Joe Hursey

Joe Hursey retired from the U.S. Air Force after 22 years, in 2010.  Before retirement, he completed a bachelor’s and master’s degree in U.S. History, and he is currently pursuing his PhD in History, with a focus on the post-Civil War rise of the modern textile industry in the Upstate.  After the military, he took a position as the Director of the Miami County Historical Museum.  In 2012, he accepted a position with the Archives Center at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian, as the Research Coordinator.  In this position with the Smithsonian, he specialized in research of American beer and brewing history.  He spent almost a decade researching and presented on the subject matter to visiting brewery staff, donors, brewing historians, and university faculty. He has also published numerous academic papers related to the subject.

After the Smithsonian, Hursey moved to Piedmont, S.C., where he began teaching U.S. and World History with Greenville Technical Community College. He also volunteers with the Piedmont Historical Preservation Society as a historian and archivist, providing advice on collections management and museum operations.