Sheryl Kennedy Haydel is an assistant professor in public relations at Louisiana State University's Manship School of Mass Communication. She holds a bachelor's degree from Clark Atlanta University, master's degrees from the University of Wisconsin and the University of Maryland, and a Ph.D. from the University of Southern Mississippi. Prior to her academic career, she was a journalist for publications including Chicago Tribune, Detroit News, Detroit Free Press and Austin American-Statesman.

Some of your research focuses on historical influences of the Black College Press. How did you become interested in that topic?

My research area is an extension of my commitment to uplift and empower marginalized communities – especially Black Americans. It’s also reflective of my lived experiences. As the former editor of my college newspaper – the Clark Atlanta University Panther – I’m riveted by how these Black spaces with scant resources managed to carve out space for students to express themselves on their terms and advocate for unapologetic progress. Being editor was one of the most demanding and rewarding times of my collegiate years. The Black college press is an under-mined part of the movement for civil rights and an extension of the Black press.

Also, I’m always curious about the layered effort needed to bring about liberation for Black American men and women. History is the necessary thread that authentically tells the stories of oppression and triumph of Black people. Considering how our ancestors arrived in this country and then were denied education and many other birthright resources, yet still carved a path for themselves and their descendants, leaves me speechless, humbled, and inspired. Once I discovered that student-run newspapers on Black college campuses in the early twentieth century beat the same drum to end systemic racism, I had found my calling as a researcher. Black people who faced punishment if they were caught reading then leveraging newspapers to speak their truth is worthy of exploration.

Now, I must thank Dr. Vanessa Murphree because she taught me my first media history course. One of our assignments was to visit an archive and find something interesting to share with the class. An archivist at the Amistad Research Center on Tulane University’s campus asked me one simple question: “Tell me something about yourself? Maybe this will help us find you something to explore?” I said, “Well, I’m from New Orleans and I earned my undergraduate degree from an HBCU.” Out he came with a box full of newspapers from historically Black colleges and universities. I took pictures, scribbled notes, and immediately said, ‘this is it!’ This class assignment evolved into a class paper and then my 400-page dissertation. I can vividly remember the sense of urgency to get it right and to keep the paper relevant. Going through hundreds of newspapers from the 1920s to the 1950s is something I will never forget.

What are some of the most important things you've discovered in that research?

In the early twentieth century, student journalists on Black college campuses were deeply engaged in the fight for racial equality. They cared about Black political currency and building a stronger sense of Black excellence. These student editors and writers advocated for change long before the modern-day civil rights movement of the 1960s. They were activists and clearly understood the power of words, the value of higher education, and how to strategically use media to inspire their peers. They also were equally resistant to censorship. Much like their mentors in the Black press, they were constantly pushing back on murmurings that their work wasn’t their own. I admire their sense of proud ownership and accountability for what appeared on the pages of the Black student-run press. Finally, they had an irreverent sense of humor. Not everything was so serious. They teased each other about fashion, flirting, and how they behaved at school dances. For example, the Southern University Digest published jokes. They were well-rounded students who understood that they had a role to play in the fight for liberation.

You also look at topics like first-time minority voting and social movements such as #BlackLivesMatter--two topics that are especially relevant these days. How does your historical knowledge enrich your study of these contemporary issues?

Black students in the twentieth century cared about the same things that Black student change-makers do today. They are equally as passionate about racial equality, political justice, and communal solidarity. Black students will use whatever platform they can to share the same messages of advocacy. I keep this at the forefront of all of my contemporary projects because it reminds me of the connection between then and now.   

How do you bring your historical perspective into the classroom?

I use historical research in each of my classes (for example Principles of Public Relations, Public Relations Writing and Applications, Public Relations Campaigns (undergraduate) and Strategic Communication Campaigns (graduate)) to ground students in the mission and purpose of our industry. I use it to provide a foundation that fosters an enduring passion, dedication, and understanding of the symbiotic relationship between journalism and public relations since the inception of our industries. Knowing this history keeps us all accountable and prepares them to be a valuable asset as communicators. Of course, I pull from David Sloan’s books, especially The Media in America: A History, and the other scholars such as Jinx Broussard. I also invite guest speakers to share from a historical lens such as an editor from The Louisiana Weekly or The New Orleans Tribune – both Black New Orleans-based publications – which means a diverse offering including retired practitioners, seasoned scholars, and younger representatives of the aforementioned areas. In my graduate course, I employ a mix of older peer-reviewed articles and contrast them with peer-reviewed articles that have been published in the last two to three years to see how history continues to shape the profession. 

