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JOHN W. TROUTMAN
Division of Culture and the Arts
National Museum of American History
14th St & Constitution Ave NW
Washington DC 20013-7012
troutmanj@si.edu
http://americanhistory.si.edu/profile/1278
Areas of Expertise:
U.S. 19th and 20th century cultural history; U.S. popular/vernacular music history; American Indian and Native Hawaiian history
Current Position:
Interim Chair, Division of Culture & the Arts, National Museum of American History, 11/30/22-present
Curator of Music and Musical Instruments, National Museum of American History, 12/12/16-present
Previous Professional Positions:
Assistant Director, 2004-2005, D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Newberry Library, Chicago, IL
Visiting Assistant Professor, 2005-2006, History and Geography Department, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, 2006-2007, The Center for the Americas, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
Assistant Professor, 2007-2013, History and Geography Department, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Associate Professor, 2013-2017, History and Geography Department, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Educational History:
B.A. (Anthropology), Emory University, 1995
M.A. (American Indian Studies), University of Arizona, 1997
Ph.D. (History), University of Texas at Austin, 2004
Exhibitions Experience:
Project Director and Lead Curator, Entertainment Nation, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution (3W South Gallery, December 2022-2042) .
Project Director and Co-Curator, Treasures and Trouble: Looking Inside a Legendary Blues Archive, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution (1 West Archives Center Gallery, June 2023-2025).
Project Director and Curator, Sounding American Music, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution (1st floor artifact wall, 2017-ongoing) .
Curator, Max Baca’s Bajo Sexto, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution (3W New Acquisitions Case, November 2021-August 2022) .
Curator, Guitar Played by Mississippi John Hurt, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, (3W New Acquisitions Case, 2019-2021).
Co-Project Director, Ko-Kowassatok-om: We Are Still Here, Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, 2015-2016.
Project Director, “‘Drill Baby, Drill?’ Oil in Louisiana,” Museum on the Move, The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2015-2017.
Project Director, “Crossing the Line: Louisiana Women in a Century of Change,” Museum on the Move, The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2013-2014.
Project Director, “Integrating the History of South Louisiana’s People of Color into Vermilionville’s Living History Museum Tours,” Vermilionville Living History Museum, Lafayette, LA, 2010.
Project Director, “Faith and Form: Fine Art and Decorative Art from Acadiana’s Catholics,” Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, Lafayette, LA, 2010.
Curator, “The Indigenous Peoples of Louisiana,” Vermilionville Living History Museum, Fall 2009.
Publications:
(Edited Books)
John W Troutman, ed., Biography of a Phantom: a Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey, by Robert "Mack" McCormick, Washington DC: Smithsonian Books (2023).
John W. Troutman, co-editor, Entertainment Nation, Washington DC: Smithsonian Books (2022).
(Monographs)
John W. Troutman, Kīkā Kila: How The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed the Sound of Modern Music, Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press (2016).
*Winner, Lawrence W. Levine Award for Best Book in American Cultural History, Organization of American Historians, 2017; Music in American Culture Award, American Musicological Society, 2017; Woody Guthrie Award for the Most Outstanding Book on Popular Music, International Association for the Study of Popular Music, U.S. Branch, 2018; Award for Excellence for Best Historical Research in Recorded Popular Music, Association for Recorded Sound Collections, 2018; Sally and Ken Owens Award, for Best Book on the History of the Pacific West, Western History Association, 2017
John W. Troutman, Indian Blues: American Indians and the Politics of Music, 1879-1934 (The New Directions in Native American Studies Series), Norman: The University of Oklahoma Press (2009; paperback edition 2012).
*Winner, W. Turrentine Jackson Prize for a first book on any aspect of the American West, Western History Association, 2011; Outstanding Academic Title, Choice, 2009
(Articles/Book Chapters)
“A Passion for Strings,” Smithsonian American Women: Remarkable Objects and Stories of Strength, Ingenuity, and Vision from the National Collection, Washington DC: Smithsonian Books (2019).
“The Steel Heard ‘Round the World: Exposing the Global Reach of Indigenous Musical Journeys with the Hawaiian Steel Guitar,” Itinerario 41:2 (August 2017), 253-274.
“Joe Shunatona and the United States Indian Reservation Orchestra,” in Jeff Berglund, Kimberli Lee, and Janis (Jan) Johnson, eds, Indigenous Pop: Contemporary Songwork of the Americas, Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2016.
“Creating Community in the Confines of ‘Fine Barbaric Thrill’: Joseph Kekuku, a Hawaiian Manhattan, and the Indigenous Sounds of Modernity,” Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 14:4 (October 2015), 551-561.
“Steelin’ the Slide: Hawaiʻi and the Birth of the Blues Guitar,” Southern Cultures 19: 1 (Spring 2013).
“Calling All Cosmopolitan Cajuns and Mobile Millworkers, Report to the Dance Floor! A Review Essay on Pre-War Southern Music,” Louisiana History 53:1(Winter 2012).
“Blues Power in the Tuscarora Homeland: The Music of Pura Fé,” Southern Cultures 15:3 (Fall 2009).
“Indian Blues: The Indigenization of Popular Music in the United States,” World Literature Today 83:3 (May-June 2009).
“The Citizenship of Dance: Politics of Music Among the Lakota, 1900-1924,” in Daniel M. Cobb and Loretta Fowler, eds., Beyond Red Power: New Perspectives on Twentieth-Century American Indian Politics, Santa Fe: School of American Research Press (2007).
Green, Rayna, and John W. Troutman, “Afterword,” Te Ata, Chickasaw Storyteller, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press (2002).
Parezo, Nancy J., and John W. Troutman, “The ‘Shy’ Cocopa Go to the Fair,” in Carter Jones Meyer and Diana Royer, eds., Selling the Indian: Commercialization and the Appropriation of Indian Culture in the Twentieth Century, Tucson: The University of Arizona Press (2001).
Green, Rayna, and John W. Troutman, “‘By the Waters of the Minnehaha’: Princesses, Pageants, and Music,” in K. Tsianina Lomawaima, Brenda Child, and Margaret Archuleta, eds., Away From Home: American Indian Boarding School Experiences, Phoenix: The Heard Museum (2000).
Troutman, John W., and Nancy J. Parezo, “‘The Overlord of the Savage World:’ Anthropology and the Press at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition,” Museum Anthropology 22: 2 (Fall 1998).
(Smithsonian Blog Posts)
“Remembering Woodstock,” August 16, 2019, National Museum of American History (https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/woodstock)
“Musician José Feliciano shook up a baseball tradition at age 23,” October 9th, 2018, National Museum of American History (http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/feliciano)
“Pure Cotton with a Berry on Top: Contemplating the Legacies of Chuck Berry and James Cotton at the National Museum of American History,” March 20th, 2017, National Museum of American History (http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/chuck-berry-james-cotton)
(Book and Exhibition Reviews)
Rez Metal: Inside the Navajo Nation Metal Scene, by Ashkan Soltani Stone and Natale E. Zappia, Native American and Indigenous Studies 9:2 (Fall 2022): pp. 189-190.
Folk Music in Overdrive: A Primer on Traditional Country and Bluegrass Artists, Western Historical Quarterly 51:1 (Spring 2020), 98-99.
History Comes Alive: Public History and Popular Culture in the 1970s, by M.M. Rymsza-Pawlowska, The Public Historian 40:4 (November 2018), 205-207.
Surfing About Music, by Timothy J. Cooley, Ethnomusicology 62:3 (Fall 2018), 505-507.
To Win the Indian Heart: Music at Chemawa Indian School, by Melissa D. Parkhurst, Ethnohistory 63:2 (April 2016), 431-432.
Hawaiian Music in Motion: Mariners, Missionaries, and Minstrels, by James Revell Carr, The American Historical Review 121:2 (April 2016), 549-550.
Recognition Odysseys: Indigeneity, Race, and Federal Tribal Recognition Policy in Three Louisiana Indian Communities, by Brian Klopotek, Journal of American Ethnic History 35.2 (Winter 2016), 113-115.
Hidden in the Mix: The African American Presence in Country Music, Diane Pecknold, ed., The Association for Recorded Sound Collection (ARSC) Journal 46:1 (2015), 123-124.
Indian Play: Indigenous Identities at Bacone College, by Lisa K. Neuman, Journal of Southern History 81:2 (May 2015), 486-487.
Big Band Jazz in Black West Virginia, 1930-1942, by Christopher Wilkinson, The Association for Recorded Sound Collection (ARSC) Journal 45:2 (2014), 233-235.
Native Performers in Wild West Shows: From Buffalo Bill to Euro Disney, by Linda Scarangella McNewly, Pacific Historical Review 83:1 (February 2014), 165-166.
“National Jukebox: Historical Recordings from the Library of Congress;” “Lift Every Voice: Music in American Life,” Journal of American History 100: 1 (June 2013), 323-325.
The 1904 Anthropology Days and Olympic Games: Sport, Race, and American Imperialism, edited by Susan Brownell, Western Historical Quarterly 41:2 (Summer 2010), 257.
In Search of Buddy Bolden: First Man of Jazz, by Donald M. Marquis, Louisiana History 49:3 (July 2008).
Shades of Hiawatha: Staging Indians, Making Americans, 1880-1930, by Alan Trachtenberg, Ethnohistory 54:1 (Winter 2007), 199-201.
Powwow, Edited by Clyde Ellis, Luke Eric Lassiter, and Gary H. Dunham, Western Historical Quarterly 38:1 (Spring 2007), 72-73.
Professional Presentations:
(Invited Talks)
“Researching the NMAH Musical Instrument Collection,” NMAH Volunteers Enrichment Series, April 24, 2022 .
“Performing Public History at the National Museum of American History,” HIST 404: Advanced Public History, Penn State University, April 21, 2022.
“A History of the Musical Instrument Collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History,” Virtual Lecture, Museums a la Carte Lecture Series, Springfield Museums (a Smithsonian Affiliate), March 24, 2022.
“Researching and Writing Kīkā Kila,” HIST 664: Indigenous Histories of North America, George Mason University, September 23, 2021.
“My Journey into Public History,” Hist 505, Research and Methods, The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, April 12, 2021.
“Classical Music and Race in Federal Indian Boarding Schools,” Seminar Discussion, IDST 290, UNC-Chapel Hill, September 9, 2020.
Co-presenter, “Entertaining America and the 3W Gateway,” with NMAH Curators Carlene Stephens and Hal Wallace, Dolby Institute AB, Amsterdam, September 9, 2020.
“Curating Music at the National Museum of American History,” Colorado State University, Hist 504, Museum Methods, April 16, 2020.
“The Many Voices of the Steel Guitar,” Hanohano ʻO Kona Lecture Series, Kona Historical Society (Smithsonian Affiliate), Kealakekua, HI, June 24, 2020 (Postponed due to COVID-19).
