SUNY Adirondack professor celebrates new book

QUEENSBURY, New York (Oct. 22, 2024) — A more-than-century-old document changed the course of Evan Sullivan’s study.

While researching World War I-era education policies in the New York State Archives in 2015, Sullivan, then a doctoral student at University at Albany and today an assistant professor of History at SUNY Adirondack, was reading the wartime diaries of state Education Commissioner John Finley.

“Tucked into one of the pages of that diary, I found a pamphlet for a rehabilitation school for blind French soldiers,” said Sullivan, who from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, at Mean Max Brew Works, will celebrate the release of his book, “Constructing Disability After the Great War: Blind Veterans in the Progressive Era.”

“I knew nothing about blind veterans, veterans' history or disability history,” Sullivan said. “My research shifted.”

Sullivan completed his thesis, earned a master’s degree and doctorate, and went on to become a highly respected historian with a focus on the intersections of disability, war and gender in the modern era.

“My work explores concepts such as race, gender, sexuality and citizenship, and how these social categories helped define what it meant to be a disabled and blind veteran in the context of the Progressive Era,” he said.

Before the release of “Constructing Disability After the Great War,” Sullivan published numerous chapters in books about disabled veterans and World War I, and scholarly articles in First World War Studies and The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.

Sullivan is a 2010 graduate of SUNY Adirondack with an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts degree. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in History from University at Albany in 2012, a master’s degree in History from University at Albany in 2015 and a Doctor of Philosophy in History from University at Albany in 2020.

"We are immensely proud of Evan and his accomplishments — first as a student, then as an alumni and now as a professor," said Kristine D. Duffy, Ed.D., president of SUNY Adirondack. "His passion for his research is evident in the classroom and seeing him further share his knowledge with his new book is exciting."

“Constructing Disability After the Great War” examines how blind veterans of World War I lived within cultural constructs of blindness.

The Nov. 1 reception is open to the public. Copies of the book will be available for purchase. Mean Max is located at 193 Glen St. in downtown Glens Falls.