FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 29, 2012
Contact: Cydney Archie
(662) 329-7119
cja2@muw.edu

MUW hosts Mississippi Historical Society Conference; three students to present research

COLUMBUS, Miss. -- Three Mississippi University for Women history students will have an opportunity to present their undergraduate research at the Mississippi Historical Society 2012 Conference to be held on campus March 1-3.

Approximately 150 participants are expected to attend the conference that will be held in Parkinson Hall.

J. Matthew Ward of Amory, Jaleesa Fields of Aberdeen and Nichole Larson of Hesperia, Calif., were chosen to present their work based on papers they created in the Historical Methods and Capstone classes.

Ward, a senior at MUW, will discuss his topic “Her own sense of right’: Civil War Rhetoric and Southern Women.” This presentation focuses on how Confederate women practiced self-rhetoric during the Civil War by writing in their diaries.

Fields, also a senior at MUW, will present “Out from the Shadow: Integration at MSCW.” She interviewed Diane Hardy Thompson, one of the first three African-American women to attend the university, about her experiences at MUW.

“President Kennedy and Creating Public Support” will be presented by Larson, a sophomore. She will discuss Kennedy’s use of rhetoric to garner support for the Vietnam War from the American people.

Their presentations will take place on Saturday at 10 a.m. in Nissan Auditorium, Parkinson Hall.

“Having the Mississippi Historical Society’s annual conference on our campus is a wonderful opportunity for students,” said Dr. Erin Kempker, assistant professor of history in the MUW Department of History, Political Science and Geography. “All students, whether they are history majors or just casually interested in history, will have the chance to listen to and engage public and academic historians regarding diverse topics ranging from Mississippi Indian participation in the War of 1812 to the MUW’s role in women’s education. It is an event that should not be missed.”

The theme for the conference is the War of 1812, in celebration of the bicentennial this year. There will be a variety of sessions offered by a variety of academic and public historians.

Every year, the Mississippi Historical Society awards prizes for outstanding work in interpreting, teaching and preserving Mississippi history.