UNI History Department

05/15/2026

Please join the UNI Department of History in celebrating our spring 2026 UNI HIST graduates. Today, we recognize Lindsay Nieland.

Name: Lindsay Nieland
Major: History
Hometown: Cedar Rapids, IA
Favorite UNI HIST course: History of Ireland was my favorite history class at UNI! I loved the content, and Dr. Connors always has great classes!
Favorite UNI memory: My favorite memory is when I was working for Fortepan US on campus, and I was paired up with one of my now best friends. One of our jobs was to go to Waverly a few times a week, and I loved creating those connections with her and seeing the project come to life!
Post-graduation plans: I am attending Western Illinois University this Fall for their Museum Studies MA program.

Congratulations, Lindsay, and best wishes!

05/14/2026

Please join the UNI Department of History in celebrating our spring 2026 UNI HIST graduates. Today, we recognize Rylee Boulden.

Name: Rylee Boulden
Major: History
Hometown: Waterloo, IA
Favorite UNI HIST course: HIST 4420 History of Ireland, was my favorite history course during my time at UNI. I got to learn about the rich history of Ireland through people, events, places and the arts, which helped me better understand my own personal ancestry.
Favorite UNI memory: My favorite memory as a history student at UNI was having documents day in several different history courses. We got to sit in the Great Reading Room in Seerley Hall and transcribe documents like letters in cursive related to the course with some documents dating back to the 18th century!
Post-graduation plans: After graduating I will continue to work full time as a Craft Department Lead at a major craft retailer, where I plan on becoming a part of management.

Congratulations, Rylee, and best wishes!

05/13/2026

Please join the UNI Department of History in celebrating our spring 2026 UNI HIST graduates. Today, we recognize Kyle Wooldridge.

Name: Kyle Seth Wooldridge
Major: History
Hometown: Forest City, IA
Favorite UNI HIST course: HIST 3110 Conflict and Justice in History: A World at War. HIST 3110: Conflict and Justice in History helped reshape my understanding of the world wars. I came in thinking I had a solid grasp of the major events, but this course revealed how much I didn’t know and exposed the deeper political, social, and human aspects that traditional narratives often overlook.
Favorite UNI memory: The President Eisenhower Plate that randomly shows up in classrooms and is hidden in the corners of rooms in Seerley Hall
Post-graduation plans: Getting into Officer Candidate School for the Iowa Army National Guard

Congratulations, Kyle, and best wishes!

05/12/2026

Please join the Department of History as we celebrate this spring's UNI HIST graduating seniors! Today's senior, Sofie Baratta, was also just recognized by the UNI College of Social & Behavioral Sciences and has been a great SABR, assisting CSBS and History in recruitment initiatives.

Name: Sofie Baratta
Hometown: South Elgin, IL
Favorite class at UNI: History of Witchcraft because it was my introduction into the world of history at UNI and a pretty darn good one. I especially had fun when we did the virtual village and I was put on trial for witchcraft and talked my way out of it 🙂
Favorite UNI History memory: One of my favorite UNI History memories is studying abroad with Fernando. Despite the record-breaking heat, I had so much fun learning about Mayan culture and getting to hear their stories, swimming in cenotes, and learning about the importance of protecting language and culture against colonization.
Future plans: I have accepted a teaching position with Leading Out Australia and will be moving to Melbourne after graduation.

Sofie is also a winner of the Donald Whitnah Award for 2025-2026, given to superlative students in the History major. The award is named after Donald Whitnah, who joined the UNI Department of History in 1959 as an assistant professor. He served with the U. S. Army combat engineers during World War II and, following the war, was a merchandise control manager for the U. S. Army Exchange Service in Salzburg, Austria. He completed his education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and became an accomplished scholar, publishing numerous articles and several books on topics as diverse as air traffic safety, the occupation of Austria, and the history of the United States Weather Bureau. Professor Whitnah became the department head of History in 1969, a position he held for nearly two decades, after which he became acting dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. He retired from UNI in 1992.

