Research Week

This last week we spent almost entirely with Will Walker, the history professor on our staff. He teaches Research and Fieldwork to all of the first years, and we also have the option of taking his American Cultures course. We spent the majority of our time getting acquainted with those resources that will be available to us. Because our building is under construction, we are currently being housed in the New York State Historical Association (or, NYSHA), specifically in their library. We are also in close proximity to the Feminore Art Museum (http://fenimoreartmuseum.blogspot.com/) and the Farmer's Museum (http://thefarmersmuseum.blogspot.com/), both of which are right next door.We are are also affiliated with the Oneonta campus, and have an in with another nearby university. This means that we have access to a tremendous amount of resources. We were introduced to the variety of collections stored in the Library, which includes letters written and signed between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. I actually got to touch them!! We also have an extensive photography and Native American collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, as well as an amazingly diverse collection between Fenimore and the Farmers museum stored off site in a converted stable. There they have a collection of everything from quilts and clothing to presidential life masks. I'm so excited to get the chance to explore the material culture side of things; that starts next week with my material cultures class.

Though we did set aside our research on Wednesday to get a quick introduciton to the subject with our prof, but the primary purpose was, in fact, research. To check that we were absorbing the information we were being given, we were issued "Research Challenges". Our first task, the prison assignment I described in an earlier post, went pretty well. We also were given an assigment, as I briefly described earlier, in which we were supposed to choose a historic marker and research the event which it describes. The marker that Mandy and I had was about the Cherry Valley "Masacre", an attack by the British and Native American troops.

Well, I'll try to write more later, but we're having a "Last Chance to Wear White" party, and there's still work to do before people come over!