Thomas A. Desjardin

Thomas A. (Tom) Desjardin (born 1964) is an American historian. He has published books on the American Civil War (including two monographs on Joshua Chamberlain) and American Revolutionary War. He also was director of Maine's State Park system, and briefly was Maine's Acting Commissioner of the Department of Education.[1] He was born at St. Mary's Hospital, now Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center (Maine) in Lewiston, Maine.

Thomas Desjardin
BornJune 10, 1964
Lewiston, Maine
NationalityAmerican
Alma materFlorida State University
University of Maine
Known forAmerican Civil War historian, Maine Commissioner of Education

Academic career

Desjardin earned a bachelor's degree in government and a master's degree in communication from Florida State University, where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He earned a Ph.D. in U.S. History from the University of Maine and has taught at his alma mater (FSU), at Bowdoin College, and the University of Maine. He is also a former fellow at the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York City.

Career

A former archivist/historian at Gettysburg National Military Park, much of his historical research has been devoted to Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, on the mythology of the Gettysburg story, and Maine history. His work was twice nominated for the prestigious Lincoln Prize. Desjardin has appeared in nationally televised documentaries numerous times and was the historical consultant for actor Jeff Daniels in his role as Chamberlain in the 1993 movie Gettysburg. In a span of nearly two decades in Maine State Government he served as the Chief Historian for Maine's Department of Conservation and as the Director of Maine's Bureau of Parks and Lands. During his tenure as director, the state park system achieved all-time records in both visitation and revenue.

In 2014, Maine governor Paul LePage appointed Desjardin to serve as the state's Acting Commissioner of Education.

In June 2015, it was reported that Republican governor Paul LePage had used political pressure to prevent Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves to be hired as president of Good Will-Hinkley, a nonprofit organization that operates a Maine charter school. Desjardin reportedly discussed the matter with Good Will-Hinkley board Chairman Jack Moore during a lunch meeting in May 2015. According to an investigation conducted by the legislature's Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability, the then-acting education commissioner expressed LePage's opposition to the hiring of Eves. Desjardin also reportedly called Moore after Eves' hiring was announced to say the school had lost the governor's support, and that the school stood to lose state funding.[2] OPEGA investigators found that Desjardins "ordered finance staff to withhold the first quarterly payment to Good Will-Hinckley after meetings in which LePage told his senior staff that he no longer could support the school."[3]

Books
  • Stand Firm Ye Boys From Maine: The 20th Maine and the Gettysburg Campaign (Oxford University Press) ISBN 0-19-514082-6[4]
  • These Honored Dead: How the Story of Gettysburg Shaped American Memory (DaCapo Press) ISBN 0-306-81267-3
  • Through A Howling Wilderness: Benedict Arnold's March to Quebec, 1775 (St. Martins Press) ISBN 0-312-33904-6
  • Joshua L. Chamberlain: A Handbook (Greystone Communications) ISBN 1-892636-15-8
  • Joshua L. Chamberlain: A Life in Letters (Osprey Publishing) ISBN 1-84908-559-5

Television and film

1993 - Feature Film Gettysburg (1993 film). Historical advisor to actor Jeff Daniels - In 2011, Daniels said publicly of his role as Joshua Chamberlain: "For me, whatever people think that role was, it is because of Tom Desjardin."
1999, 2006, 2013 C-SPAN's Book TV
1999 - History Channel - Unknown Civil War series - on air historical consultant
2000 - History Channel - Joshua L. Chamberlain
2000 - A&E Network - Biography
2015 - The Gettysburg Address (film) - In Production.

References
  1. "Tom Desjardin named Acting Education Commissioner".
  2. Shepherd, Michael (November 10, 2015). "Legislative watchdogs cast wide net for LePage investigation". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  3. Mistler, Steve (September 8, 2015). "Probe finds state moved to cut school's funding after it hired LePage rival". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  4. "The Maine lesson of Gettysburg: Real history is never so romantic as reel | Martin Pengelly". The Guardian. 2 July 2013.
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