UAH History Grad Student Alyson Buck Participates in Maple Hill Cemetery Stroll

Alyson Buck, a current UAHuntsville history student, served as a
costumed interpreter at this year's Maple Hill Cemetery Stroll. Alyson
had to find a person buried at the cemetery, conduct research on the
person, find an appropriate costume, and play the person for over three
hours at this year's event. Her excellent work was reflected in the
large crowds that gathered to hear about her character. Alyson hopes to
continue working on her character and will be looking for new public
history opportunities.

Kudos to Student Kayleigh Last for Successfully Adding Local Cemetery to Historical Register

Last semester UAHuntsville public history student, Kayleigh Last, completed a Cemetery survey to nominate a historical cemetery to the Alabama Historical Commission. The graveyard, located in Limestone county, is an African American masonic graveyard that makes a significant cultural contribution to the surrounding community. On September 11th, she got word that the graveyard was officially accepted to the AHC and was only the second graveyard on the register in Limestone County. Kayleigh plans to bring together members of the local community to work to preserve the cemetery. Great job!

Molly Johnson is new head of Women's Studies at UAH

Dr. Molly Johnson, associate professor in the History Department, has been named the new director of the Women’s Studies Program at UAH.  She has taught two history courses cross-listed with Women's Studies and served on its Program Advisory Committee.  Dr. Johnson looks forward to the opportunity to promote the interdisciplinary study of women and gender at UAH, as well as to reach out to the North Alabama community through public programs and events. 

Dr. Johnson plans to strengthen ties between the History Department and Women's Studies.  She is also very excited to work with UAH alum Erin Reid; Erin earned a master’s degree from the History Department and is the invaluable WS Staff Assistant.  Pictured here is Erin on the left, and Molly on the right.

Global Studies in Germany

Seven UAHuntsville students, including several history students, traveled to Germany in May along with Dr. Molly Johnson for a class on “Berlin, Nuremberg, Munich: Legacies of the Third Reich.”  The class, offered through UAH's Global Studies program, visited a variety of sights that explored how the Nazis used both the spatial and the visual as aesthetic strategies to gain and maintain power, as well as how Germany as a nation-state and different cities and groups document and reflect on the history of Nazi Germany today through memorials, museums, and other memory sites.

Pictured here are students in front of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, with Potsdamer Platz in the background; students in front of the Olympic Stadium in Berlin; students at the Koenigsplatz in Munich, which was used as a Nazi parade ground; and students with Herr Franz Mueller, a surviving member of the White Rose student resistance group based at the University of Munich in the 1940s.  Students also took in some Cold War lore while in Berlin.  Katie Graham is standing next to a Trabant automobile, and Jesse Bates is posing with a piece of the former Berlin Wall.

For more information on Global Studies at UAH, see:http://www.uah.edu/colleges/liberal/global/

Successful UAHuntsville Public History Summer Institute

The UAHuntsville Department of History and the History Channel recently hosted a public history institute for fifteen tenth-graders from Huntsville High School from June 14-18, 2010. The high school students, with help from four UAHuntsville history students, learned about history and historical methods by working on a history website, participating in an archaeological dig at the remains of a plantation house on Redstone Arsenal, taking a military staff ride at Chickamauga Battlefield, touring the Special Collections at the Huntsville Public Library, and learning about antebellum life at the Weeden House in downtown Huntsville. These activities allowed students to interact with history and learn skills that are often used to recreate the past. The students, mentors, and teachers who participated in the first annual summer institute enjoyed a fun and educational week . . . despite the hot weather!

Kudos to Dr. John Kvach for his leadership and coordination of the institute, as well as to all of the UAH students who helped make the week a success: Charity Ethridge, Michael Henriksen, John Milling, Whitney Reid, Joshua Riddle, Ben Tyler, and Emily Hampton.

New History Course for Fall 2010: "Making of Modern Science: The Scientific Revolution to the Twentieth Century"

The history department has added a new class to the fall 2010 schedule: HY 399-06, "Making of Modern Science: The Scientific Revolution to the Twentieth Century."
Dr. Randall Dills, Visiting Assistant Professor of History, will teach the course on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 to 6:50 pm.