“The Urgency of Native American Studies,” Center for the Americas, Wesleyan University, April 23, 2020 (Cancelled due to Covid-19).
Panelist, “Music as Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Smithsonian, Sound Futures: Critical Developments in Music Sustainability, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Washington, D.C., October, 23rd, 2019.
“Sousa on the Rez: Native American Brass Bands and Beyond,” National Museum of the American Indian Washington DC, July 18, 2019.
“Museums Making Music Matter (On the B Side: Music Making Museums Matter),” Hawaiʻi Museums Association Workshop, Kailua Kona, HI, June 22, 2019.
“The History of the Hawaiian Steel Guitar,” with Alan Akaka, Kona Historical Society, Kealakekua, HI, June 21, 2019.
“The Research and Writing Behind Kīkā Kila,” Seminar Discussion, HIST 299, “Country Music USA”, The University of Tennessee, April 11, 2019.
“From Comrade Seeger’s Hate Mail to Celia Cruzʻs ¡Azúcar!: Building a Popular Music Collection at the National Museum of American History,” Keynote Address, International Association for the Study of Popular Music-US, New Orleans, March 7-10, 2019.
“Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World,” WHUT/ITVS Indie Lens Pop-Up, December 9, 2018, Busboys and Poets, Washington DC (Invited Commentary for Film Screening).
“Local Engagement, Global Reach, and Cultural Heritage: Music Museums, Halls of Fame and Archives,” Music Policy Forum, Georgetown University, Washington D.C., October 26 2018 (Invited Roundtable Participant).
“Bob Dylan’s Travels Across America, or American’s Travels Across Bob Dylan?,” Helmerich Center for American Research/University of Tulsa Cultures of the Americas Symposium, University of Tulsa Institute for Bob Dylan Studies, Tulsa, OK, March 30th, 2018 (Invited Academic Symposium Talk).
“Rumble: Native Americans in Pop and the Classroom,” SXSW EDU, Austin, TX, March 8, 2018 (Academic Conference Roundtable Session).
“Rumble: Natives and American Music. A Dialogue with Joy Harjo and John Troutman,” Lindsay Young Auditorium, The University of Tennessee-Knoxville, February 28, 2018 (Invited General Audience Talk).
“Rumble: Native Americans in Rock and Roll in the Classroom,” National Council for the Social Studies Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 15-19, 2017 (Academic Conference Roundtable Session).
“What’s So Important About Your Music? Searching For and Teaching the Politics of Music,” Summer Teaching Conference, Steven Van Zandt Rock and Roll Forever Foundation, New York, NY, July 20, 2017 (Invited Professional Development Talk with Teachers).
“Kīkā Kila: How The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed the Sound of Modern Music,” Lyman Museum, Hilo, HI, May 8, 2017 (Smithsonian Affiliate Invited General Audience Talk).
“Collections Workshop, Featuring Smithsonian Curator John W. Troutman,” Kona Historical Society, Kona, HI, May 9, 2017 (Smithsonian Affiliate Invited Professional Development Talk).
“A Conversation with John Troutman and Alan Akaka, Kīkā Kila: How The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed the Sound of Modern Music,” Hawaiian Book and Music Festival, Honolulu, HI, May 7, 2017 (Invited General Audience Talk).
“Kīkā Kila: How The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed the Sound of Modern Music,” Bayou State Book Talk, Lafayette Library, Main Branch, April 11, 2017 (Invited General Audience Talk).
“Steel Bars and Hawaiian Guitars: (Re)Centering Indigenous Technology and Musical Practice within the Origins of the Modern Music Industry,” Columbia University, November 4, 2016.
“Kīkā Kila: How the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed the Sound of Modern Music,” Southern Festival of Books, Nashville, TN, October 15, 2016.
“Kīkā Kila Voyages: How the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed the Sounds of the American South,” Royal Hawaiian Center, Honolulu, HI, July 14, 2016.
“Electric Mele: the Hawaiian Pre-History of Electric Guitars,” Electric Guitar Symposium, Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, May 6-8, 2016.
“A Hawaiian Midwest: Searching for Diaspora and Indigeneity in the Early Sounds of Global Pop,” Tracing Phonographic Circuits: Mellon Global Midwest Workshop on the History of World Music Recording, University of Wisconsin-Madison, March 10-12, 2016.
“Steel Guitars in Seattle: (Re)Centering Hawaiian Technology and Indigenous Musical Practice in the Birth of the Modern Music Industry," Comparative History of Ideas Program, University of Washington, February 12, 2016.
"I Went Down to the (Hemispheric) Crossroads: Finding Inter-Indigenous Fluencies in a Global Pursuit of the Kanaka Maoli Steel Guitar,” Center for the Americas, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, March 27-28, 2015.
“‘Everybody Does it in Hawaiʻi’: The Hawaiian Steel Guitar in the Making of Pre-War Southern Music,” Institute for Southern Studies, University of South Carolina, February 26, 2015.
“Blowing Up New Orleans: The Early Days of Jazz,” SAGE Program, McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA, February 9, 2015.
Presidential Roundtable, “Lost is a Four-Letter Word,” Interdisciplinary Presidential Roundtable, Conference Plenary Session, Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Annual Meeting, Saskatoon, Canada, June 14, 2013.
Seminar Invitee, “Why You Can't Teach U.S. History Without American Indians,” D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Newberry Library, Chicago, Il, May 3-4, 2013.
“A Cultural History of the Steel Guitar,” Keynote Address, Steel Guitar Symposium, Southern Folklife Collection Instrument Series, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, March 23, 2013.
"Instrument(al) History: The Hawaiian Steel Guitar as Indigenous Practice." Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley, February 21, 2013.
“‘In Honolulu…There is Music Everywhere’: Making Meaning of Hawaiian Guitar Culture In the Era of the Overthrow,” Music and Public Life Series, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, October 24, 2012.
“Writing the History of the Hawaiian Guitar: The How and Why of a Global Indigenous Studies Project,” American Indian Studies and the Department of History, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, October 3rd, 2012.
Panelist, “A Celebration of Music & the Humanities: A Roundtable with Rolling Stone Senior Editor Will Hermes, Professor/Musician John Troutman, and Author Sam Kean,” South Dakota Festival of Books, Brookings, South Dakota, September 30, 2012.
“Indian Blues: American Indians and the Politics of Music,” South Dakota Festival of Books, Brookings, South Dakota, September 29, 2012
"Steeling the Slide: Hawaiʻi, Africa, and the Birth of the Blues Guitar,” Department of American Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, March 23, 2012.
Panelist, “Indigenizing Southern Music,” American Indian Studies Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, March 23, 2012
“Kīkā Kila: Hawaiian Guitars and Steel Bars in the Era of the Overthrow,” Center for Ethnomusicology, Columbia University, February 2, 2012.
Plenary Speaker, “Pura Fé and Secret Histories in ‘Red, Black on Blues,’” Conference Opening Plenary Session, Southern Historical Association Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, October 27-30, 2011.
Workshop Co-Leader, “Boarding School Generations,” Society of American Indians Centennial Symposium, Ohio State University, October 7-9, 2011.
“American Indians and the Politics of Music, or How Music Changes History,” Annual Winchester Endowed Lecture, Tennessee Tech University, April 7, 2011.
Panelist, “Traditional Music Symposium,” University of Louisiana at Lafayette, March 25, 2011.
Speaker and Moderator, “Steel Guitar Traditions: A Discussion and Demonstration of the Cajun Steel Guitar by Dr. John Troutman, Murnel Babineux, Benjamin Joe Rogers, Richard Comeaux, Steve Riley and Roddie Romero,” In Your Own Backyard Lecture Series, Sponsored by the Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism, Lafayette, LA, Nov. 10, 2009.
“Killing Germans to the Beat of a Lakota Drum, or, A Case for Engaging the Politics of Expressive Culture in American History,” Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society Initiation Ceremony, Epsilon Xi Chapter, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Nov. 24, 2008.
Panelist, “Music Matters in American Studies: Featuring Mark Slobin, Su Zheng, Rob Rosenthal, and John Troutman,” Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, April 13, 2007.
“The Lenni Lenape and William Penn: Native American History Through the Edward Ayer Collection of the Newberry Library,” Terra Teacher Lab, Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, IL, 2005.
“Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country: An Exhibit at the Newberry Library,” Associate Members Day, The Newberry Library, March 5, 2005.
“‘Indian Blues’: American Indians and the Politics of Music, 1900-1940,” National Museum of American History Colloquium Series, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 2001.
(Organized Conference Panels)
“Hellhounds on the Trail: Building Restorative History from a Legendary Blues Archive,” American Historical Association, New Orleans, LA: January 6-9, 2022.
“More than Meets the Eye: Explorations of Indigenous Aesthetics and Politics Inspired by Rayna Green,” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association International Conference, Washington, DC, 2015.
“The Indigenization of Southern Music,” Southern Historical Association Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, 2011.
“The Resonance and Politics of ‘Aloha ‘Oe,’ ki ho’ alu, and Kīkā Kila within the Hawaiian Diaspora,” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association International Conference, 2010.
“Performance, Race, and the Birth of the Local,” American Studies Association Annual Conference, 2002.
“The Participation of American Indians in Film and Popular Music, 1900-1960,” Western History Association Conference, 1999.
(Conference Presentations)
Roundtable Participant, “Hellhounds on the Trail: Building Restorative History from a Legendary Blues Archive,” American Historical Association, New Orleans, LA: January 6-9, 2022.
Roundtable Participant, Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World, American Historical Association Annual Meeting, New York, NY, January 5, 2020.
“Exploring the Power of Music at the National Museum of American History,” American Studies Association Annual Meeting, Honolulu, HI, November 7-10, 2019.
“‘The Hawaiian Boys Knew We Were Sincere’: Performances of Music and Race during the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Craze,” American Studies Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, CA, October 8-11, 2015.
“‘Tiny Bubbles’ versus the ‘Hawaiian Renaissance,’ or “How an Indigenous Instrument came to Lose its Indigeneity,” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association International Conference, Washington, DC, June 3-6, 2015.
Roundtable Participant, “Beyond the Food Truck: Airstream Trailers as Mobile Museums,” National Council on Public History Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN, April 15-18, 2015.
Roundtable Participant, “Indigenous Histories of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era,” Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, April, 2014.
"Steeling the Slide: Hawaiʻi, Africa, and the Birth of the Blues Guitar,” Southern Historical Association Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, October, 2011.
"Steel Guitars and Recognition Scars: Exploring the Musical and Political Lives of Neal "Pappy" McCormick," American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Pasadena, CA, October 2011.
“Kīkā Kila: Mediating Post-Annexation Crisis and Change through the Native Hawaiian Invention of the Steel Guitar,” American Studies Association Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, Nov. 18-21, 2010.
