ECW Welcomes Paige Gibbons Backus

A native of Wisconsin, Paige Gibbons Backus graduated from the University of Mary Washington with a bachelor’s degree in Historic Preservation, and George Mason University with a master’s degree in Applied History. She has been in the public history field for close to ten years focusing on educational programming and operations working at several historic sites throughout Northern Virginia including Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, Sully Historic Site, and Ellanor C. Lawrence Park. She currently serves Prince William County as the Historic Site Manager at Ben Lomond Historic Site (a Civil War hospital) and Lucasville School (a one-room African American schoolhouse).

When out of the office, Paige spends her time serving on the board of the Virginia Association of Museums, exploring, being outdoors, or researching her interests which include women’s history, as well as the more morbid side of history such as death, disease, medicine, murder, or scandal. Her published works include Witness to Peace and Strife: The History of Ben Lomond in Manassas, Virginia, as well as well as numerous articles published for a variety of publications such as Emerging Civil War, Virginia Association of Museum’s Voice Magazine, Civil War Traveler, and Prince William Living. She currently lives in Brentsville, Virginia, with her husband, Bill, and their two dogs, Barley and Bernard.

We are pleased to welcome Paige as an Emerging Civil War Author. She says: “I am excited and honored to be a part of such a professional and scholarly organization as Emerging Civil War. As a public historian and museum professional, I am always striving to contribute to the field as well as learn new information to better relate to and engage the public in America’s history. Working with Emerging Civil War is an amazing opportunity to work with an amazing group of fellow historians and be a part of a community that not only cares about the Civil War, but strives to engage it in meaningful and modern
ways.”