What are some of your interests and hobbies outside of academia?

I love riding my bike with my two teenagers (I can’t! I just wrote I have teenagers, but it’s true). We do at least 10 miles but try to do 15 or more miles each outing. I enjoy working out, taking walks, and dancing to some of my favorite music.

Anything else you want to add that AJHA members would want to know about you?

Stay tuned for a book project I’m the co-editor of coming out in August 2021. It’s titled Black Identities and Media and will be published by Louisiana State University Press. The book is comprised of original essays, ranging in theoretical applications and methodologies, exploring media representation, media effects, and historical accounts of media practices relating to Black communities and their varying identities. Scholarship centered in Black identities often frames racial identity as a monolith, erasing the group’s intersections, including such attributes as gender, sexuality, class, and ability status. Moreover, literature often overlooks how these identities are represented across media platforms, including newsprint, radio, television, social media, and more. This volume provides a much-needed exploration of those intersections and centers the role of Black media creators -- including producers, journalists, and social media influencers -- to highlight Black representation in various genres of mass media. This text will be ideal for use in college classrooms and among general audiences and scholars seeking to explore and discuss the spectrum of Black identities represented within mass media.

Pamela Walck (Duquesne University) was a Joseph McKerns Research Grant recipient in October 2018. Following is her McKerns Grant report.

News of the first American troops landing in the United Kingdom had scarcely made headlines across the Western world when a lurking societal question emerged in newspapers: What role would U.S. women play in the war? Would American women, like the generation before them, be content to demonstrate their patriotism by knitting socks and planting victory gardens? Or would they seek more significant roles—positions which one Los Angeles Times editorial warned would give some a case of ‘gooseflesh’. The column opined that such a limited view of the role women should play diminished their patriotism and capabilities in a total war. But this seismic shift in how society viewed women’s work would not come easily.

In some quarters, officials would lament how difficult—and unsuccessful—Office of War Information (OWI) campaigns were when it came to recruiting U.S. women for the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) or the Naval Reserve’s Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). By 1945, with hopes of an end to war in sight, the OWI launched a final push for more military womanpower. Along the way, governmental officials found unlikely allies: newspapers, comics sections and paper dolls.

During this ‘golden age’ of paper dolls it was popular for graphic art, including paper dolls, to mimic news photographs and vice versa. Paper dolls were commonplace inside print publications from Good Housekeeping and Godey’s Lady Book to newspapers such as the Boston Herald, The Boston Globe, The Boston Post, Boston American and the Buffalo Express.

It is not surprising that the military would target newspaper comics for propaganda efforts: a 1946 government survey found that 84 percent of men and 82 percent of women read newspaper comics as well.

Thanks to my 2018 McKerns Grant, I was able to travel during July 2019 to Kansas City, Missouri, where an international paper doll convention was being held—just miles from the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library archives, which houses the papers of Philleo Nash from the Office of War Information during these critical war years. Through archival research, I was able to find examples of how wartime propaganda worked to not only normalize women in the workplace and in the military—but also aimed to garner public support for the military service of African Americans and other minority groups during a segregated time in American history.

In addition to the archival work, I was also able to attend the paper doll convention and collect oral history interviews with a dozen men and women who grew up during the war years, played with paper dolls, and were influenced by these temporary artifacts that commonly appeared in the comic section of newspapers each week.

Through these oral history interviews, my co-author Ashley Walter, a doctoral candidate at Penn State, and I were able to explore how newspaper paper dolls may have influenced the collective memory of Americans during this critical moment in time—and how it would impact views of women in the military for years to come. Despite being very temporary in nature, the feelings these paper dolls evoked remain long lasting. For many women who were children during the war years, their collective memories are of a time when newspaper dolls fed into a general feeling of American pride and patriotism.

