Rachel Boyle, PhD

RACHEL BOYLE, PHD

Rachel Boyle has been a public historian since high school, when she once set up an interactive booth at the local mall to teach kids about economic inequality during the Great Depression. Now holding a PhD and over ten years of professional experience, Boyle continues to blend critical historical practice with meaningful community engagement. 

Boyle currently teaches history courses at DePaul University and conducts historical research for the National Park Service. She also teaches and writes for public audiences, using scholarship to inform her public history work and vice versa. She has worked with cultural organizations ranging from local community groups to national institutions, managing digital history projects, curating exhibits, and conducting historical research.

Public Scholarship

Labor
Gender, Violence, and Urban Space
Midwestern History

Current Projects

Administrative History of Pecos National Historical Park, in collaboration with the National Council of Public History (2023 – 2026)

Administrative History of Weir Farm National Historical Park, in collaboration with Public Archeology Lab, Inc. (2022 – 2024)

Awards and Fellowships

  • Travel Grant, Organization of American Historians, April 2020 (canceled due to COVID-19)
  • Wiki Scholar, Wiki Education Foundation, 2018
  • Mellon Major Projects Postdoctoral Fellow, Newberry Library 2017-2018
  • Award of Merit, American Association of State and Local History Leadership in History Awards, 2017
  • Honorable Mention, Alice Smith Prize in Public History, Midwestern History Association, 2017
  • National Council on Public History Student Project Award, March 2017
  • Newberry Library Graduate Scholar-In-Residence, 2016-2017
  • Loyola University Chicago Arthur J. Schmitt Dissertation Fellowship, 2016-2017
  • Loyola University Chicago President’s Medallion for Leadership, Scholarship, and Service, 2015
  • King V. Hostick Scholarship, Illinois State Historical Society and the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2015

Curriculum Vitae