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Cornell University

Public History Initiative

Cornell Public History Initiative

Undergraduate Fellows

Spring 2022 RAD Public History Fellows

This new funded fellowship, sponsored by the Cornell Public History Initiative in partnership with the Cornell University Library, gives six Cornell undergraduates the opportunity to work with curators and archivists in Rare and Distinctive Collections (RAD) to gain hands-on training in public history​, ​archival theory​, and skills related to curating, collections stewardship, and education. Each student is paired with a RAD mentor, ​with whom they will work on a specific project over the course of the semester. Undergraduates may be in any major, college, or year, but should have a strong interest in archival methods, curating, and/or public history. Projects for Spring 2022 include social media with the Kheel Center, promotion and education for the Human Sexuality Collection, working with Wikipedia to ​enhance digital collections in Mann Library, contributing to an exhibit on prison labor, and more.

The fellowship is directed by Joan Lubin, Director of Research, Education, and Engagement, Rare and Distinctive Collections, and co-managed with Stephen Vider, Assistant Professor of History and Director of the Cornell Public History Initiative (http://phi.history.cornell.edu).

student headshotLaura Chang

Laura (she/her) is a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, majoring in Anthropology and Biological Sciences and minoring in Spanish. She is excited to participate in the fellowship because she is interested in interpreting and preserving material culture and sharing its significance through stories to other people. Due to her Asian-American identity and involvement in wrestling and other grappling sports, she is thrilled to be working on the project that centers on the intersections of Asia and Ithaca in the martial arts.

RAD Project: Intersections of Asia and Ithaca in the Martial Arts
Mentor: Daniel J. McKee, Japanese Bibliographer, Kroch Library Division of Asia Collections

 

student headshotTavo Duarte

Tavo Duarte is an Arts & Sciences Junior majoring in anthropology with interests in heritage, social capital, the processes of restorative justice and the histories that bridge people together. Tavo writes, “The inequality of representation is something I have always grappled with and is something I hope this project will teach me about in my time working with documents of underrepresented populations. I was stoked to be matched with Professor Calco because I am particularly interested in how social capital, something closely tied to labor, has evolved over time especially given the surge of digital media now widely available.”

RAD Project: Labor History and the Railroad Industry
Mentor: Steven Calco, Research Archivist, Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives

student headshtJ Jokhai

J (Javed) Jokhai majors in the College Scholar Program where he studies the intersection between politics, secularism, and Islam. At Cornell, J writes his weekly opinions column, J-Punk, for the Cornell Daily Sun and is the Diversity and Inclusion chair for the Cornell Democrats. J applied for the project expanding the reach of Mann Library’s digital collections because some of the most eye-opening and world-changing knowledge J knows came from Wikipedia rabbit holes. J finds that the duty of a historian is just as much making history available to where the public can actually find it as it is actually uncovering that history.

 

RAD Project: Extending the Reach of Mann Library’s Digital Collections
Mentor: Amelia Kallaher, Data Literacy Librarian, Albert R. Mann Library

student headshotClaudia León

Claudia León is a junior in Arts and Sciences studying American Studies with minors in Latino Studies and History. Motivated by their belief in the importance of accessible historical education, they hope to pursue a career as a public historian, focusing on marginalized histories. In-kind, she is excited to gain hands-on experience in archival research and exhibit curation with the Kheel Center. Around campus, you can find her at Temple of Zeus frantically typing into her computer with an iced vanilla latte in hand.

RAD Project: Imprisoned Labor in Textile and Garment Manufacturing
Mentor: Marcie Farwell, Gordon and Marjorie Osborne Textile Industry Curator, Kheel Center for Labor- Management Documentation and Archives

student headshotEmily Vo

Emily is a first year in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is planning to major in Computer Science and minor in Southeast Asian Studies. At Cornell, Emily is a part of the Undergraduate Labor Institute and Delta Kappa Alpha (a professional cinematic society). She is interested in filmmaking, public history, and photography. Emily applied to the RAD Public History Fellowship in order to expand her knowledge on archival methods specifically within the Southeast Asia Digital Library. Her focus on the Southeast Asia Digital Library stems from her interest in making historical resources more accessible to the public, especially to underrepresented communities.

RAD Project: Creating Accessible Histories in the Southeast Asia Digital Library
Mentor: Emily Zinger, Southeast Asia Digital Librarian, John M. Echols Collection on Southeast Asia

student headshot

Finley Williams

Finley Williams is a first-year majoring in American Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. Hailing from Chicago, she enjoys visiting museums and critically evaluating the exhibits with her friends on the ‘L’ ride home. This interest in museums and public history is what draws her to this fellowship, where she hopes to use social media to connect patrons to a Cornell Libraries exhibit surrounding lesbian sexuality.

RAD Project: Radical Desires: Making On Our Backs
Mentor: Brenda Marston Curator of the Human Sexuality Collection, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections