Dwight T. Pitcaithley worked for the National Park Service for thirty years, the final decade as its chief historian. Following his retirement in 2005, he taught history at New Mexico State University until 2019. He is the author/editor of The U.S. Constitution and Secession: A Documentary Anthology of Slavery and White Supremacy, Tennessee Secedes: A Documentary History, and Kentucky and the Secession Crisis: A Documentary History.