After presenting this project as a research-in-progress at AJHA—and receiving a warm reception on the direction of our work—I am thrilled to report that our manuscript is currently under revise and resubmit with Media History, a Taylor & Francis publication based out of the United Kingdom. I am thankful for this research grant funding, which made this project and new line of research possible in the first place.

by Tom Mascaro, Service Awards Committee Chair

Every historian can name archivists, compendia, and collections that facilitate our work in immeasurable ways. As we build from past AJHA conventions, we might look for ways to honor other nominees for the Distinguished Service Award from the ranks of historical preservation, more workshops on historical uses of specific collections, grant-writing workshops for media historians, and perhaps a consultant group within AJHA to build templates to help members find, write, and secure grants for media history.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Workshop on Media History Grant Proposals at last October’s virtual AJHA conference offers a jumping-off point for the association to consider how to expand our access to grants for the various aspects of journalism and media history.

Joshua Sternfeld, senior program officer for NEH, expressed keen interest in attracting media history funding proposals, including for preservation and access. Josh is highly knowledgeable about the NEH process and approachable as a resource for those interested in writing history project grants. Funds are also available from various state grants for history.

Ken Ward presented a Research-in-Progress proposal (AJHA 2020) on the use of geography databases to track the “expansion of newspapers across the American frontier.” Ken’s was an excellent project to involve multiple investigators on a history mission, the kind more commonly available to quantitative-scholar teams. His project requires a central leader, or Principal Investigator, but also associates that could easily come from the ranks of media history graduate students on various campuses. Such a project would not only present a proposal suitable to larger history grants, but it would also involve grad students and young scholars with AJHA and the grant-writing process, which would expand our membership and facilitate their careers.

AJHA honored James Danky with the rare Distinguished Service Award for his exceptionable commitment to preservation of “alternative” publications at the University of Wisconsin. We may want to have a discussion among the Service Awards Committee about ways to nominate and/or honor other archivists who serve the academic field in roles from outside academe.

In my field of documentary history, Daniel Einstein, the retired UCLA Film and Television Archivist, published an indispensable two-volume compendia cataloging every network news documentary and special report from 1955-1989. Every broadcast journalism historian of long-form, documentary, and news magazine history relies on Dan’s books.

Another stalwart professional who supports academe from outside the circle is documentary film archivist Kenn Rabin. Kenn’s list of credits includes The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, Eyes on the Prize, Vietnam: A Television History, Pedro E. Guerrero: A Photographer’s Journey, and Ralph Ellison: An American Journey. He is always busy on film projects, but extremely knowledgeable about archive sources, Fair Use Copyright provisions, costs of footage, and the challenges to historical media projects. He would be a great addition to a future conference program as a speaker or workshop leader. I’m sure there are many more.

“Ideas” are easy; execution takes time and effort and a place on anyone’s busy schedule. That said, I could see using AJHA as a focal point for media historians who need assistance on grants. We could create an informal group of advisers, something more formal -- like a workshop somehow tied to our annual convention (without adding sessions), or maybe a Zoom group to help scholars complete their proposals in a timely fashion and search for innovative ways to fund our research. I’d welcome suggestions.

The AJHA Board of Directors has voted to appoint Autumn Lorimer Linford as interim editor of the Intelligencer. Linford's interim appointment will expire in October, at which point the board may appoint her for a full three-year term.

Linford is a doctoral student and Roy H. Park Fellow in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, where she specializes in journalism history under the direction of Barbara Friedman. Her master's degree is from Brigham Young University, where she completed her thesis on symbols in American Revolutionary newspaper nameplates under the direction of Kevin Stoker.

Linford has presented her research at AJHA, AEJMC, and the Joint Journalism and Communication History Conference. Most recently, her paper presented at the AJHA virtual conference in October received the Robert Lance Award for Top Student Paper and honorable mention for the Maurine Beasley Award for the Outstanding Paper on a Women's History topic.

Professionally, Linford has worked as a reporter and photojournalist at the News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), Deseret Morning News (Orem, Utah), Daily Herald (Provo, Utah), and Riverton (Wy.) Ranger. Among her journalism awards are the News & Observer's Ambitious Reporting Award and 2nd Place Multi-Media Project from the North Carolina Press Association, both for her 2019 coverage of 13-year-old Hania Aguilar's murder.

