Douglas Harper is an historian, author, journalist and lecturer based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. He earned a degree in history and English from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.He is the author of several historical books, primarily on Civil War-era Chester County, Pennsylvania. He has been featured in a BBC production on the Welsh settlements in America, and has been interviewed for historical articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Post, and many magazines. He is the founder of the Online Etymology Dictionary.