HISTORY OUT OF THE CLASSROOM: The Promise and Perils of Undergraduate Archival Research

INTRODUCTIONS  Erin Kempker, Assistant Professor of History, Mississippi University for Women  Derek Webb, University Archivist, Mississippi University for Women  Mona Vance, Archivist, Columbus-Lowndes Public Library  Miranda Vaughn and Whitney Russell, MUW seniors, history majors and archival interns

OUTLINE  Why do it? Why put undergrads in the archives?  The perils of undergrads in archives  The promise of undergrads in archives  Lessons learned by faculty, archivists and students  Conclusions and bibliography

WHY PROMOTE AN ARCHIVAL EXPERIENCE FOR UNDERGRADUATES?  Students get to see the personal nature of history—the lock of hair, diary, personal letter, etc., that fuels historical research  Encourages self-directed learning  Introduces students to public history and the archival profession  Promotes undergraduate research and conferencing Alicia Bowen with donor of women’s club collection.

IMPORTANT TRENDS IN UNDERGRADUATE ARCHIVAL RESEARCH  “Archives to Podium” ideal  Undergraduate research conference possibilities  Blogs about the archival experience  Websites to promote student research MUW students presenting research at the Margaret Walker Center, JSU, Spring 2012.

THE PROJECTS  HIS 499 Capstone (Fall ): Senior students create an original research project using primary sources, usually archival, resulting in an article- length paper.  HIS 371 African American Experience (Spring 2012): Mix of majors/non-majors conducted oral interviews for the Columbus-Lowndes archives related to the local, postwar civil rights movement, resulted in audio files at local archives.  HIS 326 Women in America (Fall 2012): Mix of majors/non-majors find, research and analyze a single archival source, resulted in a paper and class presentation.  HIS 441 American Social History (Spring 2013): Research archival sources and create posters displayed at the Columbus-Lowndes Library as Sesquicentennial Civil War Exhibit.  HIS 365 America since 1940 (Spring 2013): Research primary source (many are archival) and create website explaining the sources.

THE PERILS OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH  Undergraduate skill deficiencies are numerous. Undergrads: 1. Do not have a real sense of what archival research looks like. a) They expect intuitive technology—which is not what libraries or archives offer. b) They are too ready to settle on researching the first thing they find. “All that glitters is not gold.” c) They overwhelm archivists with s asking/demanding the archivist find/give them a project. “Tell me what I should do.” 2. Fail to understand the difference between a primary and secondary source when things get complicated. 3. Historical significance often escapes them. Everything is important—no such thing as ephemera. 4. Accept at face value what they read/see. Fail to follow up on archival sources with more research, especially secondary research. 5. The “freak out” factor—nothing about this is intuitive and many are troubled by the open-ended nature of archival work.

THE PROMISE OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH  African American oral history project  Connect students with the community  Promotes trust on the part of the community and the archives  Preserves history that would otherwise be lost  Accomplishes work for the archives and creates publicity  Civil War Sesquicentennial exhibit, Columbus-Lowndes Public Library  Lesbian oral history project, MUW  Class website featuring sources from MUW Archives  Feeds interns into the archives  Encourages advanced study for students, including graduate work in public history Diane Hardy Thompson and Jaleesa Fileds

LESSONS LEARNED  Constant communication is a must.  Faculty need to clearly define roles of all the people involved and provide guidance and writing guides for all phases of the work.  Consider providing students a “tips for using primary sources” guide at the archives.  Classes go to the archives AND archivists go to the classroom.  “Just say no.” Know your role and your limits and don’t be afraid to tell those to students.  Consider a controlled set of archival sources.

PUBLIC HISTORY AT MUW  New Public History concentration available for MUW history major  Restoring the MUW Archives  Partnering with Derek Webb and Mona Vance to provide students experience researching and working in an archives. Archives intern Christian Friar hard at work.

BIBLIOGRAPHY  Keith A. Erekson, “From Archive to Awards Ceremony: An Approach for Engaging Students in Historical Research,” Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 10, no. 4 (October 2011):  Doris Malkmus, “”Old Stuff’ for New Teaching Methods: Outreach to History Faculty Teaching with Primary Sources,” portal: Libraries and the Academy 10, no. 4 (October 2010):  , “Primary Source Research and the Undergraduate: A Transforming Landscape,” Journal of Archival Organization 6, 1-2 (2008):  Marian J. Matyn, “Getting Undergraduates to Seek Primary Sources in Archives,” The History Teacher 33, no. 3 (May 2000):