Linford's professional experience stood out when the AJHA Publications Committee assessed her resume. Second Vice-President Aimee Edmondson had been speaking with Linford about potential service opportunities because she wants to get more involved in AJHA. Based on her experience, the Intelligencer editor position seemed like a good fit.

"Ms. Linford's extensive background in publishing and editing give her the skills to do the work," Publications Committee Chair Paulette Kilmer wrote in the committee's report recommending Linford's appointment.

The report noted that "although we usually do not appoint graduate students to serve as editors, one who is organized and adept at time management could serve AJHA in this vital capacity while getting the opportunity to network with historians at all levels of experience and gain an impressive accomplishment for the resume."

As reported in the December 2020 Intelligencer email, the board approved in October a new system for the newsletter in which AJHA's committees curate and produce content. Edmondson, whose role as second VP is to oversee the committees, has been assisting with shepherding content for monthly distribution to members.

Since the newsletter's re-launch in December, Administrative Secretary Erika Pribanic-Smith has been posting the content and producing the monthly email. Pribanic-Smith, who edited the Intelligencer from 2014-2016, will mentor Linford as she begins her interim term.

AJHA officers are working to provide our membership more information about media literacy as one of our top goals of the year. As journalists and media historians, we are working to address the flood of misinformation and revisionist history narratives of recent years. We want to provide ongoing information and historical context to inspire our membership to help share the importance of media literacy in their own communities, including the importance of verified information and the vital role journalists play in our democracy.

The good news is that there has been a great deal of work put into media literacy already, including the work of Kristy Roschke, an expert in media literacy. She is the managing director of the News Co/Lab at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Roschke also serves on the board of the National Association for Media Literacy Education.

I started to write this essay on media literacy’s importance early on January 6. By the end of the day, rioters had overtaken the U.S. Capitol in a coordinated effort aided by social media platforms, the right-wing media ecosystem, and a president and other elected officials who used these media bullhorns to spread lies and conspiracy theories that culminated in an insurrection.

The events at the Capitol will be scrutinized for years to come. They are a stark reminder of how, as journalism scholars and educators, we haven’t fully addressed the fundamental changes in our news and information systems. We still study news using 20th-century framing. And, for the most part, we continue to train journalism students for an industry that hasn’t existed in their lifetime. 

What I’ve learned in teaching undergraduate media literacy classes for the past five years (and teaching high school journalism the decade before that) is that too often young people learn about media in silos. Academic media are used for research papers, news media are used to stay up-to-date on current events, entertainment media are used on personal time, and social media should be used at your own risk. The problem with that approach: It is antithetical to how most of us actually use media.

Pew Research and the American Press Institute have found that people have a hard time distinguishing between different types of content online. The aesthetic markers we learned to help us identify different types of information in print form largely don’t apply online, because content does not have the same borders, boundaries and labels. On social media and in search, content is removed from its original context and becomes a discrete piece of information that will be evaluated in its new context. We should be actively teaching students to query information in this mode so we can help them evaluate what they find as they would when they are on their own.

In recent years, the term media literacy has been conflated with misinformation. But centering media literacy in misinformation discounts its more fundamental purpose in modern life. Media literacy is not merely a set of tools and techniques for assessing information credibility or spotting fake news. It is a lifelong practice that examines our relationship with the media inundating our daily lives.

The National Association for Media Literacy Education defines media literacy as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create and act using all forms of communication. Though these practices are learned on a continuum, it is not a unidirectional journey with an endpoint. And as the means for creating and distributing media continuously evolve, so should our media literacy practices.   

Most of us begin consuming media at a very early age — and we never stop. And yet we spend very little time explicitly teaching people how to use media, or the social, cultural and ideological contexts that underlie media engagement. And when we do, it’s too often using a reactive frame to protect us from propaganda and misinformation’s negative effects. To effect real change, however, we must proactively integrate media literacy practices early and often, across disciplines including history, science and math, to help people build constructive relationships with media.

For children, this may mean learning how to safely access digital content and how advertisers and other content producers use persuasion techniques to lead us to take certain actions. For adults, we may look at how new media technologies impact the content we encounter.

Professional journalism should be a vector for teaching media literacy, and the best place to start is with future journalists. After all, journalism students are both creators and consumers of news. Journalism students should actively interrogate how media is, and has been, created, as well as reflect on how their own media use impacts their professional role.

