Kathryn and Calhoun Lemon Professor; Centennial Professor (2004-2006)

Contact
Department of History
Office: 226 Hardin Hall
Phone: 864-656-3153
Email: ggrant@clemson.edu

Education
Ph.D., University of Missouri (1970)

Courses
American History, Railroad History

H. Roger Grant came to Clemson in 1996 from The University of Akron, where he had been teaching since 1970. A specialist in U.S. history and especially the Populist-Progressive era, he is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on transportation history and American railroads. He has written or edited 40 academic books; his most recent are Railroads and the American People (2012), The Louisville, Cincinnati & Charleston Railroad: Dreams of Linking North and South (2014), Railroaders without Borders: A History of the Railroad Development Corporation (2015), Electric Interurbans and the American People (2016), Rails to the Front: The Role of Railroads in Wartime (with A.J. Veenendaal Jr.) (2017), John W. Barringer III: Railroad Legend (2018), Transportation and the American People (2019), A Mighty Fine Road: A History of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company (2020), The Station Agent and the American People (2022), and Sunset Cluster: A Shortline Railroad Saga (2023) .

Twice recognized by Clemson with awards for excellence in research, and more recently as the University’s Centennial Professor, Grant was awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters by his undergraduate alma mater, Simpson College, in 2002. During spring semester 2005 Grant served as the Maxwell C. Weiner Distinguished Professor of Humanities at the University of Missouri–Rolla, today’s Missouri University of Science and Technology. He was awarded the Kathryn and Calhoun Lemon Professorship in 2006. His book, “Railroads in the Midwest,” will be published by Indiana University Press in 2024. He is under contract with Indiana University Press for another book, “The Intercity Bus and the American People.” Grant serves on the board of directors of the Lexington Group in Transportation History, the Center for Railroad Photography and Art in Madison, Wisconsin, and the John W. Barringer III National Railroad Library in St. Louis, Missouri.

To celebrate its 75th anniversary, Trains Magazine in its November 2015 issue named 75 people of the past 75 years that are worthy of recognition, including Professor Grant: “If there’s a chapter of railroad history that this scholar hasn’t researched, we don’t know what it is. He is currently a professor at Clemson University in South Carolina and former editor of Railroad History magazine. He has authored two dozen books and articles too numerous to count. Grant makes railroad history relevant to new generations."

Selected Professional Works

Books (Published)

Sunset Cluster: A Shortline Railroad Saga, Indiana University Press (2023)

The Station Agent and the American Railroad Experience, Indiana University Press (2022).

A Mighty Fine Road: A History of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company, Indiana University Press (2020).

Transportation and the American People. Indiana University Press (2019).

John W. Barringer III: Railroad Legend. Indiana University Press (2018).

Rails to the Front: The Role of Railroads in Wartime (with A. J. Veenendaal, Jr.) , Karwansaray Publishers (2017).

Electric Interurbans and the American People, Indiana University Press (2016).

Railroaders without Borders: A History of the Railroad Development Corporation, Indiana University Press (2015).

The Louisville, Cincinnati, & Charleston Railroad: Dreams of Linking North and South, Indiana University Press (2014).

Railroads and the American People, Indiana University Press (2012).

Twilight Rails: The Final Era of Railroad Building in the Midwest , University of Minnesota Press (2010).

Visionary Railroader: Jervis Langdon Jr. and the Transportation Revolution, Indiana University Press (2008).

Rails Through the Wiregrass: A History of the Georgia and Florida Railroad. Northern Illinois University Press, (2006).

The Railroad: The Life Story of a Technology, Greenwood Publishing (2005).

Follow the Flag: A History of the Wabash Railroad Company. Northern Illinois University Press, (2004).

Getting Around: Exploring Transportation History, Krieger Publishing (2003).

Iowa Railroads: The Essays of Frank P. Donovan, Jr. University of Iowa Press (2000).

Ohio on the Move: Transportation in the Buckeye State, Ohio University Press (2000).

The North Western: A History of the Chicago & North Western Railway. Northern Illinois University Press, (1996).

Erie Lackawanna: Death of An American Railroad, Stanford University Press (1994).

Living in the Depot: The Two-Story Railroad Station, University of Iowa Press (1993).

Brownie the Boomer: The Life of Charles P. Brown, An American Railroader, Northern Illinois University Press (1991).

Spirit Fruit: A Gentle Utopia, Northern Illinois University Press (1988).

The Corn Belt Route: A History of the Chicago Great Western Railroad Company, Northern Illinois University Press (1984).

Self-Help in the 1890s Depression, Iowa State University Press (1983).

Insurance Reform: Consumer Action in the Progressive Era, Iowa State University Press (1979).