The Donald Whitnah Award is a legacy to Professor Whitnah's stewardship of History and of high scholarly achievements; Sofie is now a part of that legacy.

Congratulations, Sofie, and best wishes!

05/11/2026

Please join the Department of History as we celebrate this May's UNI HIST graduating seniors, starting with Alexa Gordon, recognized today by the UNI College of Social & Behavioral Sciences!

Name: Alexa Gordon
Hometown: Cedar Falls
Favorite history class: This one was really hard to pick, since I had so many that I loved! I think I'll have to go with History of Ancient Greece, because our class discussion days could get really animated. One time the discussion turned into a debate over if humans had free will or not. I think the Greek philosophers would be very proud of us.
Favorite history memory: Watching Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter at the History Club Halloween party my freshman year. The premise is silly, but the actors manage to make it work.
Post-grad plans: I will be attending the Museum Studies graduate program at Western Illinois University.

The Department of History also wishes to recognize and congratulate Alexa as History's Purple & Old Gold Meritorious Award winner this year. The Purple & Old Gold Award is the highest award given by the University of Northern Iowa. Named after the university colors, the traditional awards were first presented at commencement ceremonies in 1939. Recipients of this honor wear a bronze medal to symbolize their outstanding achievements, are noted in the Commencement Program, and a permanent notation is made on their academic transcript.

The Purple & Old Gold Meritorious Award is awarded to one graduating student in each academic department (or major academic field when unique disciplines are combined into a school or merged department) who has demonstrated outstanding academic success at the university. Candidates are identified by the Office of the Registrar, and departments select one recipient.
Students must have earned at the University of Northern Iowa at least 60-89 semester hours with a UNI cumulative grade index of 3.60 or 90 semester hours with a UNI cumulative grade index of 3.50.

A superlative academic record, combined with the completion of UNI's Honors curriculum and an Honors thesis, participation in History's undergraduate research conference, and service to the Phi Alpha Theta, among other achievements, make Alexa a deserving recipient of this award. Congratulations, Alexa!

05/11/2026

Congratulations to Alexa Gordon, graduating with a degree in History! 🎓

During her time at UNI, Alexa served as president of the UNI History Club, studied abroad in France and interned with the Cedar Falls Historical Society — experiences that helped deepen her passion for history and museum work.

This fall, she’ll continue her education by pursuing a master’s degree in Museum Studies at Western Illinois University.

We can’t wait to see where the future takes you!

Read more about Alexa’s UNI journey: csbs.uni.edu/profile/alexa-gordon

05/06/2026

05/04/2026

Congratulations to Tyler O'Brien, newly promoted to full professor!

05/01/2026

Missed either of History's great April talks, or ready to learn more about the history of UNI or the American Revolution? Great news -- we've got info for you!

*If you'd like to hear the student podcasts from Professor Rumsey's History of Iowa course featured in the "Tales out of School: Exploring the inside history of UNI through student podcasts" talk on April 15th, tune into Radio UNI this Sunday afternoon starting at 4:00 PM. https://radio.uni.edu/ A second batch of podcasts will be airing soon!

If you'd like to get your own copy of Professor Rick Bell's new book, The American Revolution and the Fate of the World, and missed out at last night's talk, please visit his website here and click "Buy a signed copy here": https://www.richard-bell.com/americanrevolution

Home of Everything UNI RADIO UNI RADIO UNI is a UNI tradition entering a bold new era of student radio. Powered by fresh voices and creative energy, we’re bringing the campus to life with music, sports, talk, and stories that reflect the UNI experience. This year, we’re pushing boundaries, eleva...

04/22/2026

Read about History alum Ross Curnow, ’14, featured for and

04/16/2026

It's UNI's annual Day of Giving, and there is an opportunity to support the Department of History's outstanding students and great faculty and programs directly at the link below. Let's make Live Purple and Give Gold together!

Join me and make a gift to support UNI on Live Purple Give Gold!