Though I teach media literacy classes and would love to see a dedicated curriculum in every journalism school, media literacy practice can be incorporated into any journalism class. You may already be doing this and not identifying it as media literacy.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• In a journalism history class: Assemble an intergenerational panel of media users to discuss where and how they get news they trust. How are the experiences the same and different, and what does that mean for our common understanding of big news events?  
• In an introductory mass comm course: Evaluate how a spectrum of news outlets cover a major news story; examine headline and word choice, and discuss what agendas may influence coverage. Ask students to bring in the examples they encountered in their own media use.  
• In a mass comm law class: Review the terms of service for a major social media platform company. What speech and limitations and content control do you agree to when you sign up for the service? Discuss differences between government and private control of speech.
• In a reporting class: Compare the sourcing policies for major news outlets, using Trust Project indicators as a standard. Which organizations publish their policies for including a diverse array of sources or using anonymous sources? Have students include a “behind the story sidebar” that explains how they sourced their story. (See how my colleague Celeste Sepessy does it with her Intro to News Writing students at ASU.)

Linked References:

Pew Research Center, June 2018, “Distinguishing Between Factual and Opinion Statements in the News.”

American Press Institute, June 2018, “Americans and the News Media: What they do — and don’t — understand about each other.”

Trust Project, “Trust Project Indicators,” retrieved from https://thetrustproject.org/#indicators

News Co/Lab, December, 2019, “Transparency in the journalism classroom: A how to,” retrieved from https://newscollab.org/2019/12/12/transparency-in-the-journalism-classroom-a-how-to/.

by Kimberly Voss, University of Central Florida

Many universities now have a wide variety of classes offered fully online. It can be a challenge but also a method that can be helpful for students. I have been lucky that most of my students are prepared for virtual learning. They are usually from Florida, and they are required to take fully online classes in high schools.

I have taught an online History of American Journalism class three times a year – fall, spring and summer – for about the last decade. I have about 120 students in each class – a mix of majors, minors and students outside of communication.

For the past few semesters, I have used Rodger Streitmatter’s books (Mightier Than the Sword and A Force for Good). I use weekly modules that include textbook readings, videos and some journal articles. This semester I am adding podcasts from Journalism History.

My assessments are a mix of quizzes and exams plus low stakes crosswords and word searches that double as study aids. I use rubrics for discussion posts. This is especially helpful in the occasional semester when I have a graduate teaching assistant. I am adding a presentation through FlipGrid, which can be used in Webcourses – our online learning system. (My third-grade son also used FlipGrid for his online classes last semester without any training, so it is very user friendly.)

Some overall thoughts about teaching focus:

• Try to create personality – for yourself and for your students. I ask that students include photos. If they are uncomfortable with using their own photos, I ask them to use a photo of their pet or a favorite animal. (Last semester there were more cats than dogs, and sloths were a big hit.)
• When possible, tie history to current events. Many of my students are not journalism students who read the news, so I am sure to include links from a variety of sources – and explain why I use CBS News and the New York Times, for example.
• Have a variety of ways to interact. Each module features word searches and timelines about the topics. These are low risk – for a few points but helpful for studying. I strive for a mix of high and low point assignments.

Some final advice:

• Give examples and then model the email etiquette you expect. I often remind students that this is the only way I will know them, so email communication is especially important. Tone, of course, can be tricky. I use emojis to compensate for the lack of body language – a smiley face, thumbs up, etc.
• Get training and look for professional development – it is often free. The technology is continuously evolving. Look for opportunities to learn more.
• Look for engagement moments. One of my favorite final assignments is getting feedback about which readings they found most interesting and the readings that made the least impact – and why. I have office hours by Zoom by appointment.
• Define cheating and consequences. My university has been great about creating policies for online academic integrity, and I would be happy to share them.

by Paulette Kilmer, University of Toledo

The older I get, the more I realize I do not know everything, and, therein, should keep an open mind about possibilities. My attitude colors everything I experience.

Therein, this summer, I decided to travel via Zoom to places COVID had closed for me. I started with University of Toledo training webinars for Collaborate and online teaching. I expected to learn a lot, and I did. I also assumed the speakers would model strategies and show me, rather than just tell me things—and they did.

So far, so good in this armchair safari of the mind.

