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FREC Seminar Series - Mills Kelly, Writing About a Very Long Trail
February 20, 2026 Writing About a Very Long Trail 2:30pm in Fralin Auditorium, with refreshments at 2:00pm
SPRING 2026 FREC SEMINAR SERIES
Mills Kelly
Emeritus Professor of History, George Mason University
February 20, 2026
Writing About a Very Long Trail
2:30pm in Fralin Auditorium, with refreshments at 2:00pm
Abstract: Professor Mills Kelly is the author of two books, several articles, and the host of a popular podcast on the history of the Appalachian Trail. In this seminar, Mills will discuss his research processes (some of them unconventional), and how he made sense of information spread across 100 years, 14 states, 35 volunteer organizations, three federal and countless state agencies. His two books, Virginia’s Lost Appalachian Trail (2023) and A Hiker’s History of the Appalachian Trail (2025) are rich in detail about America’s most iconic long-distance hiking trail and offer a wide variety of stories about how the trail came to be, how it has been maintained, the people who hike it, and the local communities affected by its presence. In addition to explaining how he works with very messy historical data to craft compelling narratives, Mills will offer a few stories from the trail’s history and its present.
About Mills: Mills Kelly is an emeritus Professor of History at George Mason University where he taught for 24 years before retiring in 2025. He has won a variety of university, state, national, and international awards for his teaching, including a Fulbright Fellowship (2024), the Gutenberg Teaching Award from Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany (2020) and the SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Award (2010), Virginia’s highest recognition of faculty excellence. From 2019-2024 he was the executive director of George Mason’s award-winning Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media and these days is the chair of the board of directors of the Handmade Music School in Floyd, Virginia. Mills is the maintainer of the historic Manassas Gap Shelter on the Appalachian Trail and an active volunteer with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. Mills is also an avid photographer and recently returned from a photographic expedition to Antarctica.