Biography - Jennifer K Thompson

Jennifer Thompson loved to play school as a child. Her grandfather, who was a WWI veteran, taught her to love learning and history in 4th grade by giving her Indiana historical maps and other documents to help her in an upcoming Indiana History course. Several other teachers have also inspired her during her education.

Professor Thompson was halfway through her Bachelor’s Degree from IU when she married her high school sweetheart, who had joined the Navy. Since they were stationed in Norfolk, Virginia for most of his career, she began taking correspondence courses as finances allowed to continue her degree, as she raised and home schooled their two children. When her husband retired from the Navy in 1996, they returned home to Indianapolis, Indiana, where they still reside. She graduated from IU in 2002, the same year her youngest child graduated from their home school.

Professor Thompson continued her education through American Military University, earning her Master’s Degree with honors in Military Studies – Civil War in 2006. Since graduation, she has served as editor of the Hardtack, the newsletter for the Indianapolis Civil War Round Table. In 2011, she took on the additional role of program director for the Round Table. For a few years, she also served as editor for the Indiana Legion, the newsletter for the SUVCW in Indiana.

Professor Thompson enjoys a variety of crafts, including counted cross stitch. Her interest in genealogy began in 6th grade. Her research has revealed many military family members. Her blind ancestor, Vachel Hammond, served as a Patriot by providing supplies to Revolutionary soldiers. His service enabled her to join the DAR in 2007. She and her husband have over 60 relatives who served in the Civil War. She researched a regiment in which her husband’s relative served for her first graduate paper. She is continuing to research all the soldiers in that regiment for a future book on the 8th Indiana Infantry. While researching for that book, she discovered that her direct ancestor, Lewis McKay, served in the 2nd Indiana Cavalry during the Civil War. His service enabled her to join the DUVCW in 2009.

Professor Thompson has a great respect for our military and understands the demands of both the military and civilian life. Education is very important to her. She had the privilege of teaching her oldest grandchild to read before she moved in 2009 to attend Kindergarten in another state. She now has a total of four grandchildren, but they all live in other states. She had the privilege of teaching American Government for Harrison College in 2009; students who dreaded the subject found they really enjoyed her class. Her goal as a teacher is to share her passion for learning and her love of history with her students.

A Chinese proverb states: Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.
Henry Brooks Adams stated: A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.