Here is the course description:

"The course covers the history of modern science from 1500 to the 20th century. We will consider the nature of science, its practices and practitioners and sites of study in relationship to society over a broad spectrum of history. We will examine scientists at work in a number of sites, from voyages of discovery and the laboratory to museums and the cosmos as we challenge the received stories about the “Heroes” of modern science. How should one view the work and careers of Galileo, Newton, Darwin and others? Every step of the way, we will situate scientists and their theories within the society and culture of the time, including Romanticism, Imperialism, and the Cold War. We will study the conflicts between those who viewed science as autonomous and independent of outside influences and those who viewed it as an instrument of social and economic progress. Ultimately, as scientists sought to “de-mystify” the world by identifying the laws upon which the natural world is built, we will understand that the modern state and the expansion of European ideals is linked with the rise in the authority of scientists who claimed to know, understand and interpret it. Readings will include selections from the leading historians of science and the primary sources of participants and observers."

If you have any questions, please email Dr. Dills at Dills@uiuc.edu.

Spread the word about this exciting new class!

Congratulations to Spring 2010 UAHuntsville History Graduates!

The faculty of the UAH History Department are pleased to congratulate our recent graduates, who received their degrees on May 15, 2010.

The following students graduated with BA degrees in History: Christina Barnett, Charity Ethrdige, Veronica Ferreira, Sarah Fisher, Christopher Helson, Matthew Menarchek, Jonathan Neely, Gustavo Ortiz, Bradley Trent Pepper, George Preussel, Whitney Reid, Casey Smith, Elisabeth Spalding, Ben Tyler, Chris Weed, and Charles Westbrook.

Earning MA degrees in History were Stephanie Allen, Thomas Bockborn, and Jennifer Masters Frisby.



Pictured here are Sarah Fisher and Veronica Ferreira and Sarah Fisher, Ben Tyler, and Whitney Reid.

Congratulations to you all!

History Department Hires Dr. Randall Dills as Visiting Assistant Professor for History of Science and Technology

The history department is pleased to welcome Dr. Randall Dills as a Visiting Assistant Professor for the 2010-2011 academic year. He will teach world history survey courses and two upper-level courses in the History of Science and Technology.

Randy has a PhD in History from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His teaching interests include Russian and East European history, the histories of science, technology and medicine, environmental history, and world history. At UAH, he plans to teach courses on the history of modern science and the history of science in the Soviet Union. His dissertation explored the intersections of environment, society and culture along the banks of the River Neva, in the Russian imperial capital of St. Petersburg. Interdisciplinary in nature, his work explored the patterns of river use in the 19th century by following the engineers responsible for making the city livable despite the poor environmental conditions and the sometimes disastrous flooding that plagued the city. He conducted extensive research for the project in archives and libraries in St. Petersburg as a Fulbright-Hays Fellow in 2005-06.

Welcome, Randy!

History Major Elisabeth Spalding and History Alum Jennifer Staton Meet up in Norway

History alum Jennifer Staton, working in Celle, Germany, as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant, recently traveled to visit history major Elisabeth Spalding, currently studying abroad in Oslo, Norway.

According to Jennifer, "We swapped stories of our experiences living abroad, comparing certain aspects of life in Norway and Germany and joking about certain quirks that reach across borders (i.e., how almost nothing is open on Sundays). We both realize and appreciate this moment in our lives, and our experiences abroad now happily overlap because this visit."

Pictured here are Jennifer and Elisabeth on a fjord atop Holmenkollen, one of Elisabeth's favorite sites.

To read more about their experiences, please check out Jennifer's blog and Elisabeth's blog.

Stephanie Allen and Jennie Frisby Successfully Pass MA Exams

Congratulations to Stephanie Allen and Jennie Frisby, who have both passed their master's comprehensive exams and will receive their MA degrees at graduation in May.



When asked her final thoughts on her time at UAH, Stephanie, pictured above, said,
"During my matriculation at UAH, the awesome faculty has challenged and encouraged me. The rigorous coursework, challenging books, and attention to detail enriched my historical knowledge, writing skills and teaching pedagogy. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each of my professors and Ms. Gentry."

