About

Julie L. Holcomb is associate professor of Museum Studies at Baylor University, joining that faculty in 2008. From August 2013 through May 2020, she served as Graduate Program Director in Museum Studies. Holcomb teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in museum, library, and archival collections management; collections ethics; and preventive conservation. She has also led professional development workshops for the Texas Association of Museums and the Society of Southwest Archivists.

Holcomb’s research interests include Quakers, abolition, and the Civil War as well as library, archival, and museum collections. Her most recent book, Exploring the American Civil War through 50 Historic Treasures (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021) uses historic objects, documents, artwork, and the natural and built environments to tell story of the Civil War. Holcomb has published two other books: Moral Commerce: Quakers and the Transatlantic Boycott of the Slave Labor Economy (Cornell University Press, 2016) and Southern Sons, Northern Soldiers: The Civil War Letters of the Remley Brothers, 22nd Iowa Infantry (Northern Illinois University Press, 2004). Her work has appeared in academic journals and edited collections. Holcomb has held faculty research fellowships at Haverford College and the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Emancipation.

Holcomb serves as editor of Quaker History, a scholarly publication of the Friends Historical Association.

A Certified Archivist, Holcomb has mentored graduate students preparing for the exam, served on the committee reviewing petitions for recertification, and proctored the certification exam. Holcomb is a member of the ACA’s Cultural Competency Task Force. She is a member of the Texas Association of Museums, having served on the board of the Collection Managers Committee and the annual program committee. Holcomb is also a member of the Society of Southwest Archivists, the National Council on Public History, the Organization of American Historians, and the Pennsylvania Historical Association.