Public History Graduate Program, Southeast Missouri State University

04/20/2022

In 1922, Cape Girardeau dedicated its first public library, funded by the Carnegie Corporation and located next to the Common Pleas Courthouse on Lorimier Street. For nearly six decades, this library building was a vitally important community and educational center before it transitioned into the Co...

04/19/2022

02/25/2022

Did you know that the Department of History and Anthropology Southeast Missouri State Universityoffers two options for graduate degrees in public history? Our nationally ranked graduate programs in Public History include Historic Preservation and Digital Heritage tracks. Both offer a core focus on methodology and digital research tools, plus plenty of experiential learning opportunities to help prepare you for an exciting career.

For more information see: https://semo.edu/academics/programs/humanities-social-sciences/graduate/ma-public-history.html

07/14/2021

Graduate student Jared Anderson is completing his internship at the New Orleans Jazz Museum. How cool is that?

Don’t think we forgot about our Awesome Internship spotlight! This week we’d like to feature one of our graduate students in the program, Jared Anderson, who completed his bachelor’s degrees in History and Historic Preservation here in 2020 and is preparing to receive his Master’s degree in Public History in August! Let’s look at some of the incredible things he’s up to this summer:

“This summer I am interning at the New Orleans Jazz Museum and the Louisiana Historical Center, both located within the Old U.S. Mint here in New Orleans, Louisiana! My internships are the final requirement for me to obtain my Master’s degree and finish my time at Southeast Missouri State University.

At the New Orleans Jazz Museum, I have been assisting in the planning of festivals and events, such as the NOLA Zydeco Festival, Satchmo Summerfest 2021, the NOLA River Fest, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and Sound Collage: A LUNA Fête Celebration of Light & Music. All of these events are efforts for the museum to establish outreach and continue their position as a cultural institution for the community. I have also been a part of the planning phase for the museum to co-sponsor a new riverboat exhibition at the Riverboat Louis Armstrong. Various other tasks involve transcribing interviews with jazz musicians from Frenchmen Street, sitting in on meetings with local, state, and national entities, and working alongside the staff to think creatively about how to redo the landscaping of the museum to accentuate the historical value of the Old U.S. Mint without detracting from the importance of this national landmark.

At the Louisiana Historical Center, I have been tasked with going through the Master Calendar Collection, which includes documents dating between the 14th century and today! This collection comprises over 100 linear feet of documents and has a mixture of government documents, personal papers, and both manuscripts and publications. The process involves analyzing every box, redoing finding aids for each box, and creating a list of non-Louisiana related documents that will be given to my supervisor to decide what needs culled from the collection. Some of the most fascinating documents I have come across have been items relating to the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803, wallpaper samplings from some of Louisiana’s most important buildings, and an original Bonnie & Clyde Wanted Poster distributed by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Going into my internship opportunities, I felt prepared thanks to some of the many courses I took as part of SEMO’s Historic Preservation program. The classes that have helped me the most throughout this endeavor have been HP 405 Archives & Special Collections Studies, HP 410 Museum Studies, HP 522 Historic Preservation Field School, and HP 600 Introduction to Public History.

I recommend everyone visit New Orleans and soak in the history of this beautiful city! While you’re here, be sure to visit some of the Louisiana State Museums throughout the city, including the New Orleans Jazz Museum and the Louisiana Historical Center. Oh, and don’t forget a beignet from Café du Monde!”

As you can see, Jared is wearing a lot of hats this summer working at some amazing museums in the city known as “The Big Easy”! Incredible job, Jared! We can’t wait to see what you do next!

07/06/2021

Allyson is joining us in Fall as part of our innovative new 4+1 program!

This week for Awesome Internship we’re showcasing one of our students in the program, Allyson Ingli! Here’s what she has to say about her internship this summer:

“This summer I am interning at the Missouri Civil War Museum in Jefferson Barracks as well as the Eugene Field House Museum in downtown St. Louis. These internships are the final requirement needed to complete my undergrad degree in Historic Preservation at Southeast Missouri State University. In August I will be starting my first and last year in the Public History: Historic Preservation Graduate program as part of the Four Plus One accelerated master’s path.

At the Missouri Civil War Museum, I complete various tasks as needed including greeting and checking-in visitors, acting as exterminator, and most importantly cataloging and researching artifacts. I just recently completed provenance research on 219 nineteenth century Carte de Visite (CDV) photographs that were donated to the museum. Since the subjects of these CDVs weren’t known, I researched the photographer per the photography studio/gallery mark or logo on the reverse of the photograph. Currently, I am conducting provenance research on Ancient Roman and Grecian coins that were donated to the museum within a huge lot of artifacts. Some of these coins were minted all the way back to the time of Alexander the Great (c.336-323 B.C.), some were minted in Jerusalem in 29 A.D., and some were minted through the reign of Constantine I (324-337 A.D.)!

At the Eugene Field House Museum, I am the Exhibit Design intern and will be creating an exhibit for one of their gallery spaces that will be installed this coming December! The exhibit will showcase the history of Bagatelle, the precursor game to pinball. This process includes researching all aspects of the game, compiling research into exhibit text, designing exhibit paneling, coming up with interactive elements, and installing it all. I will also be able to meet with the owner of the Bagatelle games that will be loaned to the museum for the exhibit and be able to obtain more information specific to each artifact, as well as on the game itself. Because the artifacts are being loaned, I will be able to work with PastPerfect to complete the loan itself. In addition to exhibit design, I will be following a docent on tours and learning the ropes of interpretation.

