WINKLE, Kenneth J.

PERSONAL:

Male. Education: Miami University, A.B. (magna cum laude; with honors), 1976; University of Wisconsin, M.A., 1977, Ph.D., 1984.

ADDRESSES:

Office—617 Oldfather Hall, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588-0327. E-mail—Kwinkle1@unl.edu.

CAREER:

University of Wisconsin, Madison, research assistant, 1977-82; teaching assistant, 1977-1982; Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, visiting instructor, 1982-1983; Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos, instructor, 1983-84; assistant professor, 1984-87; University of Nebraska, Lincoln, assistant professor, 1987-93; professor, 2001—. Chair of history department. Member, Hay-Nicolay Dissertation Prize Committee, 2000—, and Lincoln Prize advisory council, 2000—; Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College, member, board of advisors, 2002—.

MEMBER:

Abraham Lincoln Association (member, board of directors, 1999—), Phi Beta Kappa (member, 1976; vice president of University of Nebraska-Lincoln chapter), Phi Alpha Theta (member, 1974).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching, Southwest Texas State University, 1986; Allan Sharlin Memorial Award for Social Science History, Social Science History Association, 1989, for The Politics of Community: Migration and Politics in Antebellum Ohio; Recognition Award, Services for Students with Disabilities, 1991, for creating an enabling classroom environment; Recognition Award for Contributions to Students, University of Nebraska Parents Association, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001; Abraham Lincoln Institute Book Award, 2002, for The Young Eagle: The Rise of Abraham Lincoln.

WRITINGS:

The Politics of Community: Migration and Politics in Antebellum Ohio, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1988.

The Young Eagle: The Rise of Abraham Lincoln, Taylor Trade (Dallas, TX), 2001.

SIDELIGHTS:

Kenneth J. Winkle is a professor and chair of the history department at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. In his book The Politics of Community: Migration and Politics in Antebellum Ohio, Winkle examines migration patterns in antebellum Ohio and how they effected government and politics. The post-civil war period was a time of great migration across the country. Families were continuously moving, which meant that towns did not have many permanent residents. Only the wealthiest families could afford to stay in one place. Consequently these affluent residents restricted the voting rights of migrants as a means of asserting control over the government of their region. Winkle discusses how this affected government in Ohio.

Mary Young, reviewing The Politics of Community for the Journal of Social History, found that "Winkle's important study invites both rigorous, perhaps corrective replications, and methodological soul-searching among students of electoral behavior." Jeffrey P. Brown stated in American Historical Review that "Winkle has produced an impressive and persuasive assessment of the impact of mobility on Ohio politics," while D. T. Knobel wrote in Choice, "No future study of voter behavior in antebellum America can afford to overlook Winkle's conclusions."

In 2001 Winkle published The Young Eagle: The Rise of Abraham Lincoln. The title of the book comes from a statement made by Lincoln's good friend Joshua Speed, wherein Speed likens Lincoln's political rise to that of an eagle. In this work Winkle takes a slightly different approach than other Lincoln scholars. Instead of merely attributing all of Lincoln's success to his fine character and dedication to make something of himself, Winkle looks at Lincoln within the context of the president's own era, judging Lincoln against his peers, and displaying how his acquaintances helped contribute to his success.

Theresa McDevitt, reviewing The Young Eagle in Library Journal wrote that Winkle "is able to reconstruct Lincoln's youth in an unusual and quite well-documented study that informs the reader as much about life and politics in mid-nineteenth century America as it does about Lincoln himself." A reviewer for Publishers Weekly commented, "The strength of this biography lies less in any startling new findings about Lincoln's early years and more in Winkle's careful and consistent placement of Lincoln's choices within larger sociocultural trends." Jay Freeman praised the volume in Booklist, writing that Winkle has produced "a revealing, easily digestible, and rather original perspective on a man who continues to fascinate us."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, April, 1990, Jeffrey P. Brown, review of The Politics of Community: Migration and Politics in Antebellum Ohio, p. 587.

Booklist, January 1, 2001, Jay Freeman, review of The Young Eagle: The Rise of Abraham Lincoln, p. 909.

Choice, April, 1989, D.T. Knobel, review of The Politics of Community, p. 1396.

Journal of Social History, spring, 1990, Mary Young, review of The Politics of Community, p. 628.

Library Journal, February 15, 2001, Theresa McDevitt, review of The Young Eagle, p. 178.

Publishers Weekly, January 22, 2001, review of The Young Eagle, p. 316.

ONLINE

Abraham Lincoln Online,http://showcase.netin.net/ (September 6, 2001), interview with Winkle.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Web site,http://www.unl.edu/ (September 9, 2003), "Kenneth J. Winkle"*