Dr. Connor S. Kenaston is the Assistant Professor of History and Ainsworth Scholar in American Culture at Randolph College. His teaching and scholarship examine the social and cultural history of the United States and the Atlantic World. He also has expertise in public humanities and critical pedagogy. Connor received his PhD from the University of Virginia in 2022.
His current project, “The Big Three: Commercial Radio Networks and the Making of Tri-Faith America,” examines the history of religion and radio in the American century.
His article, “Step by Step: American Interracialism and the Origins of Talk-First Activism,” was recently published in Modern American History.
Below you will find a collection of Connor’s past blog posts. You can also use the navigation bar to learn more about Connor, his research, and his pedagogy.
21 Mar 2024
A few years back, I spent a few days at the University of Akron library digging into the Advertising Files of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. I wanted to learn more about “Greatest Story Ever Told,” a religious radio program from the late 1940s and early 1950s that was later made into a TV program and a biblical epic. When Greatest Story emerged in 1947, it differed from all other religious radio programs at that time because it was sponsored by a commercial company.
As I was looking through Goodyear’s records, I came across several speeches and letters where Goodyear officials explained why they thought sponsoring a religious radio program was a good idea for their business. I was struck by how Goodyear used the tools of the advertising industry (eg, case studies, surveys, ratings, etc) along with an interfaith religious advisory committee (kind of like this one from the Coen brothers’Hail Caesar!) to tell the story of the Christian New Testament in a way that appealed to the mass market. As I was looking through the archive, I remember thinking, “Wow! I don’t know how to make sense of this yet, but this is really interesting!” Not long after that archive visit, however, I realized I needed to wrap up my dissertation prior to the start of WWII. So I set my findings on Goodyear and The Greatest Story aside.
I decided to return to those materials this fall, however. I wanted to test the waters to see if I wanted to stretch the timeline of The Big Three into the 1940s. I co-pitched a panel called “The Business of National Patrimony” to be presented at the Business History Conference in Providence, RI. My wonderful co-presenters were Dael Norwood and Whitney Martinko, and we were lucky to have Wendy Woloson as our commeter and Seth Rockman as our panel chair. Shout-out to Dael for doing most of the legwork in regards to getting the panel together!
My paper, “The Greatest Story: Commercial Radio and Religion in the American Century,” argued that Greatest Story Ever Told helped facilitate the rise of an imagined liberal consensus on religion during the Cold Year. At the same time, I also showed how the program’s well-publicizied innovative sponsorship model helped convince the FCC that commercial program could serve the public interest, leading to a foundational 1960 FCC ruling that enabled the rise of televangelism. I received some excellent feedback from both Dr. Woloson and from the audience that will help me revise.
This was my first time attending the Business History Conference, and I really enjoyed it. Special thanks to Randolph College’s Professional Development Committee for supporting my trip to Providence!
25 Jan 2024
This week, I had the pleasure of hosting my dear friend, Eric Martin, as he talked about some of the ideas in his new book about religious responses the Unite the Right Rally in Charllotesville in 2017. The event went exceedingly well, and I encourage all of you to buy The Writing on the Wall, published by Wipf and Stock publishers.
<img class=”headshot” src=”Images/Faith-Against-Fascism.jpg” alt=”Poster of the Event. Title says Signs of Faith Against Fascism in Charlottesville and it includes a photograph of clergy protesting against the Unite the Right Rally.>
01 Jul 2023
I’m happy to announce that as of today, I have a new job title: Assistant Professor of History and Ainsworth Scholar in American Culture at Randolph College! This fall Randolph held a national search for a tenure-track position in US and Atlantic history, and thankfully they offered me the job! I will teach in the History Department and co-lead the American Culture program in 2023-2024 before transitioning to full-time in the History Department in 2024-2025.
I have really enjoyed working at Randolph this past year and am looking forward to this next phase. I have loved being back in the classroom, connecting with students, making new friends, and exploring new places with Maria Niechwiadowicz and our pup, Franklin. Moving and transitions are often challenging, and I’m so thankful to the many, many folks near and far who have supported and accompanied us on our journey thus far.
15 Nov 2022
In 2020, I was chosen to receive a $2,500 Research Fellowship grant from the Presbyterian Historical Society. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic delayed my trip to the archive. Thankfully, I was able to use my research funds to request digital scans that were essential for writing my dissertation. I completed my long-anticipated trip to the archive in January 2022.
This past week, I participated in a panel discussion with other grant recipients to talk about my research and the impact of the PHS fellowship. You can read an article about the event or watch a recording of the event. Perhaps most importantly, be sure to support the Presbyterian Historical Society and other libraries and archives this Giving Tuesday!
19 Sep 2022
A few weeks ago, I started my new job as the Ainsworth Visiting Assistant Professor of American Culture at Randolph College. You can read more about my new job in this New Faculty Q&A on Randolph’s website.
