Peter LaChapelle, Ph.D.

I grew up in a small town that had fewer inhabitants than the university I ended up attending so I know what it is like to struggle with those first years of college. I try to use this background to help first-generation college students adjust to the demands of obtaining a bachelor’s degree. I was drawn to history because it helped me answer questions about who I was and where various forms of culture and society around me came from. I particularly like cultural history because it helps me understand the thinking behind why people vote or behave in a certain way. I teach U.S. western, political, and social history and have a passion for getting students involved in projects to document the oral history of our community.

• I am author of two books:
  I’d Fight the World: A Political History of Old-Time, Hillbilly, and Country Music (University of Chicago Press, 2019) which examines the relationship between country music and political campaigns including figures such as Pappy O’Daniel and George C. Wallace. This history has important things to say about race, class, and power in our society. If you’ve seen the political campaign scenes in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, you have some idea of what I write about.
• Proud to Be an Okie: Cultural Politics, Country Music and Migration to Southern California (University of California Press, 2007), which was recognized with an honorable mention by the Urban History Association for its annual book prize

My Ph.D. is from University of Southern California.