Mr. Cook joined Hudson Catholic in 2019 after 4 years teaching at an elite private school in North Carolina and 1 year at DePaul Catholic. He currently serves as the History Department Chairperson, which he has done since 2022. He has had a career touching on several fields of academic and public history.
Mr. Cook is an experienced battlefield tour guide and veteran researcher of the Civil War Institute of Gettysburg, where his work contributed to the 2006 book The Gettysburg Gospel by Dr. Gabor Boritt. He is also an accomplished author himself. Currently, he is scheduled to publish an article in the journal Civil War Regiments (being relaunched by Savas Beatie) on the subject of cowardice at the Battle of Gettysburg. In November 2013 and again in 2015, he was honored as the author of the best paper at the annual Symposium on the 19th Century Press, the Civil War, and Free Expression -- hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; his papers were titled “Thunders of Divine Wrath: Public Reaction to the Death of General E.R.S. Canby” and “Henry Clay is Dead: the End of Compromise in Antebellum America.” Both of these papers are currently under review by academic journals for potential publication.
Mr. Cook already has several publications under his belt (see the "Writing" tab to view and read some of his papers):
While in graduate school, Mr. Cook joined the editorial staff of the Saber & Scroll Journal of History, where he served as a content expert for American political and military history, Civil War history, and French Revolutionary history. He also completed one term as the Editor-in-Chief. He has continued his editing and publishing tradition by publishing multiple volumes of his students’ research papers.
He is a member of the Organization of American Historians, the Society of 19th Century Historians, the Phi Alpha Theta history honor society, the Pi Gamma Mu social sciences honor society, and the Golden Key International Honor Society. He volunteers as a transcriber of documents for digitization projects at multiple historic sites, serves on the New Milford (NJ) Historic Preservation Commission, and is the host of a podcast focusing on topics in history and politics.
Mr. Cook has advised a wide array of extracurricular activities during his teaching career: History Movie Club, Brain Game (Quiz Bowl), Debate Club, Key Club, Karaoke Club, Ping Pong Club, and Ultimate Frisbee Club.
When he is not doing all of this, Mr. Cook enjoys watching his favorite sports teams (although they are sometimes difficult to enjoy): the New York Mets, Colorado Avalanche, UNC Tarheels, and Detroit Lions.