“Inventing Kīkā Kila: Joseph Kekuku, July Paka, and the Globalization of the Hawaiian (Steel) Guitar,” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association International Conference, Tucson, AZ, May 20-22, 2010.
“Slide Over Frets: Trailing the First Generation of Native Hawaiian (steel) Guitarists,” International Association for the Study of Popular Music, New Orleans, LA, April 9-11, 2010.
“Kīkā Kila!: Bridging the Pacific Through the Kanaka Maoli Invention of the Steel Guitar,” American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, 2009.
“The Power and Politics of Music: A Reexamination of Federal Indian Policy in the Early 20th Century,” American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Tulsa, OK, 2007.
“Relocating Indian Music: Fred Cardin and the Indian String Quartet,” American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2004.
“Fighting the ‘Dance Evil’": Invoking Nationalism and Global Affairs within a Native American Defense of Dance, 1910-1925,” American Studies Association Annual Conference, Houston, TX, 2002.
“Capturing Indianness and Playing Indians: Frances Densmore and the Politics of Race, Music, and Federal Indian Policy, 1900-1930,” Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 2002.
“‘Playing Indian’ in Pitch: Federal Indian Education, American Indian Performers and the Politics of Music, 1900-1935,” American Studies Association Annual Conference, Washington, DC, 2001.
“‘Tell Us More About Handling Poisonous Snakes’: The Politics of Dance, Indianness, and Citizenship in Indian Country, 1900-1930,” American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Tucson, AZ 2001.
“‘Indian Blues’ or ‘The Land of My Prairie Dreams’?: Tsianina Redfeather, Kiutus Tecumseh, and the Participation of American Indians in Popular Music, 1900-1930,” Western History Association Conference, Portland, OR, 1999.
“‘The Overlord of the Savage World’: Anthropology, the Media, and the American Indian Experience at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition,” American Ethnological Society Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, 1997.
(Discussant)
"Tradition and Innovation in Southern Indian Music,” American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Springfield, Missouri, November 7-10, 2012.
“Reassessing Allotment: Native Use of Privatized Land Policy to Assert Sovereign Rights,” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association International Conference, Tucson, AZ, May 20-22, 2010.
“Performative Culture,” Indigenous and Native American Studies Meeting, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 2007.
“‘The Indian as He Really Was’: 20th Century Representations and Commemorations of American Indian Plains Cultures”, American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Williamsburg, VA, 2006.
“The Past & Future of Indian Sovereignty,” Rountable Discussion, McClellan Symposium, Miami University, Oxford, OH, March 24, 2006.
“Comptempory American Indian Intellectual History,” CIC-American Indian Studies Graduate Student Conference, Madison, WI, 2005.
(Chaired Panels)
“Indigenous Histories of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era: Past, Present, and Future Directions 2,” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association International Conference, Honolulu, HI, May 18-21, 2016.
"Tradition and Innovation in Southern Indian Music,” American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Springfield, Missouri, November 7-10, 2012.
“Race, Nation, Culture,” International Association for the Study of Popular Music, U.S. Chapter, Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, OH, 2011.
“Musical Evolution in Twentieth-Century New Orleans,” Louisiana Historical Association, Lafayette, LA, March 25-27, 2010.
“Negotiating Sovereignty, Interpreting Treaties,” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, May 21-23, 2009.
“Performative Culture,” Indigenous and Native American Studies Meeting, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 2007.
“‘The Indian as He Really Was’: 20th Century Representations and Commemorations of American Indian Plains Cultures”, American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Williamsburg, VA, 2006.
“Comptempory American Indian Intellectual History,” CIC-American Indian Studies Graduate Student Conference, Madison, WI, 2005.
Curatorial Consultant, Public Programs, Media Activities, Outreach:
(Exhibition & Curatorial Consultant Roles)
Script Peer Reviewer and Advisory Committee Member, ¡Presente!, a Smithsonian Latino Center exhibition, Moline Family Gallery, NMAH, 2020-present.
Script Peer Reviewer and Advisory Committee Member, Music Herstory, a Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative exhibition, Smithsonian Libraries Gallery, NMAH, 2020-present.
Curatorial Consultant, Memphis Rock and Soul Museum (A NMAH Smithsonian Exhibition), Memphis, TV, 2018-2021.
Consultant, “Smoke Signals: The Appropriation of the Native Image in Popular Culture,” Oakland Museum of California, 2008-2009.
(Public Programs)
Panelist, “Social Justice in Storytelling: A Roundtable Discussion with Dawn Porter, Steve James, David Linde, Modupe Labode, and John Troutman,” National Museum of American History, November 20, 2020.
Panelist, “Music Collecting: With Songs They Have Sung for Hundreds of Years,” SI Staff Lunch, Arts & Industries Building, Smithsonian Institution, October 10, 2019.
Curator, Objects Out of Storage, “Popular Music and Politics”, American Studies 3600, George Washington University, October 2 & October 7, 2019.
Curator, Objects Out of Storage, Penn State Presidential Leadership Academy, NMAH, September 28, 2019.
Curator, Objects Out of Storage, Purple Rain 35th Anniversary Party, NMAH, July 5, 2019.
Moderator, “The Curatorship of APA Music at the Smithsonian,” NMAH, May 29, 2019.
Public Interview with Elton John’s songwriter, Bernie Taupin, Warner Brothers Theater, NMAH, May 22, 2019.
Curatorial Comment for Program and Donation Ceremony, Sounds of Faith: Althea Thomas, NMAH, March 23, 2019.
Music Contributor, History Happy Hour—History of the “Big Easy,” with Ashley Rose Young, Willard Hotel, Washington, DC., February 21, 2019.
Curator & Co-Producer, “Making American Music, OAE Comprehensive Music Programming Initiative, NMAH, 2018.
Curator & Co-Producer, Making American Music NMAH Artist-in-Residence Internship Program, June 11-August 17, 2018.
Emcee and Program Lead for Flag Hall & Entrance Performance, The Cal Poly Pomona Mariachi Band, June 15, 2018.
Curatorial Comment and Introduction, José Feliciano, U.S. Naturalization Ceremony, NMAH, June 14, 2018.
Curator Interview, NMAH Let’s Do History Tour, Virtual Conferencing with Educators in Bartlett, TN, January 23, 2018.
Interviewer, “One Day When the Glory Comes: A Conversation with John Legend,” NMAH Hall of Music, November 29, 2017.
Curatorial Comment, Emcee and Event Co-organizer for OAE After Hours Event, The Sound of Memphis: How Music Built a Community, NMAH, September 19, 2017.
Emcee and Program Lead for Flag Hall Performance, Modesto Cepeda, September 13, 2017.
Curatorial Comment and Introductions, Sting and J. Ralph Donation Ceremony, NMAH, September 8, 2017
Emcee, Public Opening of 2W Exhibitions, NMAH, June 28, 2017.
Curatorial Comment and Introduction, Kenny Rogers Performance, 2W Donor Reception, NMAH, June 21, 2017.
Curator, Various Public &Private Objects-Out-Of-Storage Events, NMAH, 2017-2018.
(Digital Products)
Filmed Interviewer, “Dom Flemons Plays the Songs and Talks the life of Elizabeth Cotten” (filmed on 2/23/20; forthcoming publication on NMAH Website).
Writer and Filmed Interviewer, Entertainment Nation, Exhibition Landing Page on NMAH website (April 2022).
Interviewee, “Kīkā Kila,” Ephemeral, Season 2, Episode 1 (iHeartRadio Podcast Series), May 2021.
https://www.ephemeral.show/episode/kikakila
Content Reviewer, Selena: Crossing Over Cultural Boundaries, NMAH digital production, launch April 16, 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkVerwxpFAY
Interviewee, “On the Road,” Season 4, Episode 4 (Offshore Podcast Series) Honolulu Civil Beat, June 2020.
https://www.offshorepodcast.org/episodes/on-the-road/
Theme Song Producer and Instrumentalist with Carrie Heflin, History Time, educational web program, NMAH website and YouTube page. example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QocxKY9wCxU&t=107s
Content Reviewer, “Go-Go Music,” History Time NMAH YouTube video, 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHJnPilL9vY
Content Reviewer, Meaning in Music, Smithsonian Channel, episode 1, “Call & Response”; episode 2, “Sampling and Remixing,” 2020.
Curatorial Consultant and Interviewee, Lost at the Smithsonian with Aasif Mandvi (Stitcher Podcast Series), Sept 2019-December 2019.
Curatorial Consultant and Interviewee, “Aloha, Y’all,” Sidedoor Season 3, Episode 19 (Smithsonian Podcast), April 29, 2019.
https://www.si.edu/sidedoor/ep-19-aloha-yall
Filmed Interviewer, “One Day When the Glory Comes: A Conversation with John Legend,” edited for online release in Support of the Giving and the Arts Exhibition, 2018 (release date tbd).
Filmed Interviewer, “Farm Aid: A Conversation about Music and Philanthropy, with Willie Nelson and Mark Rothbaum,” September 9, 2017, edited for online release in support of the Giving and the Arts Exhibition, 2018 (release date tbd).
Filmed Interviewer, “Los Texmaniacs visit the National Museum of American History, published on NMAH YouTube Channel on October 11, 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY_zQ-7eGGU
(Other Public Engagement Products)
Instrumentalist and Producer with Carrie Heflin, “The Best,” tribute song for NMAH program of appreciation for volunteers, April 6, 2021.
(Media Activities and Outreach)
Interviewee, "Smithsonian Exhibit Tells America's History Through Objects of Entertainment," by Susan Stamberg, National Public Radio, June 22, 2023.
https://www.npr.org/2023/06/22/1183842774/smithsonian-exhibit-tells-americas-history-through-objects-of-entertainment
Interviewee, "America: the Entertainment Nation," by Fritz Hahn, The Washington Post, March 10, 2023.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/interactive/2023/entertainment-nation-national-museum-american-history/?itid=sf_entertainment_going%20out%20guide_article_list
Interviewee, "Get a First Look at the Smithsonian's 'Entertainment Nation' Exhibit," The Today Show, NBC Television, December 10, 2022.
https://www.today.com/video/get-a-first-look-at-the-smithsonian-s-entertainment-nation-exhibit-156956229864
Interviewee, "American Pop Culture Takes the Spotlight in a New Blockbuster Exhibition," by Roger Catlin, Smithsonian Magazine, December 13, 2022.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/american-pop-culture-takes-spotlight-new-blockbuster-exhibition-180981282/
Interviewee, "The American History's Pop Culture Exhibit Opens This Week. Here's a Look Inside," by Katie Kenny, The Washingtonian, December 7, 2022.
https://www.washingtonian.com/2022/12/07/the-american-history-museums-pop-culture-exhibit-opens-this-week-heres-a-look-inside/
Interviewee, "Smithsonian Explores how Entertainment Shaped America," CBS Sunday Morning, CBS Television, December 4, 2022.
