“Her ‘Theory of History’ class, taught by Assistant Professor Julia Irwin, brought [USF senior Simone] Sanders to Special Collections in the first place. When she saw original sheet music and posters featuring minstrel stars of the past, Sanders asked, ‘What are you going to do with all this?’”
Minstrelsy’s Many Faces
“The answer: [librarian Andy] Huse was in the early stages of planning an exhibition. She asked if she could help. The timing was perfect. Sanders was able to set up an independent study project for herself and the two began a very collaborative endeavor.”
“Huse was struck by Sanders’ work ethic. ‘I never had to nudge her like you often have to do with students. I was impressed with what she did and it was a privilege to work with her,’ he said.”
“There was plenty to tackle.”
“‘It was a process of discovery for both of us. We were connecting dots, discussing, debating and arguing, constantly sending files back and forth,’ Huse said.”
“While Huse provided the overall historical framework and the starting and stopping points for the exhibit, Sanders was free to follow wherever the documents led.”
“Thankful to Andy, who she says ‘encouraged me to be curious,’ Sanders discovered a calling. She spent part of her summer in Louisiana researching the history of two plantations via a Federal Cultural Resource Diversity Internship through the Student Conservation Association – a National Park Service project researching the lives of enslaved people.”
For the full article, visit: http://bit.ly/RdjjSI.
For more information and to view the exhibit, visit: http://exhibits.lib.usf.edu/exhibits/show/minstrelsy/.
No comments yet.