Stephanie will now pursue her certification in graduate level geography at the University of Alabama and she will also participate in a study abroad program in Ghana this summer. Says, Stephanie, "I am excited and thrilled to begin my new journey."

Jennie, pictured below, also shared her concluding thoughts on her time at UAH, which included earning both BA and MA degrees: " Working and completing both my Masters and Bachelors at UAH has been a challenging and inspiring experience at UAH. I am thankful for the help and support I received throughout my academic career from the professors and my fellow classmates. If there is one thing I will take away from this department, it would be that the teachers genuinely care and hope the best for their students. I encourage everyone who are even remotely considering returning to school for history to go to our department because of the environment that I have been in for the last 6 years."



Jennie hopes to further her education at some point in the future by pursuing a PhD, but for now plans to stay in the Huntsville area and hope to find a career that allows her to use her experience in history. Says Jennie, "I am excited to have completed this stage of my life and look forward to everything the future holds." She also promised, "I will definitely be back to visit everyone!"

We wish Stephanie and Jennie all the best!

2010 Liberal Arts Tournament Day

On Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 273 students from Randolph School, Ardmore High School, Johnson High School, Catholic High School, Covenant Christian Academy, Athens High School, Brewer-Falkville High School, and Lee High School competed in four disciplines at the College of Liberal Arts Tournament Day, US History and World History (100), Government (55), and Art (118).

The winner for US History was William Robb from Randolph School, and the winner for World History was Matthew Riggle from Catholic High School. David Mayo won the Government competition, and Becky Robinson and Daniel Guthrie won the Art competitions.

Kudos to Beverly Gentry, senior staff assistant for the history department, pictured here, who put in many hours to help make Tournament Day a success!

Congratulations to New Phi Alpha Theta Initiates

On April 16, 2010, the Tau Omega chapter of the Phi Alpha Theta international history honorary, advised by Dr. Sandra Mendiola, inducted five new members: Britney Fore, Whitney Reid, Jesse Thomas, Anthony Howard, and Mary Fleming.

Britney and Whitney were able to attend the ceremony at Dr. Richard Gerberding's Castle, where we all enjoyed good food, beautiful spring weather, and the chance to celebrate the academic achievements of these students. Thomas Reidy, Phi Alpha Theta inductee from 1981, UAH history MA, and current PhD candidate at the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, also gave a brief talk about his work on a PBS documentary about civil rights activists Virginia and Clifford Durr.



Pictured here are 1) Britney and Whitney with their certificates, 2) Britney and Whitney with previously-inducted PAT members Samantha Hillgartner (chapter president) and Sarah Fisher, and 3) a group picture of the PAT students with Thomas Reidy and faculty members Richard Gerberding, Andrew Dunar, Stephen Waring, Molly Johnson, and faculty advisor Sandra Mendiola.



Congratulations to the new inductees!

History Major Sarah Fisher Wins Funding for PhD Studies and for Foreign Language Study in India!

The history department is very proud of Sarah Fisher, who will graduate in May with double majors in history and political science and a minor in philosophy.

Sarah has received a prestigious multiple year fellowship and research assistantship for the fast-track PhD program in International Affairs at the University of Georgia. She will begin her studies in Fall 2010.

Before she moves to Athens, Sarah will spend 10 weeks in Jaipur, India, beginning her studies of the Hindi language, with the support of a Critical Languages Scholarship from the US Department of State.

Sarah describes her history major as a critical foundation for her graduate studies:
"Throughout my undergraduate classes, I have found that having a deep understanding of history serves as the basis any sort of political analysis or social commentary. I also know that the writing and research skills gained as a History major at UAH will prove invaluable in my PhD program."

Sarah added that, "I am forever indebted to the awesome people in the UAH History Department. :)" We, too, are indebted to Sarah for her hard work on behalf of the Peer Assisted Study Session program -- she was one of our first two student mentors, her participation in the Phi Alpha Theta honorary, and her great presence in class these last four years.

We wish Sarah all the best!

Classics Week 2010 / Classical Studies Outstanding Student Award

Kudos to the Society for Ancient Languages at UAH for a successful Classics Week 2010, featuring guest speaker Dr. Bryan Ward-Perkins from the University of Oxford.