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/smithsonian-explores-how-entertainment-shaped-america/
Interviewee, "A Bit of the Woodstock Stage, Dorothy's Slippers and Prince's Guitar, by Michael E. Ruane, The Washington Post, November 23, 2022.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/23/smithsonian-woodstock-prince-dorothy-entertainment/
Interviewee, “American History Museum Week: John Troutman on the Music & Entertainment Collection,” Julie Mason Mornings, SIRIUS XM, November 11, 2021.
https://www.siriusxm.com/clips/clip/65cfb29a-195e-4b44-91fb-9e855ad51e03/f448682f-11c8-47e5-9308-878cc26e81b7
Interviewee, “The Smithsonian Procures Leather Jacket from the Suicide Commandos,” Mpls St. Paul Magazine, September 23, 2021.* https://mspmag.com/arts-and-culture/smithsonian-suicide-commandos/
Filmed Interviewee, “Prince’s Iconic Guitar,” This Object in History, episode 6, Smithsonian Channel, July 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XByBHqlMOAY
Interviewee, “The True History Behind ‘One Night in Miami,’ Smithsonian Magazine, January 15, 2021. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-history-behind-one-night-miami-180976768/?no-cache.
Interviewee, “U.S. Campaign Songs Stir the Public’s Imagination,” Share America, October 29, 2020. https://share.america.gov/u-s-campaign-songs-stir-public-imagination/
Interviewee, “San Antonio-made Macias Custom Bajos Sextos the instruments of Choice for Conjunto Musicians for Almost 100 Years,” San Antonio Express-News, July 16, 2021. https://www.expressnews.com/entertainment/music-stage/article/Everybody-had-to-have-a-Macias-San-Antonio-16319687.php
Interviewee and Curatorial Consultant, “Here’s the Guitar That Prince Revolutionized Music With in Purple Rain,” Print and Online editions, Smithsonian Magazine, November, 2019.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/guitar-prince-revolutionized-music-purple-rain-180973083/
Interviewee, “The Music of Colonizers Becomes “A Powerful Source of Resistance,” Indian Country Today, August 2, 2019.
https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/news/the-music-of-colonizers-becomes-a-powerful-source-of-resistance-BqqenQTKiE-F-vNP7DcMMQ/#comments
Curatorial Consultant and Interviewee, “How the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed American Music, Smithsonian Magazine, Haleema Shah, April 25, 2019.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-hawaiian-steel-guitar-changed-american-music-180972028/
Curatorial Consultant and Interviewee, “How the Music of Hawaiʻi’s Last Ruler Guided the Island’s People Through Crisis,” Smithsonian Magazine, March 26, 2019.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-music-hawaiis-last-ruler-guided-islands-people-through-crisis-180971783/
Curatorial Consultant and Interviewee, “Why This Body-Surfing, Sound-Blasting, Cake Throwing DJ Belongs in a Museum,” Smithsonian Magazine, November 28, 2018.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/why-body-surfing-sound-blasting-cake-throwing-dj-belongs-museum-180970855/
Curatorial Consultant and Interviewee, “Museum Curators Reflect on the Legacy of the Queen of Soul,” Smithsonian Magazine, August, 16, 2018.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/museum-curators-reflect-legacy-queen-soul-180970009/
Curatorial Consultant and Interviewee, “At 50, ‘Hey Jude’ Still Makes Everything “Better, Better, Better,” Smithsonian Magazine, August 15, 2018.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/50-hey-jude-still-makes-everything-better-better-better-180970004/
Interviewee, “Fall of Gibson: Where Have All the Guitar Heroes Gone,” Christian Science Monitor, May 7, 2018.* https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2018/0507/Fall-of-Gibson-Where-have-all-the-guitar-heroes-gone
Curatorial Consultant and Filmed Interviewee, 1968, Smithsonian Channel (2018).
Curatorial Consultant and Interviewee, “John Travolta’s Breakout Hit Was America’s Best Dance Party,” Smithsonian Magazine, December 2017.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/john-travoltas-breakout-hit-was-americas-best-dance-party-180967396/
Consultant, American Epic, Lo-Max Films, PBS/BBC Production, 2015-2016.
Historical Consultant and On-Camera Interviewee, Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World, Rezolution Pictures, 2017.
Advisor and On-C\amera Interviewee, Sousa on the Rez: Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum, Produced by Cathleen OʻConnell and Native American Public Telecommunications, 2012.
On-Camera Interviewee, Te Ata, Under Production by the Chickasaw Nation, Division of Communications, Ada, Oklahoma, 2011.
Profession/Service Activities:
(Awards, Honors)
Woody Guthrie Award for the Most Outstanding Book on Popular Music, for Kīkā Kila, International Association for the Study of Popular Music, U.S. Branch, 2018.
Award for Excellence for Best Historical Research in Recorded Popular Music, for Kīkā Kila, Association for Recorded Sound Collections, 2018.
Lawrence W. Levine Award for Best Book in American Cultural History, for Kīkā Kila, Organization of American Historians, 2017.
Sally and Ken Owens Award, for Best Book on the History of the Pacific West, for Kīkā Kila, Western History Association, 2017.
Music in American Culture Award, for Kīkā Kila, American Musicological Society, 2017.
Dr. Ray Authement Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2014.
National Endowment for the Humanities Resident Scholar Fellowship Recipient, School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe, NM, 2012-2013 (relinquished).
Grammy Award Nomination, Best Regional Roots Music Album, Grand Isle by Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys (session steel guitarist), 2012.
National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend Recipient, “Kīkā Kila: The Hawaiian Guitar and the Indigenization of American Music,” 2011.
W. Turrentine Jackson Prize, for Indian Blues, a Biennial Prize Presented by the Western History Association for a first book on any aspect of the American West, 2011.
Outstanding Academic Title, for Indian Blues, Choice, 2009.
Co-Principal Investigator for Subcontract, $288,541. “Conflict and Resolution in American History,” Lafayette Parish School System, Teaching American History Grant, U.S. Department of Education, 2009-2013.
Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellowship, The National Museum of American History, Washington DC, 2008.
Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship Recipient, Center for the Americas, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, 2006-2008 (relinquished for 2007-2008).
Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Recipient, American Indian Studies Program, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006-2007 (relinquished).
Barnes F. Lathrop Prize Recipient for Best Dissertation in History, The University of Texas at Austin, 2005.
Smithsonian Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Recipient, The National Museum of American History, 2000.
Smithsonian Graduate Student Fellowship Recipient, The National Museum of American History, 1998.
(Internal Smithsonian Grants and Contracts)
2020, Latino Initiatives Pool, Smithsonian Latino Center, Principal Investigator, $25,140 (awarded February 10, 2020, in support of Spanish Language Writer & Editor for Entertaining America).
2019, Smith College Internship.
2018, Latino Curatorial Assistant, Smithsonian Latino Center, Principal Investigator.
2018, Research Equipment Pool, Submitted in 2017 for NMAH Prioritization & Review.
(External Professional Service)
Organization of American Historians
Program Committee Member, OAH Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, March 31st-Apri 3, 2022.
Local Resource Committee Member, OAH Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., April 2-5, 2020.
Editorial Board Member, Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (2022-2026)
Board of Editorial Advisors, Southern Cultures, 2019-2025
Editorial Board Member, Native American and Indigenous Studies, 2019-2022; 2022-2025
Advisory Board Member, University of Tulsa Institute for Bob Dylan Studies, Tulsa, OK, 2018-present
Advisory Board Member, Marty Stuart’s Congress of Country Music, Philadelphia, MS, 2018-present
Invited Nominator, MacArthur Fellowship Program, 2018, 2022
MacArthur Fellowship Program, Nomination Referee, 2017
AAM Accreditation Nomination Referee, 2017
Councillor, American Society for Ethnohistory, 2010-2012
(Internal Smithsonian/ NMAH Service)
Chair, Collections Management Committee, NMAH, 2021-present.
Member, 3W Opening Committee, 2022-present.
Member, Music Curator Search, NMAAHC, 2021.
Member, Strategic Budgeting and Fundraising Tactical Working Group, NMAH, 2020.
Member, OCA Tactical Committee for Accessibility Strategy 4, NMAH, 2020.
Chair, Music Curator Search Committee, NMAH, 2019-2020.
Member, Why do we exist and for whom and what do we stand? Deep Dive Team, NMAH, 2019.
Member, Of/By/For All Bootcamp, NMAH, September 11-12, 2019
Member, Smithsonian Music Executive Committee, Smithsonian Institution, 2017-present
Member, Sounds of Faith Series Committee, NMAH, 2017- present
Member, 3W Core Team Committee, NMAH, 2017- present
Member, 3W Program Committee, NMAH, 2017- present
Member, Project Manager Search Committee, Interactive Production, NMAH, 2018
Member, Program Committee, Smithsonian Year of Music, Smithsonian Institution, 2018
Member, Food History Weekend 2018 Committee, NMAH, 2018
Member, Director of Programs and Audience Engagement Search Committee, NMAH, 2017-2018
Member, Sounds of Faith Series Committee, NMAH, 2017- present
Member, 3W Core Team Committee, NMAH, 2017- present
Member, 3W Program Committee, NMAH, 2017- present
Member, Collections Management Review Committee, 2018
(Proposal and Manuscript Reviews)
The Public Historian, 2022
Organization of American Historians in cooperation with the National Park Service (NPS Administrative History manuscript review), 2022
Journal of Social History, 2021
Yale University Press, 2020
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2020
University of North Carolina Press, 2020
American Quarterly, 2020
University of Nebraska Press, 2020
University of Louisiana Press, 2020
Native American and Indigenous Studies, 2019
Yale University Press, 2019
American Quarterly, 2018
Smithsonian Institution, Fellowship Proposal Evaluations, 2017-present
University of Georgia Press, 2018
Duke University Press, 2018
University of Nebraska Press, 2017-2018
University of North Carolina Press, 2017
University of Nebraska Press, 2016
Duke University Press, 2016
Journal of Southern History, 2016
Pacific Historical Review, 2016
University of North Carolina Press, 2015
American Quarterly, 2015
University of Kansas Press, 2014
University of Oklahoma Press, 2014
Native American and Indigenous Studies, 2014
University of Louisiana Press, 2011
Duke University Press, 2011
Duke University Press, 2009
Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2009: Colin G. Calloway, First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History
American Indian Quarterly, 2009
Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 2006, 2008
(Internal Smithsonian Grants and Contracts)
2021-2022, Vanessa Broussard Simmons and John Troutman, “Pass the Mic! Exploring the Power of Women in Music,” American Women’s History Initiative, Digitization Fund Proposal.
2020, Latino Initiatives Pool, Smithsonian Latino Center, Principal Investigator, (awarded February 10, 2020, in support of Spanish Language Writer & Editor for Entertaining America).