Going into my internship, I felt 100% prepared to complete any task thrown my way whether it be provenance research, cataloging, exhibit writing, or even public relations. The classes in this program that helped me prepare the most for these internships were HP 575 Collections Management, HP 410 Museum Studies, HP 450 Museums Practicum, HP 420 Historic Site Administration, and elective US 400 Heritage Outreach. The great thing about this program is that it covers all concentrations in the preservation field and allows students to delve deeper into the concentrations they are most interested in. The courses in this program are incredibly hands-on and provide real world experience.

Come visit me during the weekdays at the Missouri Civil War Museum and the weekends at the Eugene Field House Museum in the good ole Gateway to the West!”

Amazing job, Allyson! Looks like your is off to a great start!

06/21/2021

Great work from current Public History: Historic Preservation MA student Peter Reckling as he completes his internship! Internships are an integral part of the MA experience here at Southeast with students completing them for credit hours towards their capstone degree requirements and using them to gain wonderful hands-on experiences for their CVs!

This week we'd like to spotlight one of our graduate students in the program for their Awesome Internship to show where the program can take you! This week we feature Peter Reckling, who completed his bachelor's degree in Historic Preservation here in 2020 and is about to receive his master's degree in Public History - Historic Preservation this August!

"This summer I had the amazing opportunity of representing Southeast at the Nebraska State Historic Preservation Office in Lincoln, Nebraska! Originally, I was supposed to work with them last summer, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic had to cancel. I was so glad when they reached out to me and encouraged interning with them this summer instead to meet requirements for the graduate program! At History Nebraska I learned the ins and outs of Section 106, as well as looking at the formation of historic districts and how to get smaller cities to interested in starting their own certified local government. I'm only here for the month of June, and it has flown by so quickly! I'm very thankful for the number of hands-on experiences they were able to include me in on.

Some of my duties included drafting a National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Carnegie Library in Alma, Nebraska and revising several other potential nominations. The work on that property was in-depth and required a lot of research! This entailed using local archives, libraries, and the Harlan County Museum to learn more about the area, the town, and the building to define why the building was significant. Additionally, I was tasked with assisting on site visits for Section 106 review in towns like Crete, Nebraska - taking notes on building features and photographing them for up-to-date condition reporting. I even got to participate in a cemetery preservation workshop!

Going into the internship, I felt ready to accomplish the assignments being prepared for me there. I was excited to bring my knowledge of historic preservation from SEMO's program back to the Cornhusker State where I grew up! After taking courses like HP-588 Legal and Economic Principles of Historic Preservation where we worked on our own National Register of Historic Places drafts, completed architectural resource surveys, and some principles of Section 106 it made doing this internship much easier with helpful course materials to refer back to! Another class that was really useful was HP-585, the History of American Architecture. It helped me learn how to point and name not only the style of the building but also its character defining features to be used in the nomination.

I am so happy that I was able to intern with History Nebraska. Through their amazing staff I was not only able to learn new skills and strengthen my understanding of processes but make amazing professional connections here in the Midwest and hopefully will see my nomination come to fruition! The professors have taught us how important networking is in this field, and they are correct!"

Way to go, Peter! We can't wait to see what you do next!

05/17/2021

Congratulations to our Spring 2021 graduates!

05/14/2021

Congratulations Lakin!

Last, but absolutely not the least of our 2021 graduates is our fantastic Graduate Assistant, Lakin Fraker! She is graduating with her M.A in Public History.

Lakin has been an amazing part of our team the past two years. She has been the voice behind our social media and has written many excellent posts for our Archives blog. She spent countless hours inventorying, accessioning, and processing multiple collections. Lakin also braved working remotely during last year's shutdown.

We're incredible grateful to have had Lakin here with us and will miss not only her dedication to archival work but her sparkling wit as well! 😉 Lakin has secured a summer internship working at the Missouri State Archives in Jefferson City where we know she will shine! Congratulations Lakin!! We wish you all the best as you continue into an amazing future!

05/07/2021

The latest post from the SEMO Historian is now available! https://semohistory.org/2021/05/06/maria-mougridis/ This hears from former MA student Maria Mougridis and some of the cool things she's been doing working with the Texas Historical Commission since graduating. Are you a program graduate with experiences to share? Contact Dr. Criblez at [email protected] to be featured!

Hello, my name is Maria and I attended grad school at Southeast from 2017-2019! Going to grad school was not something I really thought I would do, but it has really helped me get to where I am. Wi…

05/06/2021

Hello, my name is Maria and I attended grad school at Southeast from 2017-2019! Going to grad school was not something I really thought I would do, but it has really helped me get to where I am. Wi…

05/05/2021

See our students hard at work!

This Friday from 6 to 8 p.m., you can visit the Old Lorimier Cemetery and relive history and stories from the past as students from SEMO’s Historic Preservation Program present monologues about Cape’s past residents.

The event is a living history walking tour. Tours are self guided and guests will be able to visit the stations as they choose. The event is free and open to the public. No registration or tickets required.

In the event of inclement weather or strong winds, the event will be canceled for safety reasons. Every effort has been made to ensure the tour route is easily accessible and free of hazards, however, Old Lorimier Cemetery was established in 1808 and is not ADA compliant, so individuals should take that into consideration when planning for and/or attending the event.

This event is part of our celebration of Historic Preservation Month sponsored by Penzel Construction Company and TreanorHL.

📷: Tom Neumeyer

05/04/2021

Now you can see all the HP200 posters from a distance!