James Kirby Martin

James Kirby Martin (May 26, 1943 – December 31, 2024) was an American historian who was a Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen University Professor of History at the University of Houston, Houston, Texas. He studied American military and social history, specifically the American Revolution, and alcohol-related issues in the United States. In addition to his scholarly work and publications, Martin has advised and appeared on television programs aired on the History Channel and also advised New York-based Talon Films on historical issues. He has also become involved in movie production.

Education, background, and achievements Martin received his B.A. from Hiram College (summa cum laude) and then earned his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. He began his teaching career at Rutgers University, where he earned the rank of Professor of History and also served for a period as vice president for Academic Affairs. In 1980, Martin moved to the University of Houston, having accepted assignment as the Department Chair of History. Martin helped to found the Papers of Thomas Edison project at Rutgers University and for a few years served on its board of advisers. He was also on the advisory board of the Papers of William Livingston project. Martin has served as general editor for a book series, the American Social Experience (New York University Press), and as a consulting editor for a book series entitled Conversations with the Past (Brandywine Press). Martin was serving on the advisory board of editors for the Critical Historical Encounters book series sponsored by Oxford University Press.

Martin consulted some of the nation's most eminent law firms with regard to the history of various consumer products, including alcohol and tobacco, and collaborated and appeared on programs aired by the History Channel. Talon Films of New York also regularly consulted Martin on historical matters. Martin worked on two movie screenplays: one focusing on Benedict Arnold’s treason and the other on Oneida warrior Han Yerry Doxtader and Mohawk warrior Joseph Brant.

Teaching inventory Martin's teaching interests include early American history through the Revolution, American military history through the Civil War, and the history of medicine and health in the United States, particularly that of drinking, smoking, and drug usage. He taught many undergraduate courses at the University of Houston, including a survey history of the United States; topical courses in colonial and Revolutionary American history; and capstone courses on such subjects as disease and addiction in the American experience. At the graduate level, Martin has offered a variety of courses, including early American historiography as well as introductory and advanced courses on research and writing in United States history.

Research interests Martin was the award-winning author and editor of twelve books and numerous scholarly articles. His later research interests focused on military, social, and political aspects of early American history, especially the Revolutionary era and beyond.

Martin completed a major revision of his co-authored work, A Respectable Army: The Military Origins of the Republic, 1763-1789 (2006), and he has co-authored (with Joseph Glatthaar) Forgotten Allies: The Oneida Indians and the American Revolution (2006). In 2008, a new third edition of Ordinary Courage: The Revolutionary War Adventures of Joseph Plumb Martin, also appeared.

Martin's later writing projects included The Remarkable Revolution: How the United States Avoided Becoming a Military Dictatorship, 1775-1787 (tentative title, with Oxford University Press), as well as a volume on Han Yerry Doxtader and the Iroquois Indians titled American Warrior: Han Yerry Doxtader, the Battle of Oriskany, and the Decline and Fall of the Six Nations of Iroquois Indians. Two other projects under way include an investigation of Benedict Arnold's treason (with Oxford University Press), and a study of the history of smoking in America (a companion volume related to his earlier co-authored book on drinking in America).

Works

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