2018-present, Latino Curatorial Associate, Smithsonian Latino Center, Principal Investigator
U.S. 19th and 20th century cultural history; U.S. popular/vernacular music history; American Indian and Native Hawaiian history
Current Position:
Interim Chair, Division of Culture & the Arts, National Museum of American History, 11/30/22-present
Curator of Music and Musical Instruments, National Museum of American History, 12/12/16-present
Previous Professional Positions:
Assistant Director, 2004-2005, D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Newberry Library, Chicago, IL
Visiting Assistant Professor, 2005-2006, History and Geography Department, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, 2006-2007, The Center for the Americas, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
Assistant Professor, 2007-2013, History and Geography Department, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Associate Professor, 2013-2017, History and Geography Department, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Educational History:
B.A. (Anthropology), Emory University, 1995
M.A. (American Indian Studies), University of Arizona, 1997
Ph.D. (History), University of Texas at Austin, 2004
Exhibitions Experience:
Project Director and Lead Curator, Entertainment Nation, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution (3W South Gallery, December 2022-2042) .
Project Director and Co-Curator, Treasures and Trouble: Looking Inside a Legendary Blues Archive, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution (1 West Archives Center Gallery, June 2023-2025).
Project Director and Curator, Sounding American Music, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution (1st floor artifact wall, 2017-ongoing) .
Curator, Max Baca’s Bajo Sexto, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution (3W New Acquisitions Case, November 2021-August 2022) .
Curator, Guitar Played by Mississippi John Hurt, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, (3W New Acquisitions Case, 2019-2021).
Co-Project Director, Ko-Kowassatok-om: We Are Still Here, Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, 2015-2016.
Project Director, “‘Drill Baby, Drill?’ Oil in Louisiana,” Museum on the Move, The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2015-2017.
Project Director, “Crossing the Line: Louisiana Women in a Century of Change,” Museum on the Move, The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2013-2014.
Project Director, “Integrating the History of South Louisiana’s People of Color into Vermilionville’s Living History Museum Tours,” Vermilionville Living History Museum, Lafayette, LA, 2010.
Project Director, “Faith and Form: Fine Art and Decorative Art from Acadiana’s Catholics,” Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, Lafayette, LA, 2010.
Curator, “The Indigenous Peoples of Louisiana,” Vermilionville Living History Museum, Fall 2009.
Publications:
(Edited Books)
John W Troutman, ed., Biography of a Phantom: a Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey, by Robert "Mack" McCormick, Washington DC: Smithsonian Books (2023).
John W. Troutman, co-editor, Entertainment Nation, Washington DC: Smithsonian Books (2022).
(Monographs)
John W. Troutman, Kīkā Kila: How The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed the Sound of Modern Music, Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press (2016).
*Winner, Lawrence W. Levine Award for Best Book in American Cultural History, Organization of American Historians, 2017; Music in American Culture Award, American Musicological Society, 2017; Woody Guthrie Award for the Most Outstanding Book on Popular Music, International Association for the Study of Popular Music, U.S. Branch, 2018; Award for Excellence for Best Historical Research in Recorded Popular Music, Association for Recorded Sound Collections, 2018; Sally and Ken Owens Award, for Best Book on the History of the Pacific West, Western History Association, 2017
John W. Troutman, Indian Blues: American Indians and the Politics of Music, 1879-1934 (The New Directions in Native American Studies Series), Norman: The University of Oklahoma Press (2009; paperback edition 2012).
*Winner, W. Turrentine Jackson Prize for a first book on any aspect of the American West, Western History Association, 2011; Outstanding Academic Title, Choice, 2009
(Articles/Book Chapters)
“A Passion for Strings,” Smithsonian American Women: Remarkable Objects and Stories of Strength, Ingenuity, and Vision from the National Collection, Washington DC: Smithsonian Books (2019).
“The Steel Heard ‘Round the World: Exposing the Global Reach of Indigenous Musical Journeys with the Hawaiian Steel Guitar,” Itinerario 41:2 (August 2017), 253-274.
“Joe Shunatona and the United States Indian Reservation Orchestra,” in Jeff Berglund, Kimberli Lee, and Janis (Jan) Johnson, eds, Indigenous Pop: Contemporary Songwork of the Americas, Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2016.
“Creating Community in the Confines of ‘Fine Barbaric Thrill’: Joseph Kekuku, a Hawaiian Manhattan, and the Indigenous Sounds of Modernity,” Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 14:4 (October 2015), 551-561.
“Steelin’ the Slide: Hawaiʻi and the Birth of the Blues Guitar,” Southern Cultures 19: 1 (Spring 2013).
“Calling All Cosmopolitan Cajuns and Mobile Millworkers, Report to the Dance Floor! A Review Essay on Pre-War Southern Music,” Louisiana History 53:1(Winter 2012).
“Blues Power in the Tuscarora Homeland: The Music of Pura Fé,” Southern Cultures 15:3 (Fall 2009).
“Indian Blues: The Indigenization of Popular Music in the United States,” World Literature Today 83:3 (May-June 2009).
“The Citizenship of Dance: Politics of Music Among the Lakota, 1900-1924,” in Daniel M. Cobb and Loretta Fowler, eds., Beyond Red Power: New Perspectives on Twentieth-Century American Indian Politics, Santa Fe: School of American Research Press (2007).
Green, Rayna, and John W. Troutman, “Afterword,” Te Ata, Chickasaw Storyteller, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press (2002).
Parezo, Nancy J., and John W. Troutman, “The ‘Shy’ Cocopa Go to the Fair,” in Carter Jones Meyer and Diana Royer, eds., Selling the Indian: Commercialization and the Appropriation of Indian Culture in the Twentieth Century, Tucson: The University of Arizona Press (2001).
Green, Rayna, and John W. Troutman, “‘By the Waters of the Minnehaha’: Princesses, Pageants, and Music,” in K. Tsianina Lomawaima, Brenda Child, and Margaret Archuleta, eds., Away From Home: American Indian Boarding School Experiences, Phoenix: The Heard Museum (2000).
Troutman, John W., and Nancy J. Parezo, “‘The Overlord of the Savage World:’ Anthropology and the Press at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition,” Museum Anthropology 22: 2 (Fall 1998).
(Smithsonian Blog Posts)
“Remembering Woodstock,” August 16, 2019, National Museum of American History (https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/woodstock)
“Musician José Feliciano shook up a baseball tradition at age 23,” October 9th, 2018, National Museum of American History (http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/feliciano)
“Pure Cotton with a Berry on Top: Contemplating the Legacies of Chuck Berry and James Cotton at the National Museum of American History,” March 20th, 2017, National Museum of American History (http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/chuck-berry-james-cotton)
(Book and Exhibition Reviews)
Rez Metal: Inside the Navajo Nation Metal Scene, by Ashkan Soltani Stone and Natale E. Zappia, Native American and Indigenous Studies 9:2 (Fall 2022): pp. 189-190.
Folk Music in Overdrive: A Primer on Traditional Country and Bluegrass Artists, Western Historical Quarterly 51:1 (Spring 2020), 98-99.
History Comes Alive: Public History and Popular Culture in the 1970s, by M.M. Rymsza-Pawlowska, The Public Historian 40:4 (November 2018), 205-207.
Surfing About Music, by Timothy J. Cooley, Ethnomusicology 62:3 (Fall 2018), 505-507.
To Win the Indian Heart: Music at Chemawa Indian School, by Melissa D. Parkhurst, Ethnohistory 63:2 (April 2016), 431-432.
Hawaiian Music in Motion: Mariners, Missionaries, and Minstrels, by James Revell Carr, The American Historical Review 121:2 (April 2016), 549-550.
Recognition Odysseys: Indigeneity, Race, and Federal Tribal Recognition Policy in Three Louisiana Indian Communities, by Brian Klopotek, Journal of American Ethnic History 35.2 (Winter 2016), 113-115.
Hidden in the Mix: The African American Presence in Country Music, Diane Pecknold, ed., The Association for Recorded Sound Collection (ARSC) Journal 46:1 (2015), 123-124.
Indian Play: Indigenous Identities at Bacone College, by Lisa K. Neuman, Journal of Southern History 81:2 (May 2015), 486-487.
Big Band Jazz in Black West Virginia, 1930-1942, by Christopher Wilkinson, The Association for Recorded Sound Collection (ARSC) Journal 45:2 (2014), 233-235.
Native Performers in Wild West Shows: From Buffalo Bill to Euro Disney, by Linda Scarangella McNewly, Pacific Historical Review 83:1 (February 2014), 165-166.
“National Jukebox: Historical Recordings from the Library of Congress;” “Lift Every Voice: Music in American Life,” Journal of American History 100: 1 (June 2013), 323-325.
The 1904 Anthropology Days and Olympic Games: Sport, Race, and American Imperialism, edited by Susan Brownell, Western Historical Quarterly 41:2 (Summer 2010), 257.
In Search of Buddy Bolden: First Man of Jazz, by Donald M. Marquis, Louisiana History 49:3 (July 2008).
Shades of Hiawatha: Staging Indians, Making Americans, 1880-1930, by Alan Trachtenberg, Ethnohistory 54:1 (Winter 2007), 199-201.
Powwow, Edited by Clyde Ellis, Luke Eric Lassiter, and Gary H. Dunham, Western Historical Quarterly 38:1 (Spring 2007), 72-73.
Professional Presentations:
(Invited Talks)
“Researching the NMAH Musical Instrument Collection,” NMAH Volunteers Enrichment Series, April 24, 2022 .
“Performing Public History at the National Museum of American History,” HIST 404: Advanced Public History, Penn State University, April 21, 2022.
“A History of the Musical Instrument Collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History,” Virtual Lecture, Museums a la Carte Lecture Series, Springfield Museums (a Smithsonian Affiliate), March 24, 2022.
“Researching and Writing Kīkā Kila,” HIST 664: Indigenous Histories of North America, George Mason University, September 23, 2021.
“My Journey into Public History,” Hist 505, Research and Methods, The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, April 12, 2021.
“Classical Music and Race in Federal Indian Boarding Schools,” Seminar Discussion, IDST 290, UNC-Chapel Hill, September 9, 2020.
Co-presenter, “Entertaining America and the 3W Gateway,” with NMAH Curators Carlene Stephens and Hal Wallace, Dolby Institute AB, Amsterdam, September 9, 2020.
“Curating Music at the National Museum of American History,” Colorado State University, Hist 504, Museum Methods, April 16, 2020.
“The Many Voices of the Steel Guitar,” Hanohano ʻO Kona Lecture Series, Kona Historical Society (Smithsonian Affiliate), Kealakekua, HI, June 24, 2020 (Postponed due to COVID-19).
“The Urgency of Native American Studies,” Center for the Americas, Wesleyan University, April 23, 2020 (Cancelled due to Covid-19).
