First jobs of famous historians

Drew Gilpin Faust

President, Harvard University; author, “This Republic of Suffering”

First job: HUD intern

I grew up in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. My first full-time job, after graduating from college, was working on the Model Cities Program for the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Philadelphia.

This was back in 1968, so it turned out to be a pivotal time in the American experience. They had us go around to communities in states like Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland, talking to people about all the issues they faced. It was a real introduction to urban life for a girl who had grown up on a farm surrounded by horses, sheep, cows and pigs. ...