Dr. John R. Legg is an ethnohistorian whose work bridges Indigenous history, public history, digital humanities, and community-engaged scholarship. He currently teaches as contingent faculty at Loyola University New Orleans and at Lamar University. For the 2026-2031 term, Legg serves as an Affiliate Fellow for the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

A Line Worth Crossing examines the movement of eastern Dakota people across the U.S.-Canadian border before and after the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. Rather than framing this movement as exile, the book argues that Dakota mobility was a deliberate and strategic practice that allowed them to maintain sovereignty, sustain relationships, and remain connected to their homeland, Mni Sota Makoce, while resisting US military authority in the Northern Plains. By tracing Dakota diplomacy, labor, warfare, and cross-border negotiations from the early nineteenth century to the present, the project challenges national boundaries as the primary framework for understanding Dakota history and instead centers Indigenous perspectives on space, belonging, and political authority.

Co-edited with Dr. Lauren Lassabe Shepherd, Degrees of Liberation brings together scholars, activists, and public historians to examine how campus activism and public history intersect in the ongoing struggle for educational justice. The collection argues that universities are not neutral spaces but are shaped by histories of settler colonialism, racial capitalism, and exclusion, which students and communities actively challenge through protest, memory work, and public engagement.

Reclaiming Emiquon situates Dickson Mounds within a longer history of extraction, display, and contested authority, tracing how the site has shifted from a settler-colonial spectacle of Indigenous remains to a space increasingly shaped by Indigenous expertise, consultation, and sovereignty. By foregrounding NAGPRA not simply as a legal framework but as a site of ongoing negotiation, the project demonstrates how Indigenous curators, tribal leaders, and community members have reoriented the meaning and management of Emiquon toward ethical accountability and relational care. In doing so, Reclaiming Emiquon speaks directly to the broader concerns of Indigenous Cultural Preservation in Public and Digital Spaces, illustrating how preservation operates within systems of power that structure authority, knowledge, and access. The project shows that meaningful transformation in public history does not emerge from inclusion alone, but from the centering of Indigenous authority in the design, interpretation, and stewardship of cultural heritage, positioning Emiquon as a critical case for understanding preservation as an active, contested, and ongoing practice.

Fredericksburg Documentary (2017)	Internship, American Civil War Museum	Enacting Freedom: African Americans in the Age of Emancipation exhibit	Oral History Work
Editorial Work with NCPH	Internship at Johnston-Felton-Hay House	Gerrymandering Exhibit at Virginia Tech	Community Engagement

In “My Grandpa’s War”, I reflect on how my understanding of history has been shaped through my relationship with my grandfather, a Marine who fought on Okinawa during World War II. Through his stories, the objects he preserved, and even the silences he carried, I came to see how memory operates beyond the archive. This essay moves between personal narrative and historical reflection to argue that history is not only something we research, but something we inherit, feel, and learn through acts of listening and empathy.

This research has led me to starting my own digital humanities spatial mapping project, called "Where They Came From: Mapping the Marines of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 22nd Marines, 6th Infantry Division."

This data project collects humanizing information about the men that served alongside my grandpa during World War II. It is my goal to build on the data from their military service by showing viewers where these men lived before World War II service and, possibly, what their lives looked like after the war if they survived. When data collection concludes, I plan to make a usable spatial map that details the hometowns of these men, showing connections between the war and its aftermath. This project is still in development and research.

"He's a good teacher and responds quick and helpfully to emails." Fall 2025

"Professor Legg was very interactive with all my submitted assignments either by giving feedback or just giving encouraging words which made me excited to do the assignments." Fall 2025

"Professor Legg was an amazing understanding professor. He provided a phenomenal book for us to read from and I feel that I have learned more from this book than any traditional textbook. His instructions were very clear and easy to understand. I really enjoyed this class due to the easiness of not feeling stressed. I would 100% take this professor again." Fall 2025