Panelist, “Music as Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Smithsonian, Sound Futures: Critical Developments in Music Sustainability, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Washington, D.C., October, 23rd, 2019.
“Sousa on the Rez: Native American Brass Bands and Beyond,” National Museum of the American Indian Washington DC, July 18, 2019.
“Museums Making Music Matter (On the B Side: Music Making Museums Matter),” Hawaiʻi Museums Association Workshop, Kailua Kona, HI, June 22, 2019.
“The History of the Hawaiian Steel Guitar,” with Alan Akaka, Kona Historical Society, Kealakekua, HI, June 21, 2019.
“The Research and Writing Behind Kīkā Kila,” Seminar Discussion, HIST 299, “Country Music USA”, The University of Tennessee, April 11, 2019.
“From Comrade Seeger’s Hate Mail to Celia Cruzʻs ¡Azúcar!: Building a Popular Music Collection at the National Museum of American History,” Keynote Address, International Association for the Study of Popular Music-US, New Orleans, March 7-10, 2019.
“Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World,” WHUT/ITVS Indie Lens Pop-Up, December 9, 2018, Busboys and Poets, Washington DC (Invited Commentary for Film Screening).
“Local Engagement, Global Reach, and Cultural Heritage: Music Museums, Halls of Fame and Archives,” Music Policy Forum, Georgetown University, Washington D.C., October 26 2018 (Invited Roundtable Participant).
“Bob Dylan’s Travels Across America, or American’s Travels Across Bob Dylan?,” Helmerich Center for American Research/University of Tulsa Cultures of the Americas Symposium, University of Tulsa Institute for Bob Dylan Studies, Tulsa, OK, March 30th, 2018 (Invited Academic Symposium Talk).
“Rumble: Native Americans in Pop and the Classroom,” SXSW EDU, Austin, TX, March 8, 2018 (Academic Conference Roundtable Session).
“Rumble: Natives and American Music. A Dialogue with Joy Harjo and John Troutman,” Lindsay Young Auditorium, The University of Tennessee-Knoxville, February 28, 2018 (Invited General Audience Talk).
“Rumble: Native Americans in Rock and Roll in the Classroom,” National Council for the Social Studies Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 15-19, 2017 (Academic Conference Roundtable Session).
“What’s So Important About Your Music? Searching For and Teaching the Politics of Music,” Summer Teaching Conference, Steven Van Zandt Rock and Roll Forever Foundation, New York, NY, July 20, 2017 (Invited Professional Development Talk with Teachers).
“Kīkā Kila: How The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed the Sound of Modern Music,” Lyman Museum, Hilo, HI, May 8, 2017 (Smithsonian Affiliate Invited General Audience Talk).
“Collections Workshop, Featuring Smithsonian Curator John W. Troutman,” Kona Historical Society, Kona, HI, May 9, 2017 (Smithsonian Affiliate Invited Professional Development Talk).
“A Conversation with John Troutman and Alan Akaka, Kīkā Kila: How The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed the Sound of Modern Music,” Hawaiian Book and Music Festival, Honolulu, HI, May 7, 2017 (Invited General Audience Talk).
“Kīkā Kila: How The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed the Sound of Modern Music,” Bayou State Book Talk, Lafayette Library, Main Branch, April 11, 2017 (Invited General Audience Talk).
“Steel Bars and Hawaiian Guitars: (Re)Centering Indigenous Technology and Musical Practice within the Origins of the Modern Music Industry,” Columbia University, November 4, 2016.
“Kīkā Kila: How the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed the Sound of Modern Music,” Southern Festival of Books, Nashville, TN, October 15, 2016.
“Kīkā Kila Voyages: How the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed the Sounds of the American South,” Royal Hawaiian Center, Honolulu, HI, July 14, 2016.
“Electric Mele: the Hawaiian Pre-History of Electric Guitars,” Electric Guitar Symposium, Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, May 6-8, 2016.
“A Hawaiian Midwest: Searching for Diaspora and Indigeneity in the Early Sounds of Global Pop,” Tracing Phonographic Circuits: Mellon Global Midwest Workshop on the History of World Music Recording, University of Wisconsin-Madison, March 10-12, 2016.
“Steel Guitars in Seattle: (Re)Centering Hawaiian Technology and Indigenous Musical Practice in the Birth of the Modern Music Industry," Comparative History of Ideas Program, University of Washington, February 12, 2016.
"I Went Down to the (Hemispheric) Crossroads: Finding Inter-Indigenous Fluencies in a Global Pursuit of the Kanaka Maoli Steel Guitar,” Center for the Americas, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, March 27-28, 2015.
“‘Everybody Does it in Hawaiʻi’: The Hawaiian Steel Guitar in the Making of Pre-War Southern Music,” Institute for Southern Studies, University of South Carolina, February 26, 2015.
“Blowing Up New Orleans: The Early Days of Jazz,” SAGE Program, McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA, February 9, 2015.
Presidential Roundtable, “Lost is a Four-Letter Word,” Interdisciplinary Presidential Roundtable, Conference Plenary Session, Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Annual Meeting, Saskatoon, Canada, June 14, 2013.
Seminar Invitee, “Why You Can't Teach U.S. History Without American Indians,” D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Newberry Library, Chicago, Il, May 3-4, 2013.
“A Cultural History of the Steel Guitar,” Keynote Address, Steel Guitar Symposium, Southern Folklife Collection Instrument Series, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, March 23, 2013.
"Instrument(al) History: The Hawaiian Steel Guitar as Indigenous Practice." Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley, February 21, 2013.
“‘In Honolulu…There is Music Everywhere’: Making Meaning of Hawaiian Guitar Culture In the Era of the Overthrow,” Music and Public Life Series, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, October 24, 2012.
“Writing the History of the Hawaiian Guitar: The How and Why of a Global Indigenous Studies Project,” American Indian Studies and the Department of History, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, October 3rd, 2012.
Panelist, “A Celebration of Music & the Humanities: A Roundtable with Rolling Stone Senior Editor Will Hermes, Professor/Musician John Troutman, and Author Sam Kean,” South Dakota Festival of Books, Brookings, South Dakota, September 30, 2012.
“Indian Blues: American Indians and the Politics of Music,” South Dakota Festival of Books, Brookings, South Dakota, September 29, 2012
"Steeling the Slide: Hawaiʻi, Africa, and the Birth of the Blues Guitar,” Department of American Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, March 23, 2012.
Panelist, “Indigenizing Southern Music,” American Indian Studies Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, March 23, 2012
“Kīkā Kila: Hawaiian Guitars and Steel Bars in the Era of the Overthrow,” Center for Ethnomusicology, Columbia University, February 2, 2012.
Plenary Speaker, “Pura Fé and Secret Histories in ‘Red, Black on Blues,’” Conference Opening Plenary Session, Southern Historical Association Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, October 27-30, 2011.
Workshop Co-Leader, “Boarding School Generations,” Society of American Indians Centennial Symposium, Ohio State University, October 7-9, 2011.
“American Indians and the Politics of Music, or How Music Changes History,” Annual Winchester Endowed Lecture, Tennessee Tech University, April 7, 2011.
Panelist, “Traditional Music Symposium,” University of Louisiana at Lafayette, March 25, 2011.
Speaker and Moderator, “Steel Guitar Traditions: A Discussion and Demonstration of the Cajun Steel Guitar by Dr. John Troutman, Murnel Babineux, Benjamin Joe Rogers, Richard Comeaux, Steve Riley and Roddie Romero,” In Your Own Backyard Lecture Series, Sponsored by the Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism, Lafayette, LA, Nov. 10, 2009.
“Killing Germans to the Beat of a Lakota Drum, or, A Case for Engaging the Politics of Expressive Culture in American History,” Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society Initiation Ceremony, Epsilon Xi Chapter, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Nov. 24, 2008.
Panelist, “Music Matters in American Studies: Featuring Mark Slobin, Su Zheng, Rob Rosenthal, and John Troutman,” Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, April 13, 2007.
“The Lenni Lenape and William Penn: Native American History Through the Edward Ayer Collection of the Newberry Library,” Terra Teacher Lab, Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, IL, 2005.
“Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country: An Exhibit at the Newberry Library,” Associate Members Day, The Newberry Library, March 5, 2005.
“‘Indian Blues’: American Indians and the Politics of Music, 1900-1940,” National Museum of American History Colloquium Series, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 2001.
(Organized Conference Panels)
“Hellhounds on the Trail: Building Restorative History from a Legendary Blues Archive,” American Historical Association, New Orleans, LA: January 6-9, 2022.
“More than Meets the Eye: Explorations of Indigenous Aesthetics and Politics Inspired by Rayna Green,” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association International Conference, Washington, DC, 2015.
“The Indigenization of Southern Music,” Southern Historical Association Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, 2011.
“The Resonance and Politics of ‘Aloha ‘Oe,’ ki ho’ alu, and Kīkā Kila within the Hawaiian Diaspora,” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association International Conference, 2010.
“Performance, Race, and the Birth of the Local,” American Studies Association Annual Conference, 2002.
“The Participation of American Indians in Film and Popular Music, 1900-1960,” Western History Association Conference, 1999.
(Conference Presentations)
Roundtable Participant, “Hellhounds on the Trail: Building Restorative History from a Legendary Blues Archive,” American Historical Association, New Orleans, LA: January 6-9, 2022.
Roundtable Participant, Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World, American Historical Association Annual Meeting, New York, NY, January 5, 2020.
“Exploring the Power of Music at the National Museum of American History,” American Studies Association Annual Meeting, Honolulu, HI, November 7-10, 2019.
“‘The Hawaiian Boys Knew We Were Sincere’: Performances of Music and Race during the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Craze,” American Studies Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, CA, October 8-11, 2015.
“‘Tiny Bubbles’ versus the ‘Hawaiian Renaissance,’ or “How an Indigenous Instrument came to Lose its Indigeneity,” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association International Conference, Washington, DC, June 3-6, 2015.
Roundtable Participant, “Beyond the Food Truck: Airstream Trailers as Mobile Museums,” National Council on Public History Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN, April 15-18, 2015.
Roundtable Participant, “Indigenous Histories of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era,” Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, April, 2014.
"Steeling the Slide: Hawaiʻi, Africa, and the Birth of the Blues Guitar,” Southern Historical Association Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, October, 2011.
"Steel Guitars and Recognition Scars: Exploring the Musical and Political Lives of Neal "Pappy" McCormick," American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Pasadena, CA, October 2011.
“Kīkā Kila: Mediating Post-Annexation Crisis and Change through the Native Hawaiian Invention of the Steel Guitar,” American Studies Association Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, Nov. 18-21, 2010.
“Inventing Kīkā Kila: Joseph Kekuku, July Paka, and the Globalization of the Hawaiian (Steel) Guitar,” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association International Conference, Tucson, AZ, May 20-22, 2010.
