in Black Cowboy of Texas, ed. Sarah Massey (College Station: Texas A&M Press, 2000); “Expanded Opportunities: Black Women in the Modern Era, 1974-2000,” in Black Women in Texas History (Texas A&M University Press, 2008); and articles and book reviews in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, East Texas State Historical Journal, Southern Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the South, The Southern Historian, West Texas Historical Association Yearbook, the Journal of South Texas, and Diálogos Latinamericanos.

Keith J. Volanto earned a M.A. in History from California State University, Sacramento in 1990, and a Ph.D. in History from Texas A&M University in 1998. He is currently Professor of History at Collin College in Plano, Texas where he teaches Texas and American history courses. In 2005, Dr. Volanto published Texas, Cotton, and the New Deal, which was a finalist for the best book in Texas history awarded by the Texas State Historical Association. He is also the author of five scholarly articles covering twentieth-century Texas and other historical topics, as well as numerous book reviews and encyclopedia entries.

James M. Smallwood s Emeritus Professor of History at Oklahoma State University. He has also taught at Texas A&M at Commerce, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Texas Tech University, the University of Texas at Tyler, Seton Hall University in New Jersey, and the University of Kyoto, Japan. He is the author of sixteen books. His Time of Hope, Time of Despair: Black Texans during Reconstruction won the Texas State Historical Association’s Coral Tullis Award in 1982 for the best book of the year on Texas history. His most recent book, The Indian Texans (College Station: Texas A&M University Press), won the Texas Library Association’s 2005 Texas Reference Source Award. Other publications include Murder & Mayhem: Texas in the War of Reconstruction (College Station: Texas A&M Press, 2003) and The Feud That Wasn't: The Taylor Ring, Bill Sutton, John Wesley Hardin, and Violence in Texas (College Station: Texas A&M Press, 2008), which won the Texas State Historical Association’s Coral Tullis Award for 2009. Dr. Smallwood is the only author to have won the award twice. Dr. Smallwood has also edited fourteen books, including ten on the writings of Will Rogers, Oklahoma’s Favorite Son. He is a fellow of both the Texas State Historical Association and the East Texas Historical Association.

Charles D. Grear received his Ph.D. in history at Texas Christian University. As an Assistant Professor of History at Prairie View A&M University he teaches the United States history survey courses as well as advanced courses in early American, Latin American, and public history. A specialist in Texas and Civil War history, he has authored three articles, four book chapters, edited an anthology for the University of Arkansas Press titled The Fate of Texas: The Civil War and the Lone Star State, and is currently revising his dissertation “In Defense of my Native State: Why Texans Fought in the Civil War,” which has been accepted for publication with Texas A&M University Press. In addition to these projects he is co-editing an anthology with Alexander Mendoza on the diverse roles of Texans in military conflicts and co-editing with Steven E. Woodworth the Civil War Campaigns in the Heartland Series for Southern Illinois University Press.

Jennifer S. Lawrence is an Assistant Professor of History at Tarrant County College . She teaches at the Southeast Campus located in Arlington, Texas. She earned a B.A. and a M.A. in history from Angelo State University and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University . She has taught at Texas A&M University and Blinn College in addition to her current position. Dr. Lawrence has taught courses in twentieth century American history, women's history, and Western Civilization, as well as her courses on the history of Texas . She has taught as part of the Honors program at both Tarrant County College and Texas A&M. She has presented scholarly papers at the meetings of the Texas State Historical Association, the Mid-America Conference on History, and the Popular Culture Association.

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