Jane E. Calvert, PhD
historian • educator • documentary editor
Winner of
The Herbert J. Storing Book Prize
The Harry M. Ward Book Prize
The James Kirby Martin History Prize
The American Revolution Round Table of Philadelphia Book Award
Finalist for the George Washington Book Prize
The Complete Writings and Selected Correspondence of John Dickinson
Biography
curriculum vitæ
I am a professional historian of the American Colonial and Founding Eras with a special interest in the intersection of theology and political thought. Both my teaching and research have focused on Quaker and Reformed Calvinist (Puritan) methods of resisting injustice by the government. My primary area of expertise is American Founder John Dickinson (1732–1808).
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After earning my PhD at the University of Chicago, I taught history for twenty years at various institutions, including St. Mary's College of Maryland, Yale University, and the University of Kentucky. My courses included everything from 100-level American and Western "civilization" courses to specialized topics at the graduate level. As much as I love teaching, I left academia in 2024 because I could no longer be part of a corporatized and politicized system that discriminates against individuals with dissenting view points, treats students like customers, prioritizes graduation rates over education, and pressures faculty to "just pass" students with a C.
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In 2010, I founded The John Dickinson Writings Project (JDP). Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical and Publications Records Commission, and several private foundations, the JDP is collecting and publishing everything Founder John Dickinson wrote on public affairs over the course of his life.
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Apart from Dickinson and Quakerism, I have also worked on Thomas Paine and the Second Amendment. Other historical interests include material culture, particularly clothing and interior design, and animal rights.
Selected Articles & Essays
“The Friendly Jurisprudence and Early Feminism of John Dickinson,” in Great Christian Jurists in American History ed. Daniel L. Dreisbach and Mark David Hall (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019), 133–59.
“Myth-Making and Myth-Breaking in the Historiography on John Dickinson,” The Journal of the Early Republic vol. 34, no. 3 (2014): 467–80.
“Thomas Paine, Quakerism, and the Limits of Religious Liberty during the American Revolution,” in Selected Writings of Thomas Paine. ed. Shapiro and Calvert. Rethinking the Western Tradition Series (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014), 602–29.
“John Dickinson’s Quaker Contributions to the Creation of the American Republic,” in Faith and the Founders of the American Republic, ed. Mark David Hall and Daniel L. Dreisbach. (Oxford University Press, 2014), 277–304.
“The ‘Documentary Democracy’ of the Writings of John Dickinson, Then and Now,” Scholarly Editing 34 (2013).
“Letter to Farmers in Pennsylvania: John Dickinson Writes to the Paxton Boys,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography vol. 136, no. 4 (2012): 475–77.
“‘The Character of an Author’: Attribution and Misattribution of the Writings of John Dickinson,” The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America vol. 104, no. 3 (2010): 341–46.
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Brief of Historians of Early American Constitutional, Legal, and Pennsylvania History as Amici Curiæ in Support of Respondent City of Chicago, with Nathan Kozuskanich, Paul Finkelman, and Thomas D. Hamm, submitted to the United States Supreme Court, January 2010.
“Liberty without Tumult: Understanding the Politics of John Dickinson,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography vol. 131, no. 3 (2007): 233–62.
“The Quaker Theory of Civil Constitution,” History of Political Thought vol. 27, no. 4 (2006): 586–619.
“From Necessity, Not Choice: Lessons in Democracy from Early Maryland,” with Anthony K. Lake, Occasional Papers for The Center for the Study of Democracy vol. 1, no. 1 (2005).
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Public
Engagement
Interview, Associated Press, July 2, 2026.
Interview, New York Times, July 1, 2026.
Interview, Ben Franklin’s World, June 2026.
Interview, Pennsylvania Cable Network, June 2026.
Interview, “For the Common Good: The Women Who Shaped the Nation” series, You’ll Never Forget Productions, March 2026.
Interview, Writing Matters, Mercer University Press, April 2026.
Interview, BRI Scholar Talks, Bill of Rights Institute, September 2025.
Interview, This Constitution podcast, Center for Constitutional Studies, Utah Valley University, April 2025.
Interview, Civic Education podcast, American Council of Trustees and Alumni, March 2025.
Interview, Great Books podcast, National Review, February 2025.
Interview, Booknotes+, C-SPAN, January 2025.
Interview, Off the Deaton Path podcast, Georgia Historical Society, December 2024.
Interview, “The Author’s Corner” series for “The Way of Improvement Leads Home” blog, December 2024.
Interview, Speaking of Writers podcast, December 2024.
Interview, “How Religious Were the Founders?” National Constitution Center, December 2024.
Interview, Revolution 250 podcast, November 2024.
Interview, 2 Complicated 4 History podcast, November 2024.
Interview, Historically Thinking with Al Zambone podcast, November 2024.
Interview, TIME Magazine, 1:44:23, November 2024.
Interview, Thee Quaker podcast, October 2024.
Interview, The American Arc blog, The Jack Miller Center, December 2023.
Interview, “Pennsylvania Books: Founders’ Series,” Pennsylvania Cable Network, September 2022.
Interview, “Understanding the Legacy of John Dickinson,” The Real America Revolution, February 2022.
Interview, “Enlighten Men: The John Dickinson Writings Project,” Delaware Public Media, December 2021.
Interview, Ben Franklin’s World: Doing History: To the Revolution! podcast, Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Fall 2019.
Promotional video, “Historian Jane Calvert Shows the Human Side of Founding Father John Dickinson,” UKNOW: University of Kentucky News, October 2017.
Interview, Delaware Today Magazine, December 2017.
Interview, Ben Franklin’s World: Doing History: To the Revolution! podcast, Omohundro Institute for Early American History and Culture, Fall 2017.
Interview, Book TV, C-SPAN, aired July 20–21, 2013.
Featured Historian, “John Dickinson: Penman of the Revolution,” a documentary by Teleduction, aired on WHYY, December 14, 2012.
Interview, “Ramble and Rumble with Rabbi” radio program, December 16, 2011.
Featured Historian, “John Dickinson: Farmer and Politician,” orientation video for the John Dickinson Plantation, Dover, DE, June 2008.
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Contact
Available for media interviews, speaking engagements (for a fee), and pro bono assistance for students and scholars.
