News Related to Students, Faculty and Alumni
June 30, 2011: KC area history students earn internships
For the second time in four years, Park University's Program of History has a student interning at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Amber Ables, a senior European/classic history major and president of Park's Zeta Omicron chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, will participate in a six-week internship in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress. She will work on a collection of published works from American novelist Ralph Ellison, assessing the collection and selecting works for possible future exhibits. Ables recently completed an internship at the Kansas City Museum supporting the Summer Drop-Ins educational programs and developing educational activities to accompany the Community Curator program.
Thomas Scheckel, sophomore U.S. history major, is assisting the Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society and Archives in Independence, Mo., cataloging and creating an electronic database on probate records that date from the 1830s to the 1920s. He recently completed preserving newspapers dating from the mid-1800s.
May 13, 2011: History honor society recognizes Hodges for thesis
Zeta Omicron, the Park University chapter of the Phi Alpha Theta national history honor society, awarded its Zeta Omicron Thesis/Project Prize to James Hodges during its annual awards banquet April 29 in Kansas City, Mo. Hodges, who graduated on May 7, was awarded a $500 prize for his thesis "Ceausescu's Children." In addition, Zeta Omicron recognized Katy Goodwin, events coordinator, Office of Student Life; Fred Rohrer, graphic designer, Office of Communication; and Ann Schultis, director of library systems, McAfee Memorial Library, with certificates of appreciation, and five history majors were inducted into Phi Alpha Theta.
November 19, 2010: Park University history students to present "Christmas Truce" reading
Students from Park University's Department of History will present a dramatic theater production to celebrate the 96th anniversary of the Christmas Truce of 1914. Readings of "Letters from the Front: The Christmas Truce of 1914" will be presented Thursday, Dec. 2, through Saturday, Dec. 4, at the Jenkin and Barbara David Theatre in Alumni Hall, located on the University's Parkville Campus. The production will be presented at 7 p.m. each night. Tickets, which can be purchased at the door, are $10 for adults and $5 for students and children under 18.
History majors will read from the British and German letters associated with the Christmas Truce of 1914. The production is directed and produced by Timothy Westcott, Ph.D., associate professor of history and chair of the University's Department of Culture and Society. As cast members read letters, there will be a corresponding photo in the background representing an aspect of each letter. The German solider letters are spoken in German with an English translation slide. If a soldier mentions a particular musical selection which may have been performed in 1914, a short clip of that song will play. At the conclusion of the production, the audience will be invited to join cast members to sing "Silent Night," which was sung on the battlefield by both armies. For more information about the event, visit http://news.park.edu/pub/news_001835.shtml or contact Westcott at timothy.westcott@park.edu or (816) 584-6364.
October 26, 2010: History students have community service outing at Harris-Kearney House
Park University history majors Perry Cougill, Chante Dean, Vanessa Garza, Brady Hanssen, James Hodges, John Lange, Brian Moon and Claire Petersen, along with Patti Urdang, horticulturist, assisted board members from the Westport Historical Society on Oct. 9. The group helped in removing overgrown trees and plantings to create new gardens and additional green spaces at the Harris-Kearney House Museum. The Westport Historical Society acquired the home in 1976 and restored the original 1855 portion of the house as a house museum.
October 12, 2010: History majors, faculty present research at conference
Three Park University Program of History majors, along with Tim Westcott, Ph.D., associate professor of history and chair of the Department of Culture and Society, presented papers at the 32nd Mid-America Conference on History, Sept. 23-25, in Little Rock, Ark. Seniors John Lange and Vanessa Garza, and junior Amber Ables (from left in adjacent photo at the entrance to the replica Oval Office at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum), along with Westcott presented research during the conference, one of three uniting components that history majors encounter during their studies. Ables presented "Anne Boleyn: A Woman with Two Faces: Determining which of them was a Mask." Garza presented "The Impact of Transcendentalist Thought on the Movement to Abolish Slavery." Lange presented "Adolf Eichmann: Nazi Party Careerist or Intentionalist?" Westcott's presentation continues a theme of pre-World War I interaction between Russia and the United States in his paper "The 'Free Russia' Campaign: American Crusaders Unite with Russian Nihilists, 1890-1910."
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