Dr. Ward-Perkins gave two lectures on the controversial fall of the Roman Empire on Friday April 9, “The Death and (very slow) Rebirth of Public Statuary, 300-1500AD,” and “A Real Economic Melt-down – The End of Roman Britain."



Society members and friends and Dr. Ward-Perkins also gathered at Dr. Gerberding's Castle on Saturday April 10 for the annual Convivium.

Pictured here see Dr. Ward-Perkins with Society members at the Castle and at the US Space and Rocket Center.



Society President Joseph Baxley was instrumental in making this year's Classics Week a success. As a recognition of his leadership, as well as his superb academic achievement, Joseph was recognized on Honors Day April 6, 2010, with the Outstanding Classical Studies Award. See Joseph here after the Honors convocation with Dr. Gerberding, Society advisor, and Latin student Julia Paul, who read a selection from Cicero, translated by Joseph, to conclude the Honors convocation.

Students Samantha Hillgartner and Sarah Fisher Present Papers at Phi Alpha Theta Conference

Two Phi Alpha Theta members, Samantha Hillgartner and Sarah Fisher, accompanied by faculty advisor Dr. Sandra Mendiola, attended the 2010 regional Phi Alpha Theta conference held at the University of North Alabama on April 10, 2010.

Sarah presented a paper on “Tense Theology in a Holy Hierarchy: Liberation Theology vs. the Vatican” as part of a panel on "Religion," and Samantha presented a paper on "Calvin Coolidge: The Action of Inaction" as part of a panel on "Twentieth-Century America."



Pictured here see Samantha presenting her paper at the podium and Sarah, second from left, seated with her fellow panelists during her presentation.

Kudos to Samantha and Sarah for presenting their work!

History Alum Joseph Richardson Receives Assistantship to Pursue Graduate Studies at Ole Miss

Congratulations are in order for Joseph Richardson, BA 2009, who has just accepted a full graduate teaching assistantship at the University of Mississippi. Although a man of many intellectual talents -- he was also very active in the Society for Ancient Languages and won the Outstanding Classical Studies Student Award while at UAH -- Joseph has chosen to focus his studies on Southern History. He begins in Fall 2010.

Pictured here is Joseph with Dr. John Kvach at Honors Day 2009, where Joseph received the first ever "Dr. John Rison Jones Award in Southern History sponsored by the Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society."

Hurray for Joseph! We encourage all of you blog followers here in Huntsville to try to get Joseph to give you one of his hallmark tours of Maple Hill Cemetery before he leaves town!

Congratulations to Honors Day Student Award Winners

On April 6, 2010, UAHuntsville and the College of Liberal Arts honored our outstanding students. Five history students received honors: Charity D. Ethridge won the Outstanding Undergraduate Achievement Award; Thomas E. Bockhorn won the Outstanding Graduate Achievement Award; Matthew Menarchek won the "National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Alabama History Essay Award"; Samantha Hillgartner won the "Colonel Walter Aston Chapter of the Colonial Dames of the XVII Century History Award"; and Whitney Reid won the "Dr. John Rison Jones Award in Southern History sponsored by the Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society. Pictured here are Samantha, Whitney, Charity, Thomas, and Matthew.

Two other history majors also won awards, sociology double major Veronica Ferreira the Outstanding Undergraduate Achievement Award in Sociology and political science double major Sarah Fisher the "College of Liberal Arts Highest Academic Achievement Award" as the best student in the College. Pictured here are Sarah and Veronica.



We are very proud of all of our students!

MA Student Thomas Bockhorn Successfully Defends MA Thesis and Wins Department's Outstanding Graduate Student Award

The history department is proud to congratulate MA student Thomas Bockhorn, who will graduate in MA, for defending his thesis, "To Save Alabama’s Children: Power, Politics, and Child Labor, 1880 - 1908," and then winning the award for Outstanding Graduate Student in History at the April 6, 2010 Honors Day at UAHuntsville.

Pictured are a photograph of Thomas with his thesis advisor Dr. Stephen Waring after the Honors convocation and a historical photograph of Merrimack Mill employees, including many children.

