05/04/2022
May 5, 2022 As SCCGS turns 45, please join us for “From Seminary to University: 194 Years of History in the McKendree Archives“
Register in advance for this free virtual presentation: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIlfumqrD8tGdD_Je1xvbf72yai_13TgkSP
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
McKendree Holman Library Director Deborah Houk and University of Illinois-Springfield public history graduate program student Justin Smock provide a brief history of McKendree University, and the difference between an archivist versus an historian. They cover what types of materials can be found in the Archives and how to access them; their digitized materials and how to request information from the Archives.
Deborah was born and raised in Belleville. She attended Belleville Area College (now Southwestern Illinois College) and transferred to McKendree College, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in History. She then attended the University of Missouri – Columbia, where she earned a master’s degree in Library Science. After working as the librarian at the Belleville News-Democrat, she started at McKendree in 1996. In 2010, she took over as the university’s Archivist in addition to her other job duties. In 2020, she became Director of the Holman Library at McKendree.
Justin is a Belleville transplant, originally from Harrisburg, Ill. His passion for history began with his undergraduate years when he served as a student worker for Deborah Houk at McKendree’s Archives and Museum. He also worked as a spring intern for the Cahokia Mounds Museum Society in Collinsville, Ill. After earning his bachelor’s degree in history from McKendree in 2019, he began his graduate program in Public History at the University of Illinois-Springfield, he’s worked as an intern with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Historic Preservation Office, specifically with the National Register of Historic Places. He’ll complete his master’s degree requirements this spring.
