Seven Native American Trailblazers
Dr. Farina King teaches, "Public History," which is an introduction to public history practices, methodologies, and issues centered on U.S. histories and memories. The course also includes direct engagement with local public historians and community-based projects with a heavy emphasis on Native American and Indigenous studies. For this activity, students identify and introduce a Native American historical figure from sometime between the nineteenth century and twenty-first century. Dr. King created a video montage of all the students' submitted work, which will be shared with local fifth grade classes to teach youth about the diversity of Native American peoples and their influences.
Public History students and contributors:
Mitzi Stone recently graduated from Northeastern State University (NSU) with a B.A. in History with minors in Sociology and Humanities. Since she loves NSU and the professors so much, she decided to continue with her master's in American Studies there. With her degree, she plans to make a better life for herself and her parents in their retirement years. She has an interest in Public History since she has always thought it would be exciting to work in a museum and create displays that would actually intrigue people to stop walking and learn from them. Her family is in the process of building a museum in Locust Grove for her grandfather who was an artist and she would like to have some background in the area to help as much as possible.
Casey Hatfield is a history major with a minor in Political Science from Claremore, Oklahoma. He is currently debating what he would like to do with his degree after graduation. He planned to go to law school to earn his J.D. so that he could practice as an attorney. He is excited to take this public history class to explore alternatives for his plans after graduation. He is curious about what he might be able to do with his bachelor's degree such as the possibility of curatorial work or graduate studies in history.
Matt Wagner grew up in Pryor, Oklahoma, and he is currently studying history at NSU on the Tahlequah campus. He works at the campus library as a project assistant student worker. He plans to use his education to pursue a career as a historian involved with research. He was interested in this course because it seemed related to what he wants to do in his future career. He is especially excited to possibly work with a museum. He always wanted to build a display for public viewing. He recently helped to set up the veterans' exhibit in the NSU Archives and Special Collections called "We Remember."
Kayte Anton is finishing her last semester as a graduate student in the American Studies program at NSU. She was born and raised in southern California, but she has called Oklahoma home for almost twenty years. She is the Director of Communications at Augustine Christian Academy (ACA) in Tulsa. She also teaches yearbook and journalism at ACA. In the past, she has taught history at Northern Oklahoma College and adult education courses at Tulsa Community College. This past summer, she completed an internship at the Claremore Museum of History with her classmate John Turner. In the American Studies program, her emphasis has been in early American History but she has also taken numerous courses relating to Native American studies. She plans to continue teaching and hopes to one day earn a doctoral degree.
Sarah Wood is from Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, and she is studying History and Political Science. She works as a student worker for the Department of Public Safety/Police on the NSU campus. Her plan is to go on to graduate school and earn her masters in American Studies. She aspires to be a college professor teaching Native American History. She decided to take this public history course to discover more possibilities of work and careers with her degree.
Becky Mills is originally from Claremore, Oklahoma. She is a graduate student in the American Studies program at NSU. She started her thesis this fall semester, and the subject addresses the integration of John Locke's liberalism in the context of Natural Law. The study of politics, religion, history and art, and the way these four fields coadjute is exciting to her, and often these are the objects of museum collections and displays. She finds that it is only natural to take a class connecting the application of humanities to a didactic interpretation. She hopes to one day teach as an adjunct instructor for a college.
John Turner is from the Tulsa area. He is in his last year as a Master's student in the NSU American Studies program. He is also a World History and U.S. History teacher at the Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences, and he plans to use his Master's degree to further his career as an educator. He is excited about public history because it expands his knowledge of the museum world. He is looking to further his resume and expand into different fields of historical studies.
Dr. Farina King is Bilagáanaa (white American of English descent), born for Kinyaa’áanii (the Towering House Clan) of the Diné (Navajo). Her maternal grandfather was Bilagáanaa, and her paternal grandfather was Tsinaajinii (Blackstreaked Woods People Clan) of the Diné. She is Assistant Professor of History and an affiliate of the Cherokee and Indigenous Studies Department at Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, Oklahoma. She received her U.S. History Ph.D. at Arizona State University. She is the author of The Earth Memory Compass: Diné Landscapes and Education in the Twentieth Century, which the University Press of Kansas published. To learn more about her work and background, visit her website at farinaking.com.