Next, I checked out Poynter's Teachapalooza and invited a half dozen of my cronies to join me in the $50 all-day training. Tech savvy speakers and inspired writers offered us insights into helping students use technology (old and new) to tell the truth, confront white privilege, and expose wrongdoing. We saw long-form writing in action as well as social media applied to covering breaking news. Al Tompkins reminded us of the values that remain the bedrock of our pursuit, regardless of technology or social crises.

The big three conferences for me all had gone online because of concerns over safety amid the COVID outbreaks. The first one, AEJMC, started with a round of Trivial Pursuit, and playing with the Ohio University (Athens) historians, I won a gift card to Barnes and Noble, one of my favorite haunts. The camaraderie of that venture still makes me smile. I enjoyed exchanging short messages with colleagues from across the nation.

However, one thing surprised me. Virtual reality did not suck the vitality out of presentations as I had feared might happen. One of the best reasons to go to virtual conferences is to see what other scholars are doing. Seldom do my colleagues research news as narrative, literary, mythic expression as I do, but discovering what matters to my peers empowers me to see history from a different vantage point.

AEJMC tends to draw huge numbers of scholars, which makes it hard sometimes to connect with colleagues. The online sessions did not solve this problem for me. I tended to stay too long listening to the questions to make use of the chat rooms since I went to the next session. I liked seeing the faces of the people I respect and consider friends.

I moderated a panel for the AEJMC Ethics Division, and so I learned how to get people on and off the screen and help them present their PowerPoints. I also saw how breakout rooms work, which was very helpful in the fall of 2020 when I had to use them for my classes on Collaborate. I enjoyed moderating, and all went well. A representative from AEJMC told us our session was over, and so we ended a little more abruptly than I had intended, about 10 minutes early. That extra time allowed me to brew a cup of coffee before the next event.

AJHA is always smaller than AEJMC and focuses precisely on history. I missed the chats in the halls, the adventures to shopping or historical sites, the meals with lively conversations, and the laughing with people I enjoy. Still, the online AJHA provided lots of opportunity for me to check in briefly using chat bubbles with friends and to hear the voices of many historians I admire.

I really enjoyed seeing my friends and colleagues at AJHA even virtually. I did not feel as isolated here in Toledo when I participated in the conferences and training workshops this summer. The papers introduced me to the current tides of historical thinking in our field. I noticed a lot of biography, which is not unusual. I liked the critiques of these journalism trailblazers’ support of racism through negative portrayals of people of color based on emotions and assumptions far more than facts. If we do not notice the mistakes we made in the past, we probably are condemned to repeat them.

Because I hosted four days of programming for the UToledo Banned Books Coalition on Zoom, Facebook, and YouTube in conjunction with the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week from Monday through Thursday of the week of the AJHA conference, I was exhausted and ready to relax by Friday morning. I liked seeing people I respect present lively papers, and I was grateful that the timing worked out so that I could fulfill my freedom of expression commitments and also attend the AJHA convention.

Next, in November, I went to the Symposium on the Nineteenth Century Press, the Civil War, and Free Expression. Once again, I heard colleagues present their findings and liked the sense of fellowship that I felt despite the barriers virtual conferences impose. The Symposium welcomes research ventures that push historical inquiry in new directions and raise questions that often result from interdisciplinary study or international inquiry.

The virtual conferences also let me share in honoring those who won awards at all of the conferences. I liked watching them get recognition for their hard work.

Going to virtual conferences allows one to pop in and out of sessions quite easily, although I tended to go to stuff until each day ended. I found opportunities to do some paperwork with the split screen on my computer, and so multi-tasking is also an option. However, I limited my paperwork to things that do not interfere with my ability to monitor and then deeply listen when necessary.

The Zoom webinars, conferences, and cultural opportunities enriched me during the lockdown when it was not safe for me to go out. I also learned that I can handle far more technology than I supposed before the pandemic. Last March, I taught myself to make videos on my computer, and then when the Google advice did not suffice, I asked a student for help in setting up a YouTube channel so my classes could access my short video of instructions and pep talk each week as well as the lectures for every week. I also figured out how to narrate PowerPoints and use Zoom to meet students.

