Elizabeth Nelson

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Associate Professor of History

Graduate Coordinator, Department of History

Expertise: 19th-Century Popular Culture, Civil War and Reconstruction, U.S. Cultural History, Antebellum America, Food History, Historical Evolution of Marketing and Advertising

Biography

Elizabeth Nelson is an associate professor of history who specializes in pop culture and advertising in the 19th century, as well as food history.

Her research areas include American history on the National Period; the Civil War and Reconstruction; 19th-century cultural and intellectual history; cultural theory; and the relationship between political economy, domestic economy and national identity in the antebellum United States.

Nelson, who has taught courses at UNLV since 1996, is the author of Market Sentiments: Middle-Class Market Culture in 19th-Century America (Smithsonian Books, 2004), as well as a contributor to The Middling Sorts: Explorations in the History of the American Middle Class (Routledge, 2000).

Education

Ph.D., American Studies, Yale University
M. Phil, American Studies, Yale University
M.A ., American Studies, Yale University
A.B ., The Growth and Structure of Cities, Bryn Mawr College

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arts & culture, food & nutrition, history, popular culture

Elizabeth Nelson In The News

When Movie Theaters Tried to Ban Popcorn

History Channel

Today, popcorn and the movies are so inextricably linked that it’s hard to imagine a time when the buttery, salty snack wasn’t served at a concession stand in the lobby. But that was actually the case for the first few decades of the movie theater business.

Was Saint Valentine real? The murky history of Valentine's Day

LiveNow from Fox

Valentine’s Day is a day for flowers, cards and chocolate, but the history of the lover’s holiday may be much darker. Valentine’s Day is a day for flowers, cards and chocolate, but the history of the lover’s holiday may be much darker.

Six Penticton senior couples renew their wedding vows on Valentine's Day Seniors renew their vows

Castanet

The Valentine’s Day we recognize today started around the late 18th century. The tradition had solidified in England and spread to the United States, with people writing poetry and hand-making cards, according to Elizabeth White Nelson, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas history professor.

Why some social media users incorrectly think greeting card companies invented Valentine's Day

Snopes

The holiday's roots stretch back centuries, long before commercial greeting cards existed.