A native Michiganian, Roger L. Rosentreter is an assistant professor in the Department of History at Michigan State University. He also served as editor of Michigan History Magazine from 1988 through 2009. He has written and published extensively on Michigan's past, including his most recent book, Michigan: A History of Explorers, Entrepreneurs & Everyday People, published by the University of Michigan Press. Rosentreter has given numerous presentations on Michigan history, with a special focus on the state's role in the Civil War.