Jane Lancaster is an independent public historian who specializes in American women’s history. She has won numerous awards for her writing and teaching.
Jane Lancaster was born in England, and moved to the United States with her family in 1987. She spends her summers in Beverley, East Yorkshire, and her falls, winters and springs in Providence, Rhode Island.
She has also lived in Australia and Thailand, and travels extensively. In the last three years she has visited Vietnam, South Africa, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Cuba and Ireland, and has traveled by train across Canada. In that same period she has published three books, and worked as an archives consultant to the Pembroke Center at Brown University.
She has also published numerous articles and spoken on three continents to groups as diverse as college classes, senior citizens and second graders. She lectures frequently through the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities speakers program.
Lancaster also helps individuals and organizations research their past, helping with their archives, conducting oral histories, and writing their histories. Recent projects include a militia organization, the YWCA, a long-established women’s charity and a millowner’s family.
Her latest project involves a true 'rags to riches' story set in 19th century New York.
Wife of an economics professor, and mother of two sons who are both involved in mysterious high-tech pursuits, Lancaster earned a bachelor’s degree in economics, politics and sociology from the University of Birmingham in England, and much later, a master’s and doctorate in history from Brown University.