Jan Cigliano Hartman is an award-winning historian of eight books that portray the history of American life. Her book, Showplace of America, has sold over twenty thousand units `and remains in print after thirty years. It was Cleveland, Ohio's Euclid Avenue-home to such luminaries as the founder of Standard Oil, the chairman of Western Union Telegraph, and the inventor of the electric arc lamp-where Hartman discovered that John Hay was the most intriguing individual among a stunning field. Other books by Cigliano Hartman include Private Washington, Grand American Avenue, and The Women Who Changed Architecture. Hartman is principal of Jan Hartman Books, a book producer, and formerly senior editor with Princeton Architectural Press.

Hartman is a fellow at Massachusetts Historical Society, was a resident scholar at the American Academy in Rome, and a visiting researcher at Brown University's John Hay Library. Hartman is a graduate of Oberlin College with highest honors in history and George Washington University with a master's in urban planning.