“Slide Over Frets: Trailing the First Generation of Native Hawaiian (steel) Guitarists,” International Association for the Study of Popular Music, New Orleans, LA, April 9-11, 2010.
“Kīkā Kila!: Bridging the Pacific Through the Kanaka Maoli Invention of the Steel Guitar,” American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, 2009.
“The Power and Politics of Music: A Reexamination of Federal Indian Policy in the Early 20th Century,” American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Tulsa, OK, 2007.
“Relocating Indian Music: Fred Cardin and the Indian String Quartet,” American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2004.
“Fighting the ‘Dance Evil’": Invoking Nationalism and Global Affairs within a Native American Defense of Dance, 1910-1925,” American Studies Association Annual Conference, Houston, TX, 2002.
“Capturing Indianness and Playing Indians: Frances Densmore and the Politics of Race, Music, and Federal Indian Policy, 1900-1930,” Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 2002.
“‘Playing Indian’ in Pitch: Federal Indian Education, American Indian Performers and the Politics of Music, 1900-1935,” American Studies Association Annual Conference, Washington, DC, 2001.
“‘Tell Us More About Handling Poisonous Snakes’: The Politics of Dance, Indianness, and Citizenship in Indian Country, 1900-1930,” American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Tucson, AZ 2001.
“‘Indian Blues’ or ‘The Land of My Prairie Dreams’?: Tsianina Redfeather, Kiutus Tecumseh, and the Participation of American Indians in Popular Music, 1900-1930,” Western History Association Conference, Portland, OR, 1999.
“‘The Overlord of the Savage World’: Anthropology, the Media, and the American Indian Experience at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition,” American Ethnological Society Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, 1997.
(Discussant)
"Tradition and Innovation in Southern Indian Music,” American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Springfield, Missouri, November 7-10, 2012.
“Reassessing Allotment: Native Use of Privatized Land Policy to Assert Sovereign Rights,” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association International Conference, Tucson, AZ, May 20-22, 2010.
“Performative Culture,” Indigenous and Native American Studies Meeting, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 2007.
“‘The Indian as He Really Was’: 20th Century Representations and Commemorations of American Indian Plains Cultures”, American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Williamsburg, VA, 2006.
“The Past & Future of Indian Sovereignty,” Rountable Discussion, McClellan Symposium, Miami University, Oxford, OH, March 24, 2006.
“Comptempory American Indian Intellectual History,” CIC-American Indian Studies Graduate Student Conference, Madison, WI, 2005.
(Chaired Panels)
“Indigenous Histories of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era: Past, Present, and Future Directions 2,” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association International Conference, Honolulu, HI, May 18-21, 2016.
"Tradition and Innovation in Southern Indian Music,” American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Springfield, Missouri, November 7-10, 2012.
“Race, Nation, Culture,” International Association for the Study of Popular Music, U.S. Chapter, Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, OH, 2011.
“Musical Evolution in Twentieth-Century New Orleans,” Louisiana Historical Association, Lafayette, LA, March 25-27, 2010.
“Negotiating Sovereignty, Interpreting Treaties,” Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, May 21-23, 2009.
“Performative Culture,” Indigenous and Native American Studies Meeting, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 2007.
“‘The Indian as He Really Was’: 20th Century Representations and Commemorations of American Indian Plains Cultures”, American Society for Ethnohistory Annual Meeting, Williamsburg, VA, 2006.
“Comptempory American Indian Intellectual History,” CIC-American Indian Studies Graduate Student Conference, Madison, WI, 2005.
Curatorial Consultant, Public Programs, Media Activities, Outreach:
(Exhibition & Curatorial Consultant Roles)
Script Peer Reviewer and Advisory Committee Member, ¡Presente!, a Smithsonian Latino Center exhibition, Moline Family Gallery, NMAH, 2020-present.
Script Peer Reviewer and Advisory Committee Member, Music Herstory, a Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative exhibition, Smithsonian Libraries Gallery, NMAH, 2020-present.
Curatorial Consultant, Memphis Rock and Soul Museum (A NMAH Smithsonian Exhibition), Memphis, TV, 2018-2021.
Consultant, “Smoke Signals: The Appropriation of the Native Image in Popular Culture,” Oakland Museum of California, 2008-2009.
(Public Programs)
Panelist, “Social Justice in Storytelling: A Roundtable Discussion with Dawn Porter, Steve James, David Linde, Modupe Labode, and John Troutman,” National Museum of American History, November 20, 2020.
Panelist, “Music Collecting: With Songs They Have Sung for Hundreds of Years,” SI Staff Lunch, Arts & Industries Building, Smithsonian Institution, October 10, 2019.
Curator, Objects Out of Storage, “Popular Music and Politics”, American Studies 3600, George Washington University, October 2 & October 7, 2019.
Curator, Objects Out of Storage, Penn State Presidential Leadership Academy, NMAH, September 28, 2019.
Curator, Objects Out of Storage, Purple Rain 35th Anniversary Party, NMAH, July 5, 2019.
Moderator, “The Curatorship of APA Music at the Smithsonian,” NMAH, May 29, 2019.
Public Interview with Elton John’s songwriter, Bernie Taupin, Warner Brothers Theater, NMAH, May 22, 2019.
Curatorial Comment for Program and Donation Ceremony, Sounds of Faith: Althea Thomas, NMAH, March 23, 2019.
Music Contributor, History Happy Hour—History of the “Big Easy,” with Ashley Rose Young, Willard Hotel, Washington, DC., February 21, 2019.
Curator & Co-Producer, “Making American Music, OAE Comprehensive Music Programming Initiative, NMAH, 2018.
Curator & Co-Producer, Making American Music NMAH Artist-in-Residence Internship Program, June 11-August 17, 2018.
Emcee and Program Lead for Flag Hall & Entrance Performance, The Cal Poly Pomona Mariachi Band, June 15, 2018.
Curatorial Comment and Introduction, José Feliciano, U.S. Naturalization Ceremony, NMAH, June 14, 2018.
Curator Interview, NMAH Let’s Do History Tour, Virtual Conferencing with Educators in Bartlett, TN, January 23, 2018.
Interviewer, “One Day When the Glory Comes: A Conversation with John Legend,” NMAH Hall of Music, November 29, 2017.
Curatorial Comment, Emcee and Event Co-organizer for OAE After Hours Event, The Sound of Memphis: How Music Built a Community, NMAH, September 19, 2017.
Emcee and Program Lead for Flag Hall Performance, Modesto Cepeda, September 13, 2017.
Curatorial Comment and Introductions, Sting and J. Ralph Donation Ceremony, NMAH, September 8, 2017
Emcee, Public Opening of 2W Exhibitions, NMAH, June 28, 2017.
Curatorial Comment and Introduction, Kenny Rogers Performance, 2W Donor Reception, NMAH, June 21, 2017.
Curator, Various Public &Private Objects-Out-Of-Storage Events, NMAH, 2017-2018.
(Digital Products)
Filmed Interviewer, “Dom Flemons Plays the Songs and Talks the life of Elizabeth Cotten” (filmed on 2/23/20; forthcoming publication on NMAH Website).
Writer and Filmed Interviewer, Entertainment Nation, Exhibition Landing Page on NMAH website (April 2022).
Interviewee, “Kīkā Kila,” Ephemeral, Season 2, Episode 1 (iHeartRadio Podcast Series), May 2021.
https://www.ephemeral.show/episode/kikakila
Content Reviewer, Selena: Crossing Over Cultural Boundaries, NMAH digital production, launch April 16, 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkVerwxpFAY
Interviewee, “On the Road,” Season 4, Episode 4 (Offshore Podcast Series) Honolulu Civil Beat, June 2020.
https://www.offshorepodcast.org/episodes/on-the-road/
Theme Song Producer and Instrumentalist with Carrie Heflin, History Time, educational web program, NMAH website and YouTube page. example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QocxKY9wCxU&t=107s
Content Reviewer, “Go-Go Music,” History Time NMAH YouTube video, 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHJnPilL9vY
Content Reviewer, Meaning in Music, Smithsonian Channel, episode 1, “Call & Response”; episode 2, “Sampling and Remixing,” 2020.
Curatorial Consultant and Interviewee, Lost at the Smithsonian with Aasif Mandvi (Stitcher Podcast Series), Sept 2019-December 2019.
Curatorial Consultant and Interviewee, “Aloha, Y’all,” Sidedoor Season 3, Episode 19 (Smithsonian Podcast), April 29, 2019.
https://www.si.edu/sidedoor/ep-19-aloha-yall
Filmed Interviewer, “One Day When the Glory Comes: A Conversation with John Legend,” edited for online release in Support of the Giving and the Arts Exhibition, 2018 (release date tbd).
Filmed Interviewer, “Farm Aid: A Conversation about Music and Philanthropy, with Willie Nelson and Mark Rothbaum,” September 9, 2017, edited for online release in support of the Giving and the Arts Exhibition, 2018 (release date tbd).
Filmed Interviewer, “Los Texmaniacs visit the National Museum of American History, published on NMAH YouTube Channel on October 11, 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY_zQ-7eGGU
(Other Public Engagement Products)
Instrumentalist and Producer with Carrie Heflin, “The Best,” tribute song for NMAH program of appreciation for volunteers, April 6, 2021.
(Media Activities and Outreach)
Interviewee, "Smithsonian Exhibit Tells America's History Through Objects of Entertainment," by Susan Stamberg, National Public Radio, June 22, 2023.
https://www.npr.org/2023/06/22/1183842774/smithsonian-exhibit-tells-americas-history-through-objects-of-entertainment
Interviewee, "America: the Entertainment Nation," by Fritz Hahn, The Washington Post, March 10, 2023.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/interactive/2023/entertainment-nation-national-museum-american-history/?itid=sf_entertainment_going%20out%20guide_article_list
Interviewee, "Get a First Look at the Smithsonian's 'Entertainment Nation' Exhibit," The Today Show, NBC Television, December 10, 2022.
https://www.today.com/video/get-a-first-look-at-the-smithsonian-s-entertainment-nation-exhibit-156956229864
Interviewee, "American Pop Culture Takes the Spotlight in a New Blockbuster Exhibition," by Roger Catlin, Smithsonian Magazine, December 13, 2022.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/american-pop-culture-takes-spotlight-new-blockbuster-exhibition-180981282/
Interviewee, "The American History's Pop Culture Exhibit Opens This Week. Here's a Look Inside," by Katie Kenny, The Washingtonian, December 7, 2022.
https://www.washingtonian.com/2022/12/07/the-american-history-museums-pop-culture-exhibit-opens-this-week-heres-a-look-inside/
Interviewee, "Smithsonian Explores how Entertainment Shaped America," CBS Sunday Morning, CBS Television, December 4, 2022.
