Title: Digital historian
Hometown: I was actually born in Georgetown Hospital, 11 minutes before my twin brother. But my father has roots in Vermont going back to the 1700s, so we moved back there when I was 9.
Education: B.A. in history, University of Vermont; J.D., Vermont Law School; Ph.D. in history, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
{mosads}Last job: Project editor for the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University while I was a post-doctoral teaching fellow there for three years.
Biggest frustration in merging history with technology: That more historians aren’t taking advantage of the merger. The potential of the “open source” movement to transform the profession is incredible.
Current lawmaker or recent event you think will stand out in congressional history 50 years from now: I hope what will stand out is the power of a negative lesson. I hope that, as Congress moves back toward respecting and having compassion for differing views held by people, we will look back at today and see how unseemly and destructive it was to demonize a person for holding a contrary belief to our own.
Most embarrassing moment on Capitol Hill: I haven’t had time to make any yet, though anyone who knows me knows it’s only a matter of time.
Interests outside of work: Reading, running and “not wobbling” (a la the quote “In walking, just walk. In sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble,” from Japanese poet Matsuo Basho).
Before arriving on Capitol Hill, Thomas Rushford spent nearly two years in Normandy, France and Kent, England, poring over court records studying witchcraft in 16th- and 17th-century Europe.
Rushford, the digital historian in the House’s Office of the Historian, was reading a book for his master’s degree when the author’s mention of European witchcraft caught his eye. His interest transformed into an academic pursuit, and Rushford decided to map the social and economic parameters of European witchcraft to better understand how witches were treated.
“My job was to go to Europe to study the archives,” he said. “That’s a good job.”
{mosads}That work led to his landing a post-doctoral fellowship at George Mason University, as well as a job at the institution’s Center for History and New Media, where he began to focus on how technology can advance the work of historians.
Rushford, who at one point was also a high school American history teacher, joined the House historian’s office a year ago. He has since found some “really interesting stories” in Congress’s past and present.
“When you’re this close to it, it’s hard not to be captivated,” he said.
To have your office featured on Inside the Office of…, contact Kris Kitto at 202-628-8539 or kkitto@digital-staging.thehill.com