Here is Thomas's thesis abstract:



Alabama became a political battleground during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Anti child labor reformers held rallies and created literature to aid in their cause. While southern anti-child labor reformers campaigned for the same cause, the question of whether states or the federal government should intervene became a heated controversy for southern progressives. Two major camps emerged by the early twentieth century: state reformers and southern nationalists. State reformers brandished their hope that the best advocates and defenders of children were the particular states where they resided. Southern nationalists, on the other hand, believed that the child labor problem was so vast that only a federal solution would stop the labor practice. The public split among southern Progressives, coupled with the 1907 Beveridge bill, allowed business interests to change the debate from saving children to decrying federal interference. These competing interests effectively stalled the movement.

History Major Veronica Ferreira Receives Assistantship for PhD Program at University of Iowa

The history department celebrates the good news of our major Veronica Ferreira, who has received a teaching assistantship for the PhD program in sociology at the Univeristy of Iowa. Her areas of focus will be gender, family and inequality. She will begin her studies in Fall 2010.

Although Veronica will pursue graduate studies in her double major of sociology and not in history, she credits her history coursework with providing an invaluable foundation for her graduate plans, particularly by teaching her how to do research and by showing her how current social phenomena are always shaped by historical context.

To the amusement of many of her history professors, Veronica also claims that "as a sociologist, I will always miss Chicago style. It makes checking sources so much easier, and it looks so much nicer on the page."

We wish Veronica much luck in her graduate studies! We also thank her for all her contributions to the history department, particularly her involvement with History Club and Phi Alpha Theta and her work as one of the first two student mentors through the Peer Assisted Study Session program. We know Veronica will be a very good teaching assistant and teacher.

Pictured here is Veronica on Honors Day with her husband Brian and children Timothy, Cecilia, and Lillian.

Congratulations to Dr. Sam Thomas for Research Fellowships

Sam Thomas has received two generous research grants to support his current research project, "Midwives and Society in Early Modern England." The National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend, and a joint grant from the Newberry Library and the British Academy, will allow him to conduct research in three archives in Yorkshire, England. Pictured here is an old map of Yorkshire.

Sam's goals for this trip are to find evidence on previously anonymous midwives, and gain a better understanding of early modern social history, including the experience of childbirth and the role midwives played in supporting the patriarchal system.

Congratulations, Sam!

Jane Deneefe co-authors book on Alabama civil rights history

Jane DeNeefe, an alum of the UAH History Department, recently co-authored a book called  The Alabama Civil Rights Trail by the University of Alabama Press.  At a Huntsville celebration of the publication, Ms. Deneefe read passages from the book.  There was also a musical performance from Ivy Joe and the Snowballs, a musical group with a black singer and a white band that played to audiences of all colors during the 1960s and 1970s and helped integrate Huntsville.  Great work and congratulations Jane!

Is Your History Career at a Crossroads?: Announcing the Department's New Public History Blog!

As the Public History program at UAHuntsville continues to grow, a new department public history blog will allow you to track the program and follow the progress of ongoing projects. The link to the blog is located on the History Department's main webpage under "Public History Program."

Public history is a wonderful way for students to learn skills, gain experience, and find a history-related job outside of the classroom or enhance your classroom skills. Public historians often find jobs as museum professionals, government and business historians, historical consultants, archivists, teachers, cultural resource managers, curators, film and media producers, policy advisers, oral historians, and in some cases, professors.

In the next couple of days Dr. John Kvach, who spearheads UAHuntsville's public history program, will begin posting updates on current projects that involve students and faculty from UAHuntsville. There will also be some upcoming posts that will announce new projects and opportunities.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Dr. Kvach at john.kvach@uah.edu or stop by his office at 407 Roberts Hall, regardless if you are a history major or not, and talk about your interest in public history or possible internships and volunteer opportunities.

Pictured here is the construction of a Huntsville street car line in 1888.

New Huntsville Times Article on "Real People, Real History" Project

Check out the February 1, 2010, article in the Huntsville Times about Dr. John Kvach and his community collaborators' work to track down Civil War-era photos and documents in Madison County!

This is part of the History-Channel-sponsored effort to create an online exhibit called "Real People, Real History" in order to preserve public and private memories of the Civil War as it affected people who lived here in 1861 through 1865. The project and Web site will serve as foundations for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in 2011.

