{"id":24781,"date":"2025-08-14T16:11:05","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T20:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?post_type=story&p=24781"},"modified":"2025-08-28T12:54:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T16:54:07","slug":"bringing-them-out-of-the-archives","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/08\/14\/bringing-them-out-of-the-archives\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Bringing them out of the archives\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Oral history project celebrates women\u2019s contributions to Clark<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Clark renamed its Higgins School for Humanities to the Alice Coonley Higgins Institute for Arts and Humanities<\/a> in 2024, History Professor Melinda Marchand<\/a>, Ph.D. \u201920, noticed that many current Clarkies were not familiar with the institute\u2019s namesake and her legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marchand, a historian of women in America who is passionate about public history, had been spending a lot of time in Clark\u2019s library and archives, poring through a wealth of campus history, and began imagining a project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had been realizing throughout my time at the archives that there are a lot of cool women who have contributed to Clark in some form, and I thought it would be great to celebrate them by bringing them out of the archives,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"student
Amelia Clark \u201926, a history and studio art major, is the research assistant for Women of Clark.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Marchand is creating a digital exhibit and oral history project that will catalog women\u2019s impact on the University. Amelia Clark \u201926, a history<\/a> and studio art<\/a> major, is serving as research assistant for the project, aptly titled \u201cWomen of Clark.\u201d The effort is supported by a seed grant from the Alice Coonley Higgins Institute for Arts and Humanities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Melinda Marchand told Amelia the project would be an oral history, the rising senior was thrilled. \u201cThat\u2019s a facet of public history that I think is so important because you\u2019re talking to the people who have lived these experiences and have perspectives on events you may have studied, but don\u2019t really know for yourself,\u201d she says. \u201cWorking on an oral history project specifically related to Clark University is so exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melinda and Amelia are in the beginning phase of the project and have been spending time in the University archives to gather knowledge about women who played vital roles in the college community \u2014 even before women were accepted into undergraduate programs. For example, there\u2019s the Hall Club, which started more than 100 years ago as a group of women who helped then-Clark President G. Stanley Hall on issues related to parenting and community. The club remains active today with an interest in discussing women\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike other women\u2019s clubs started in the late 1800s or early 1900s, it was a space for women to talk about things there might not otherwise be spaces for \u2014 at that point in time, there wasn\u2019t really a space for women in academia,\u201d Amelia says. \u201cG. Stanley Hall took a special interest in what they were doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers this summer are interviewing women who have been associated with Clark \u2014 alumni, former staff and administration, professors, athletes, and community members \u2014 to collect stories about how they contributed to the institution and how it has, in turn, shaped them. They\u2019ll collaborate with the Goddard Library, especially Cynthia Shenette, head of archives and special collections, and Catherine Stebbins, digital projects librarian, throughout the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"four
Shown in Goddard Library, from left: History Professor Melinda Marchand; Catherine Stebbins, digital projects librarian; Cynthia Shenette, head of archives and special collections; and Amelia Clark ’26.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The oral histories will be searchable and indexable, Melinda says, and the digital exhibit will be made with the software tool Omeka, standard for public history museums and archive collections. The digital exhibit will have an introductory page explaining high-level themes of the project, allowing viewers to navigate to pages that showcase detailed information within those themes and timelines of women\u2019s involvement at Clark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor example, in the \u201960s and \u201970s, a lot of women were involved in civil rights protests and anti-Vietnam protests, so we’ll probably have a page devoted to this era of activists,\u201d Melinda says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While some oral history projects focus on a single topic, Melinda and Amelia plan to collect full histories. \u201cWe want to build up to their arrival at Clark,\u201d Melinda says, \u201cand then ask them questions about their experiences here, building community with other women and\/or with men, and how much time they spent on campus versus getting out into the community. To what degree have people over the years taken advantage of Main South businesses? To what degree have people gotten out into the broader community?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collecting these robust histories, Amelia says, is \u201cexciting to me because we don’t know exactly what we might find that we\u2019ll be able to showcase in the exhibit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both professor and student feel motivated to work on this project because of the support of fellow Clarkies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’ve been at Clark since 2013, and I’ve always been surrounded by really brilliant, friendly, outgoing women,\u201d says Melinda, naming the late History Professor Amy Richter<\/a>, who was Melinda\u2019s dissertation advisor, as an inspirational mentor and friend. \u201cI feel like we don’t have enough time to celebrate the contributions of women to the livelihoods of our students, staff, and faculty. There are so many stories of women that are not told at Clark and elsewhere, and as a proponent for women’s history, it feels important to me to bring them to the surface.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amelia likewise has been inspired by her mentors and peers, particularly as a member of the women\u2019s rowing team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll the women I row with are just so amazing,\u201d she says. \u201cMy experience as a student has been transformational, and there are so many other people in the Clark community, so I would love to bring those voices to the surface.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pair envision Women of Clark as a living project that can be updated. They hope to complete their first set of oral history interviews by the end of summer, and information could be online to peruse during the fall semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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\"four<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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