My most recent Zoom conference took me to Seneca Falls, New York, for the “It’s a Wonderful Life” conference in early December. I enjoyed the virtual tours, the chat with the historian at the women’s history museum about the connections between the “Donna Reed Show” and feminism in the late 1950s through the mid-1960s, interviews with stars from the movie, and classic TV programs featuring actors from the Christmas movie. I had just turned in grades, and so I wrapped presents as I enjoyed my cyber visit to Seneca Falls.

Perhaps, I liked the Zoom conferences because they transported me out my COVID cage into worlds of possibility where historical inquiry continued to thrive. I felt refreshed, ready to work on my projects, and mentor students in the fine arts of perseverance and intellectual curiosity.

By John Coward, University of Tulsa (Emeritus)           

Let me start with a straightforward proclamation: I’m Old School (read: old enough to remember typewriters, pica sticks and proportion wheels), and I don’t like Zoom conferences. Or Zoom teaching. Or Zoom family reunions. Or Zoom anything, for that matter.

On the other hand, I realize that the COVID-19 threat is real and dangerous and that we need Zoom and other screen technologies to do our jobs and carry on with our professional and personal lives.

So I’m not blind to the advantages of Zoom meetings and virtual conferences. In the throes of a deadly pandemic, we need such fixes. And, truth be told, virtual meetings can be interesting and productive. It’s great to see and hear from colleagues, even when the pictures are fuzzy and the sound is tinny.

I acknowledge, too, that virtual conventions save money—no need for airline tickets, hotel rooms, Uber rides, meals, bar tabs and the like. (Deans and budget officers will approve.) Virtual meetings also benefit the environment for the same reasons, an advantage that should not be overlooked.

On the individual level, virtual conferences are easier on the mind and body. I expect every AJHA or AEJMC veteran has come to the end of a convention bone tired, too exhausted to appreciate yet another paper session in yet another bland, windowless meeting room. Zoom conferences avoid this sort of wear and tear.

But that convenience cuts both ways, of course. Since you can opt out of meetings with the click of a button, you can easily disengage. My own limited experience with Zoom conferences over the past few months has been mixed. Sometimes I’m attentive and inspired by the presentations. Other times I’m distracted by my environment. The cat jumps on the keyboard, the Amazon delivery guy rings the doorbell (Hey! My new flannel shirt!), the kitchen timer dings… well, you get the idea.

Even when I’m fully engaged in Zoom presentations, I always feel the distance between myself and the speakers. To put it another way, even when the technology works well—not always a given—and the presentation is effective, the virtual experience is still remote, still an arm’s length away. Even at its best, a screen presence is not the same as an in-person, flesh-and-blood experience.

Virtual conferences also eliminate the pleasures of the host city. There’s no technological means to check out the regional cuisine and bend an elbow with a local brew. I’m surely not the only one who wants to explore the streets and shops of Salt Lake City or any of the other cities where AJHA has met in recent years.

In addition, AJHA has a long tradition of Friday afternoon field trips to historic sites in the host city. These are often significant, even moving, as when we toured Little Rock’s Central High School or the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas. I was looking forward last year to eating barbecue in Memphis and touring the National Civil Rights Museum. Obviously, no teleconference can replicate the experience of being in the place where history happened.

If the pandemic continues and personal safety requires it, I’ll happily participate in future Zoom meetings. It’s much better than no conference at all, and, as I’ve said, virtual conferences can be productive even when we’re stuck in those little Zoom boxes on a small screen.

I’m also open to hybrid meetings, where some participants convene in person and others link up via the screen. These could be a solution, though I don’t have experience with any hybrid conferences and I can’t speak to their strengths or weaknesses.

Meanwhile, many of us remain isolated, cut off from family, friends, students and colleagues. Given the continuing threats of the pandemic, Zoom is about all we have and we should probably make the best to it.

by Kate Roberts Edenborg, University of Wisconsin-Stout

A recent conference session prompted me to reach out to my local historical society, and I ended up collaborating with the director to develop a year-long series of virtual presentations.

During the panel, “Did that Really Happen: Historical Fiction as 'Gateway Drug' to Historical Research” at the AJHA 2020 virtual conference, all of the participants were struck by how a variety of books, movies and other forms of popular culture had an influence on their research interests as academics. For me, it was a fictional girl named Caddie Woodlawn.