See here a photograph featuring Union troops occupying Huntsville.

Exhibit and Website: Dora and the V-2: Slave Labor and the Space Age

The history department is proud to be collaborating with colleagues in the art and art history departments and the College of Liberal Arts at UAH to organize an upcoming exhibit "Dora and the V-2: Slave Labor in the Space Age."

The exhibit will be on the campus of UAH from February 21 to March 12, 2010. The exhibit has an accompanying website www.dora.uah.edu, and received major funding from the Alabama Humanities Foundation.

Both the website and the exhibit explore the history of forced labor in the construction of the V–2 missiles at the Dora concentration camp and Mittelwerk underground factory near Nordhausen, Germany, during World War II. The stories center on the victims of Dora, the prisoners from many nations who were forced to work in the camp and its sub-camps and in the underground factory assembling the V–2. Usually, especially in Huntsville, Alabama, the V–2 is remembered through the engineers who designed it, rather than the forced laborers who put it together. Yet the prisoners died by the score or lived through dehumanizing cruelty, and their experiences deserve to be remembered.

The exhibit features:

• First U.S. showing of work from two European museums:
• La Coupole, History and Remembrance Center, Saint-Omer, France
• Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camp Memorial and Museum, Nordhausen, Germany

From La Coupole:

• Color photos of V–2 forced labor taken by Hitler’s favorite photographer
• Artwork created by Dora's victims and survivors

From Mittelbau-Dora Museum:

• "Forced Labour for the 'Final Victory': Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camp, 1943-1945," a new traveling poster collection
• Artifacts

From UAHuntsville:

• Snapshots taken by John Rison Jones, a resident of Huntsville who helped liberate Dora and documented its horrors with his camera

There are also associated talks by pre-eminent experts from France, Germany, and the United States.

Please check out website and stay tuned to our Events blog for reminders of Dora-associated lectures and performances.  There is also a Facebook Group page.

The website will remain after the exhibit closes as a testament to the suffering of the slave laborers of Dora.

Check out History Major Elisabeth Spalding's Blog from her Study Abroad Semester in Oslo, Norway!

The faculty of the history department are very excited for history major Elisabeth Spalding, who is currently studying abroad in Oslo, Norway, through the University Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC), to which UAH is affiliated. Elisabeth is passionate about Scandinavian literature and history and is excited to study and live in Norway and visit other sites in Scandinavia and Europe.

Elisabeth has started a blog to document her experiences, "Hobbit Abroad: Adventures of a 5'1 Globetrotting Student from the States."

Please check it out!

Pictured here is Elisabeth in snowy Norway. We look forward to following her adventures as she learns and grows through her study abroad experience.

Congratulations to Brian Tyson, Chosen for Teach for America

The history department congratulations graduating senior Brian Tyson, who has been chosen by Teach for America to spend the next year teaching at a high school in Houston, Texas. He will begin training in June and assume his teaching position in August 2010.

Brian says that he applied for Teach for America because he wanted to contribute to furthering social justice by working to close the achievement gap between affluent and low income schools. He credits his history coursework at UAH with helping him prepare for Teach for America by improving his writing skills and by forcing him to develop strong organizational skills and discipline. He also worked as a Peer Assisted Study Session (PASS) tutor for Dr. James' Isbell's History 103 courses in Fall 2009 and found this experience very beneficial.

After completing his teaching service, Brian plans to pursue a PhdD in International Affairs or attend law school and focus on international law.

Best of luck, Brian!

Update from MA Alum Whitney Snow

The history department is pleased to have received an update from alumna Whitney Snow, MA 2008, who is now pursuing a PhD at Mississippi State University in the fields of Nineteenth-Century United States, Post-Civil War South, Women's Studies, and Agricultural/Rural/Environmental History.

Whitney has served as Teaching Assistant for two Early U.S. courses and one Modern U.S. course and as instructor of record for one Modern U.S. course.

She also had an article published: "Slave Owner, Slave Trader, Gentleman: Slavery and the Rise of Andrew Jackson," The Journal of East Tennessee History 80 (2008): 47-59. Pictured here is an image of Andrew Jackson published in the article.



We are very proud of Whitney and wish her much continued success!