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/smithsonian-explores-how-entertainment-shaped-america/
Interviewee, "A Bit of the Woodstock Stage, Dorothy's Slippers and Prince's Guitar, by Michael E. Ruane, The Washington Post, November 23, 2022.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/23/smithsonian-woodstock-prince-dorothy-entertainment/
Interviewee, “American History Museum Week: John Troutman on the Music & Entertainment Collection,” Julie Mason Mornings, SIRIUS XM, November 11, 2021.
https://www.siriusxm.com/clips/clip/65cfb29a-195e-4b44-91fb-9e855ad51e03/f448682f-11c8-47e5-9308-878cc26e81b7
Interviewee, “The Smithsonian Procures Leather Jacket from the Suicide Commandos,” Mpls St. Paul Magazine, September 23, 2021.* https://mspmag.com/arts-and-culture/smithsonian-suicide-commandos/
Filmed Interviewee, “Prince’s Iconic Guitar,” This Object in History, episode 6, Smithsonian Channel, July 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XByBHqlMOAY
Interviewee, “The True History Behind ‘One Night in Miami,’ Smithsonian Magazine, January 15, 2021. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-history-behind-one-night-miami-180976768/?no-cache.
Interviewee, “U.S. Campaign Songs Stir the Public’s Imagination,” Share America, October 29, 2020. https://share.america.gov/u-s-campaign-songs-stir-public-imagination/
Interviewee, “San Antonio-made Macias Custom Bajos Sextos the instruments of Choice for Conjunto Musicians for Almost 100 Years,” San Antonio Express-News, July 16, 2021. https://www.expressnews.com/entertainment/music-stage/article/Everybody-had-to-have-a-Macias-San-Antonio-16319687.php
Interviewee and Curatorial Consultant, “Here’s the Guitar That Prince Revolutionized Music With in Purple Rain,” Print and Online editions, Smithsonian Magazine, November, 2019.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/guitar-prince-revolutionized-music-purple-rain-180973083/
Interviewee, “The Music of Colonizers Becomes “A Powerful Source of Resistance,” Indian Country Today, August 2, 2019.
https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/news/the-music-of-colonizers-becomes-a-powerful-source-of-resistance-BqqenQTKiE-F-vNP7DcMMQ/#comments
Curatorial Consultant and Interviewee, “How the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed American Music, Smithsonian Magazine, Haleema Shah, April 25, 2019.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-hawaiian-steel-guitar-changed-american-music-180972028/
Curatorial Consultant and Interviewee, “How the Music of Hawaiʻi’s Last Ruler Guided the Island’s People Through Crisis,” Smithsonian Magazine, March 26, 2019.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-music-hawaiis-last-ruler-guided-islands-people-through-crisis-180971783/
Curatorial Consultant and Interviewee, “Why This Body-Surfing, Sound-Blasting, Cake Throwing DJ Belongs in a Museum,” Smithsonian Magazine, November 28, 2018.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/why-body-surfing-sound-blasting-cake-throwing-dj-belongs-museum-180970855/
Curatorial Consultant and Interviewee, “Museum Curators Reflect on the Legacy of the Queen of Soul,” Smithsonian Magazine, August, 16, 2018.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/museum-curators-reflect-legacy-queen-soul-180970009/
Curatorial Consultant and Interviewee, “At 50, ‘Hey Jude’ Still Makes Everything “Better, Better, Better,” Smithsonian Magazine, August 15, 2018.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/50-hey-jude-still-makes-everything-better-better-better-180970004/
Interviewee, “Fall of Gibson: Where Have All the Guitar Heroes Gone,” Christian Science Monitor, May 7, 2018.* https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2018/0507/Fall-of-Gibson-Where-have-all-the-guitar-heroes-gone
Curatorial Consultant and Filmed Interviewee, 1968, Smithsonian Channel (2018).
Curatorial Consultant and Interviewee, “John Travolta’s Breakout Hit Was America’s Best Dance Party,” Smithsonian Magazine, December 2017.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/john-travoltas-breakout-hit-was-americas-best-dance-party-180967396/
Consultant, American Epic, Lo-Max Films, PBS/BBC Production, 2015-2016.
Historical Consultant and On-Camera Interviewee, Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World, Rezolution Pictures, 2017.
Advisor and On-C\amera Interviewee, Sousa on the Rez: Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum, Produced by Cathleen OʻConnell and Native American Public Telecommunications, 2012.
On-Camera Interviewee, Te Ata, Under Production by the Chickasaw Nation, Division of Communications, Ada, Oklahoma, 2011.
Profession/Service Activities:
(Awards, Honors)
Woody Guthrie Award for the Most Outstanding Book on Popular Music, for Kīkā Kila, International Association for the Study of Popular Music, U.S. Branch, 2018.
Award for Excellence for Best Historical Research in Recorded Popular Music, for Kīkā Kila, Association for Recorded Sound Collections, 2018.
Lawrence W. Levine Award for Best Book in American Cultural History, for Kīkā Kila, Organization of American Historians, 2017.
Sally and Ken Owens Award, for Best Book on the History of the Pacific West, for Kīkā Kila, Western History Association, 2017.
Music in American Culture Award, for Kīkā Kila, American Musicological Society, 2017.
Dr. Ray Authement Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2014.
National Endowment for the Humanities Resident Scholar Fellowship Recipient, School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe, NM, 2012-2013 (relinquished).
Grammy Award Nomination, Best Regional Roots Music Album, Grand Isle by Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys (session steel guitarist), 2012.
National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend Recipient, “Kīkā Kila: The Hawaiian Guitar and the Indigenization of American Music,” 2011.
W. Turrentine Jackson Prize, for Indian Blues, a Biennial Prize Presented by the Western History Association for a first book on any aspect of the American West, 2011.
Outstanding Academic Title, for Indian Blues, Choice, 2009.
Co-Principal Investigator for Subcontract, $288,541. “Conflict and Resolution in American History,” Lafayette Parish School System, Teaching American History Grant, U.S. Department of Education, 2009-2013.
Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellowship, The National Museum of American History, Washington DC, 2008.
Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship Recipient, Center for the Americas, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, 2006-2008 (relinquished for 2007-2008).
Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Recipient, American Indian Studies Program, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006-2007 (relinquished).
Barnes F. Lathrop Prize Recipient for Best Dissertation in History, The University of Texas at Austin, 2005.
Smithsonian Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Recipient, The National Museum of American History, 2000.
Smithsonian Graduate Student Fellowship Recipient, The National Museum of American History, 1998.
(Internal Smithsonian Grants and Contracts)
2020, Latino Initiatives Pool, Smithsonian Latino Center, Principal Investigator, $25,140 (awarded February 10, 2020, in support of Spanish Language Writer & Editor for Entertaining America).
2019, Smith College Internship.
2018, Latino Curatorial Assistant, Smithsonian Latino Center, Principal Investigator.
2018, Research Equipment Pool, Submitted in 2017 for NMAH Prioritization & Review.
(External Professional Service)
Organization of American Historians
Program Committee Member, OAH Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, March 31st-Apri 3, 2022.
Local Resource Committee Member, OAH Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., April 2-5, 2020.
Editorial Board Member, Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (2022-2026)
Board of Editorial Advisors, Southern Cultures, 2019-2025
Editorial Board Member, Native American and Indigenous Studies, 2019-2022; 2022-2025
Advisory Board Member, University of Tulsa Institute for Bob Dylan Studies, Tulsa, OK, 2018-present
Advisory Board Member, Marty Stuart’s Congress of Country Music, Philadelphia, MS, 2018-present
Invited Nominator, MacArthur Fellowship Program, 2018, 2022
MacArthur Fellowship Program, Nomination Referee, 2017
AAM Accreditation Nomination Referee, 2017
Councillor, American Society for Ethnohistory, 2010-2012
(Internal Smithsonian/ NMAH Service)
Chair, Collections Management Committee, NMAH, 2021-present.
Member, 3W Opening Committee, 2022-present.
Member, Music Curator Search, NMAAHC, 2021.
Member, Strategic Budgeting and Fundraising Tactical Working Group, NMAH, 2020.
Member, OCA Tactical Committee for Accessibility Strategy 4, NMAH, 2020.
Chair, Music Curator Search Committee, NMAH, 2019-2020.
Member, Why do we exist and for whom and what do we stand? Deep Dive Team, NMAH, 2019.
Member, Of/By/For All Bootcamp, NMAH, September 11-12, 2019
Member, Smithsonian Music Executive Committee, Smithsonian Institution, 2017-present
Member, Sounds of Faith Series Committee, NMAH, 2017- present
Member, 3W Core Team Committee, NMAH, 2017- present
Member, 3W Program Committee, NMAH, 2017- present
Member, Project Manager Search Committee, Interactive Production, NMAH, 2018
Member, Program Committee, Smithsonian Year of Music, Smithsonian Institution, 2018
Member, Food History Weekend 2018 Committee, NMAH, 2018
Member, Director of Programs and Audience Engagement Search Committee, NMAH, 2017-2018
Member, Sounds of Faith Series Committee, NMAH, 2017- present
Member, 3W Core Team Committee, NMAH, 2017- present
Member, 3W Program Committee, NMAH, 2017- present
Member, Collections Management Review Committee, 2018
(Proposal and Manuscript Reviews)
The Public Historian, 2022
Organization of American Historians in cooperation with the National Park Service (NPS Administrative History manuscript review), 2022
Journal of Social History, 2021
Yale University Press, 2020
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2020
University of North Carolina Press, 2020
American Quarterly, 2020
University of Nebraska Press, 2020
University of Louisiana Press, 2020
Native American and Indigenous Studies, 2019
Yale University Press, 2019
American Quarterly, 2018
Smithsonian Institution, Fellowship Proposal Evaluations, 2017-present
University of Georgia Press, 2018
Duke University Press, 2018
University of Nebraska Press, 2017-2018
University of North Carolina Press, 2017
University of Nebraska Press, 2016
Duke University Press, 2016
Journal of Southern History, 2016
Pacific Historical Review, 2016
University of North Carolina Press, 2015
American Quarterly, 2015
University of Kansas Press, 2014
University of Oklahoma Press, 2014
Native American and Indigenous Studies, 2014
University of Louisiana Press, 2011
Duke University Press, 2011
Duke University Press, 2009
Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2009: Colin G. Calloway, First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History
American Indian Quarterly, 2009
Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 2006, 2008
(Internal Smithsonian Grants and Contracts)
2021-2022, Vanessa Broussard Simmons and John Troutman, “Pass the Mic! Exploring the Power of Women in Music,” American Women’s History Initiative, Digitization Fund Proposal.
2020, Latino Initiatives Pool, Smithsonian Latino Center, Principal Investigator, (awarded February 10, 2020, in support of Spanish Language Writer & Editor for Entertaining America).
2018-present, Latino Curatorial Associate, Smithsonian Latino Center, Principal Investigator