This character from a children’s book published in the 1930s is the focus of the series of conversations, activities and events I developed, sponsored by the Dunn County (Wis.) Historical Society (DCHS) throughout 2021. Through Caddie, readers get a glimpse not only of childhood in the Wisconsin woods but also of an incredibly fraught time in midwestern and United States history.

“Conversations with Caddie Woodlawn” will feature presentations and activities highlighting the world of Caddie Woodlawn, the beloved children's book character. Created by author Carol Ryrie Brink in 1935, Caddie was a pioneer girl coming of age in Dunn County during the Civil War era.

A Dunn County native, I grew up reading “Caddie Woodlawn,” and the book stuck with me, from childhood to choices I made during my academic career. In graduate school I ended up doing research related to girlhood and children’s books, and my connections to this community and Caddie were definitely the inspiration for this work. I’ve learned a lot about myself and about the community’s history throughout the years.

While Brink’s work was fiction, the book was based on her grandmother’s stories. Her grandmother was Caroline Woodhouse, the basis for the Caddie character. The book features the adventures of Caddie and her brothers Tom and Warren.

The “Conversations with Caddie Woodlawn” series will cover a variety of topics which are inspired by the book, from learning about childhood in the 1860s to discussing representations of race in historical fiction. The series will be an opportunity to bring in experts to discuss the representation, history, and context of the Native American side of the story. The book also provides a way to talk about the Civil War in Wisconsin, along with other topics, such as the expectations of how to raise girls and boys during the era.

The first event on January 9, “Caroline, Caddie and Katey: A favorite childhood book character inspires career,” introduced the series and my connection to the book. I really want people to see historical research as a personal endeavor. A book that I first took off the shelf of my elementary school library as a 10-year-old girl has opened my eyes in so many ways.

The next few events will highlight aspects of childhood and provide an opportunity to learn about the book’s writer and her place in the literary world. Caroline Woodhouse’s granddaughter became a successful author after writing a book telling her grandmother’s stories.

We are hoping to use social media to continue to collect stories about the local community’s connections with Caddie. The county has a Caddie Woodlawn park and has put on countless versions of a Caddie Woodlawn-based play over the decades. The historical society and I plan to post questions to gather more about these and other ways this book has been part of the local lore.

While the original audience for the events was the local Dunn County community, I've realized that there are fans of Caddie all across the country. All of the Zoom presentations will be recorded and available online.

Information on upcoming events, along with links to resources, can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Conversations-with-Caddie-Woodlawn-101502568487838

University of Southern Mississippi students at an AJHA Southeast Symposium

by Natascha Toft Roelsgaard (Ohio University), Graduate Student Committee Chair

As we begin a new year, the American Journalism Historians Association Graduate Student Committee plans to foster an even stronger graduate student network for our current student members and those interested in joining.

There are so many ways to get involved with the AJHA. The association offers a reduced-rate membership for students and a chance to submit your original research and present it to some of the leading scholars in journalism history. We have three annual conferences: the national convention, the Southeast Symposium, and the Joint Journalism and Communication History Conference (co-sponsored with the AEJMC History Division). The Southeast Symposium specifically focuses on student research.

While AJHA attracts some of the brightest minds in the field, the association is much like a big academic family. You will have ample opportunity to discuss your research with other scholars, discover new resources, and form collaborations. Networking with fellow journalism historians often stretches beyond the conference walls.

Our committee’s goal for 2021 is to facilitate online workshops and establish a co-mentoring program for our graduate student members. The workshops will be hosted by senior scholars, and the topics will include navigating your research agenda, teaching, publishing and presenting at conferences, grant funding, and transitioning from graduate school to a professional job.

Our co-mentorship program will pair students with similar research areas and interests. The co-mentorship program is a great opportunity for you to share your work with another student scholar, give and receive feedback, and help you stay on top of your deadlines. We are also launching a new Facebook group for graduate students, where members can ask questions, share resources, and pair up for mentoring or reading groups.

Faculty members: If you have graduate students you think might be interested in getting involved in the Graduate Student Committee, please send them my way.

Graduate Students: If you are interested in becoming a member of AJHA, attending online workshops, working with the Graduate Student Committee, and/or participating in the co-mentorship program, please reach out to me at nataschatoft0@gmail.com