2020 Annual Meeting: Cancelled Due to COVID-19 Situation
STORIES FROM THE HEART OF GOVERNMENT: POLITICS AND HISTORY
2020 ANNUAL MEETING PROGRAM
Friday, March 13: Morning Panels
Session One: 9 - 10:30 a.m.
Panel 1: The Pittsburgh Refugee Stories Oral History Project: African Refugees Tell Their Story
Megan Crutcher, Duquesne University
Bahati Kasongo, Refugee Community Partners
Taylor Noakes, Duquesne University
Celestin Mpagaze, Refugee Community Partners
Stephanie Walrath, Duquesne University
Panel 2: Oral History and Memory
Chair: Abigail Perkiss, Assistant Professor of History at Kean University
Kate Singer, Rutgers University-Newark, “Memory and Fire”
Anne Cardenas, Independent Oral Historian and Producer, “2008 Obama Presidential Campaign”
Friday, March 13: Afternoon Panels
Session Two: 1:15 to 2:45 p.m.
Workshop: Telling Their Stories: Using Diplomats’ Oral Histories for Research and Public Exhibits
Heather Ashe, Oral History Program Manager, Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training
Alison Mann, Public Historian, National Museum of American Diplomacy
Panel 3: Emerging Professionals
Undergraduate scholars will present papers, giving them the opportunity to present academic and public history work to an audience of professional historians.
Chair: Richard Hulver, Historian, NHHC
Claire Tryon, Shepherd University, “The Furies Collective: A Study on Collectivism”
Claire Affinito, Shepherd University, “Stopping the Madness: The Role of the Legal System in Early Modern English Witch Persecutions”
Meredith Dreistadt, WVU, Arthurdale
Heritage, Inc. and Americorps Service in WV
Panel 4: Women’s Role in War
Chair: Owen Rogers
Maggie Lemere, Oral History Consultant, Georgetown Institute for Women Peace and Security, “Profiles in Peace”
Mattea Sanders, Historian, 11th Wing, U.S. Air Force, “Beyond the Superlatives-Telling Women’s Military Stories”
Panel 5: Oral History of Communities
Chair: Anne Rush
Viviene Felix, Associate Director, Experiential Learning, New York University, “Using Oral History to Examine the History, Legacy, and Evolution of the Historically Black Episcopal Church”
David Hamilton Golland, Associate Professor of History, Governors State University, “The Oral History of Affirmative Action: Reconstructing the Philadelphia Plan and Arthur Fletcher”
Session Three: 3 to 4:30 p.m.
Federal jobs WORKSHOP
The Federal History Jobs Workshop is designed to provide information and resources for individuals seeking employment in history-related fields in the federal government. Representatives from a variety of historical offices will discuss their unique career paths and answer questions about securing a federal job and guiding attendees through the USAJOBS system and the process of applying for positions.
Panel 6: Wars, Threats, Insurrections
Chair: Zack Wilske,Senior Historian, USCIS History Office and Library
Kurt A. Halligan, Graduate Student, Duquesne University, “Chemical Chaos in WWI: The United States’ Failure and Success in Response to the Chemical Threat in Europe”
James F. Siekmeier, Associate Professor of History, West Virginia University, “Before the Opioid Epidemic: Historical Origins of the War on Drugs in the Andes”
Scott Thompson, PhD Candidate, West Virginia University; Graduate Research Assistant and Intern, Historical Office of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, "We will reduce your houses…to ashes and send your guilty souls to hell: A Threatened Buffalo Soldier Insurrection and the Long Black Struggle for Freedom”
Panel 7: Exploring the History of Agencies and Institutions
Chair: Felicia Wivchar, Associate Curator, Office of Art and Archives, U.S. House of Representatives
Bryan S. Kessler, PhD Candidate, University of Mississippi, “Preventing the Collective Toothache: The United States Public Health Service and the Threat of Antifluoridation, 1950-1980”
Eric Boyle, Chief Historian, U.S. Department of Energy, “The Story Behind the Writing of a Pioneering Work in Federal History—The New World: A History of the United States Atomic Energy Commission”
Jody Brumage, Archivist and Office Manager, Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education, “Inspiring Civic Knowledge and Engagement through Congressional History”
Thomas Faith, editor, The Federalist and Historian, U.S. Department of State, “Fifteen Years of Federalists: A Digital Analysis of SHFG’s Newsletter”
Panel 8: Speaking to the Past: Oral History in the Classroom
Nicole Slaven
Arianna Lower
Shaleia McElligott
Saturday, March 14: Morning Panels
Session Four: 9 - 10:30 a.m.
Roundtable: 150 Years of History in the U.S. Department of Justice
John F. Fox, FBI Historian, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Jeffrey Richter, Chief Historian Criminal Division's Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP), DOJ
Kenna Felix, DEA Museum Historian, Drug Enforcement Administration
Haley Maynard, Reference Archivist, National Archives and Records Administration
This summer marks the 150th anniversary of the creation of the Department of Justice. In light of this milestone it is fitting to consider the history of the Department and the roles that archivists and historians have within it or working with its records. This roundtable brings together government employees and contractors, archivists and historians to discuss their work, consider prior work on DOJ history, and suggest future directions that those who study the Department may take.
