Whitney Martinko, PhD
Associate Professor of History | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Villanova University
- Villanova PA
Whitney Martinko, PhD, is an expert on public history, historic preservation and the early United States (1776–1860).
Media
Areas of Expertise
Biography
Beyond her writing, Dr. Martinko can often be found doing history outside the classroom. Among her most recent projects is a special history study about the Longfellow family and historic preservation for the National Park Service and the National Council on Public History, informing interpretation at the Longfellow House − Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has also curated two exhibits on 20th-century Philadelphia artists.
Education
Harvard College
AB
History
2005
University of Virginia
MA
History
2007
University of Virginia
PhD
History
2012
Select Accomplishments
2023 "On the Brinck" Book Award
Awarded by the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning for "Historic Real Estate."
2019 Honors Thesis Mentor Award
Awarded by Villanova University.
2015 Ambassador Award
Awarded by the Vernacular Architecture Forum.
Affiliations
- Chair of Advisory Council, McNeil Center for Early American Studies
- Steering Committee Member, Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest, Villanova University
Select Media Appearances
Papers Passed Down in History May Have Value. But Who Determines It?
USA Today
2026-02-28
"Most artifacts and documents are moving between public and private status over the course of their lives," said Whitney Martinko, a professor of history at Villanova University... "We think of archives as 'forever,' but that's not always the case."
What's the Oldest Bar in Boston? Depends on Who You Ask.
Boston Globe
2025-07-11
What's authentic and what is a marketing ploy? In the heart of the Hub, that line can be as blurry as a frosted beer mug... Using history as a draw for commerce is not new. Whitney Martinko, a history professor at Villanova University, recently said that "people who kept shops and taverns as early as the 1820s and 1830s definitely tried to highlight the history of their buildings to attract attention from customers and respect from the public."
The Wanamaker Organ Has Been a Treasured Piece of Philly History for Over 100 Years − A Historian Explains Its Illustrious Past and Uncertain Future After Macy's Closes
The Conversation
2025-01-14
"Macy's announced on Jan. 9, 2025, that it will close its store in Center City Philadelphia in March. Immediately, residents and news outlets across the region asked: What will happen to the 120-year-old Wanamaker organ and annual Christmas light show? As a historian of Philadelphia and historic preservation, I recognize the panic as a familiar response to the economic changes that have been shaping the city for 75 years."
Jordan Mechner vs. the Sands of Time
The Washington Post
2024-04-03
The younger Mechner said that as a film student, he was keenly aware that art preservation was already in peril. "So many early silent films were lost, including the specific craft that went into making them and the stories of those pioneers." In the United States, commercial and corporate interests often shaped the choices of early historical preservation, according to Whitney Martinko, a historian and author of "Historic Real Estate: Market Morality and the Politics of Preservation in the Early United States."
Market Morality and the Politics of Preservation With Whitney Martinko
PreserveCast
2021-01-11
Preservation is a movement with a history unto itself—but all too often that story is overlooked in favor of the history of the sites that are preserved. Whitney Martinko, an associate professor of History at Villanova University, is tackling that story and recently published "Historic Real Estate: Market Morality and the Politics of Preservation in the Early United States," an in-depth look at why and what we preserve and how interconnected our preservation landscape is to our market-driven economy.
How Historic Preservation Shaped the Early United States
Smithsonian Magazine
2020-05-14
In the middle of the 19th century, the homes of two founding fathers, John Hancock and George Washington, were in danger of being torn down... The press covered the potential destruction of the two sites with horror, and according to historian Whitney Martinko, the divergent fates of these homes encapsulates the history of historic preservation in the United States.
The Horror. The Haunting. The History? These Days Philly Halloween Attractions Offer More Than a Good Scare.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
2019-10-11
Villanova University graduate student Katie Andersen... went on a September daytime history tour and said she was impressed by how the guides seemed to care about Pennhurst's past, although she wished they went into more detail on certain topics... Whitney Martinko, an associate professor of history at Villanova, agreed, noting the societal fascination with being inside these places isn't new. Hospitals, institutions and even prisons were tourist attractions in the 19th century, she said.
Two Centuries Ago, Pennsylvania Almost Razed Independence Hall to Make Way for Private Development
Smithsonian Magazine
2017-12-11
"Goodbye Independence Hall, hello Amazon headquarters! That was the 'news' recently spoofed by the popular parody website, The Onion... Yet 200 years ago, Philadelphians faced this very situation when the commonwealth of Pennsylvania planned to subdivide the site for private development. The resulting campaign to preserve Independence Hall featured the same critiques of urban development, capitalist greed and corrupt public interest that appeared in The Onion two centuries later."
Research Grants
AAS-National Endowment for the Humanities Long-Term Fellowship
American Antiquarian Society
2023
Research Fellowship
Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington
2023
Norton Strange Townshend Long-Term Fellowship
William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan
2022