Panel 9: Always There, Always Working: Voices of Women at the Smithsonian Institution
Pamela Henson, Director, Institutional History Program, Smithsonian Archives, “Capturing Many Voices”
Elizabeth Harmon, American Women’s History Initiative Curator, Smithsonian Institution Archives, “Telling the Stories of Women in Science at the Smithsonian”
Hannah Byrne, Program Assistant, Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, “Creating a Digital Home for Women at the Smithsonian”
Panel 10: Oral History Partnerships at the National Institutes of Health
Moderator: Carlyn Swaim, Vice President, Exhibits and Interpretive Planning, History Associates Incorporated
Michele Lyons, Curator, NIH Stetten Museum, “What Can You Do With an Oral History?”
Robert Scott Vierick, Historian, History Associates Incorporated, “Oral Histories Past, Present, and Future”
Christopher Donohue, Historian, National Human Genome Research Institute, “Oral Histories at the National Human Genome Research Institute”
Panel 11: Navigating the Politics of Authority and Legacy in Oral Histories of College and Museum Communities
Chair: Johanna Mellis, Assistant Professor, Ursinus College
Andrew McSwiggan, Student, Ursinus College
Isabella Almonte, Student, Ursinus College
Morgana Olbrich, Student, Ursinus College
Session Five: 10:45 to 12:15 p.m.
Workshop: Oral History: Perspectives from Federal Practitioners
Jessie Kratz, Historian, National Archives and Records Administration
Mattea Sanders, Historian, United States Air Force, 11th Wing
Joel Christenson, Historian, OSD Historical Office
Richard Hulver, Historian, Naval History and Heritage Command
Panel 12: Stories from the Field: Perspectives on Cultural Resource Management and Preservation
Jennifer Thornton, Teaching Assistant Professor, West Virginia University, “Preserving Our Nation’s Heritage: The Need for Historical Expertise in Cultural Resource Management”
Casey DeHaven, Easement Program Manager, National Trust for Historic Preservation, “Preservation in Perpetuity: An Overview of Managing Preservation Easements at the State and National Levels”
Benjamin Marnell, Graduate Student, West Virginia University, “Broadening the Field: Cultural Resource Management, Government Archives, and Accessibility”
Panel 13: Telling the Story of Representation with Congressional Constituent Correspondence
Jay Wyatt, Director, Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education, "Dear Senator Byrd: Constituent Correspondence and the Social History of Congress"
Alison White, Deputy Senate Archivist for Digital Collections, U.S. Senate Historical Office, "A View from the Hill on Constituent Correspondence with Congress"
Danielle Emerling, Assistant Curator, Congressional and Political Papers Archivist, West Virginia University, "America Contacts Congress: The Project to Save Constituent Correspondence Data"
Panel 14: Claiming Deaf New York Spaces
Brian Greenwald, Professor of History and Director of the Drs. John S. and Betty J. Schuchman Deaf Documentary Center, Gallaudet University
Brianna DiGiovanni, Gallaudet University
Jean Bergey, Associated Director of the Drs. John S. and Betty J. Schuchman Deaf Documentary Center, Gallaudet University
Saturday, March 14: Afternoon
Session Six: 2:15 to 3:45 p.m.
Roundtable: Current Trends in Federal History--Examples from the Executive Branch
Carl Ashley, Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State
Joel Christenson, Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense
Kristina Giannotta, Navy Heritage and History Command
Stephen Glenn, Historical Programs Staff, Central Intelligence Agency
Mircea Munteanu, Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State
The session will explore the ways in which federal history programs provide information to the public and contribute to the historical record through narrative histories, selected documentary releases, edited editions, declassification, and other outreach efforts.
Panel 15: Telling Our Own Untold Stories: Oral Histories of the National Park Service
Chair: Abigail Perkiss
LuAnn Jones, Park History Program, National Park Service, “The Labor of National Park Service Rangers”
Perri Meldon, PhD Student, Boston University, “Accessibility and the National Parks”
Katherine Crawford-Lackey, Cultural Resources, Office of Interpretation and Education, National Park Service, “The Storytellers’ Stories”
Panel 16: Stories from the Hoover and FDR Administrations (Combined)
Chair: Julie Prieto, Historian, U.S. Army Center of Military History
Donald A. Ritchie, U.S. Senate Historian Emeritus, “The Power of Political Journalism: Leaks, Lies, and Libel in Drew Pearson's Washington”
James Deutsch, Curator and Editor, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Heritage, Samuel Jane-Akson, Research Intern, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, “Dear Mr. President: Stories at the Heart of Ordinary Americans in 1942”
Panel 17: U.S. Naval Academy Oral History Project: The Class of 57' in Vietnam
Chair: David F. Winkler, Class of 1957 Chair of Naval Heritage at the U.S. Naval Academy
Midn 1/C Joseph Koch
Midn 3/C Kelly Alksninis
Captain Bill Peerenboom, USN Ret. from the USNA Class of 57
Society for History in the Federal Government shfg.primary@gmail.com PO BOX 14139
Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044
