(Carlisle, PA) Today, historian Matthew Pinsker is sharing public access to his “Student Hall of Fame,” a compilation of some of the best 150 student papers and projects that he has received in his classes over the last decade. Pinsker, the Pohanka Chair for Civil War History at Dickinson College and director of the House Divided Project, teaches all eras of US history. Projects cover topics such as history methods, US diplomatic history, US Constitutional history, oral histories about 20th-century America, and a wide variety of nineteenth-century themes such as slavery resistance, Civil War and Reconstruction. There are student-made websites, custom-built Google maps, video documentaries and various types of essays and research projects. Many teachers may want to assign these efforts in their own classes. Pinsker finds that often students are more engaged when learning from other students. He regularly assigns projects from his Student Hall of Fame in his syllabi as a way to inspire students to work harder on their own efforts.
Student Hall of Fame
The following nearly 200 examples of outstanding student work derive from some of the best submissions over the last decade to Prof. Pinsker’s Dickinson College classes (including undergraduate, online graduate and special summer high school seminars) and also from the hard-working summer interns at the House Divided Project.
NOTE: This post has been updated with new entries from Spring and Summer 2022.
History Methods Posts
- Fiona Clarke, Using Ancestry with Class of 1868 (Fall 2016)
- Fiona Clarke, College Archives and Class of 1868 (Fall 2016)
- Amanda Donoghue, Researching Indian School at CCHS (Fall 20216)
- Tom Forte, Researching Fifteenth Amendment at CCHS (Fall 2017)
- Sarah Goldberg, Researching Temperance Reform in Black Atlanta (2017-18)
- Colin Macfarlane, Researching Henry W. Spradley (Spring 2011)
- Leah Miller, A New Lincoln Letter (Spring 2012)
- Rachel Morgan, Johnson Family & Genealogical Research (Summer 2017)
- Samantha Reiersen, Class of 1862 and Ancestry (Fall 2016)
- Becca Solnit, Researching India Lobby During WWII (2011-12)
- Becca Stout, Dickinson’s janitors (Spring 2018)
- James van Kuilenburg, Researching Henry W. Spradley (Fall 2019)
- Cooper Wingert, Dickinson’s founders and slavery (Spring 2018)
- Cooper Wingert, Researching Fugitive Slave Law (2019-20)
Close Reading Posts
- Brendan Birth, Lincoln to Andrew Johnson, September 11, 1863 (Spring 2015)
- Mary Beth Donnelly, First Letter to Eliza Gurney (GRAD Summer 2013)
- Jacob Franciscus, John Cuddy’s Wartime Letters (Fall 2021)
- Jacob Heybey, Third Lincoln-Douglas Debate (Spring 2015)
- Colin Hofmann, Douglass’s Men of Color (1863) (Fall 2021)
- Jesse O’Neill, Letter to Eliza Browning (GRAD Summer 2014)
- Corrine Plunto, John Cuddy in 1863 (Fall 2021)
- Moyra Schauffler, Lincoln’s Response to Seward (Spring 2015)
- Jordan Schucker, Douglass’s Color Line (Fall 2021) ***FY Library Research Award***
- Ryan Schutte, Letter to Carl Schurz, 1862 (Spring 2015)
- Katri Thiele, Lincoln’s 1861 Fragment on Constitution (Spring 2015)
- Huy Trinh, Lincoln’s Second Inaugural (Fall 2021)
- Ellen Tuttle, Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation (Spring 2015)
- Megan VanGorder, Letter to Fanny McCullough (GRAD Summer 2014)
Document Videos
- Caroline Eagleton, Gettysburg Address (Summer 2022)
- Forbes, Phillis Wheatley poem (1773) (Summer 2022)
- Forbes, Frederick Douglass, Fifth of July speech (1852) (Summer 2022)
- Forbes, Frederick Douglass, Mission of the War (1864) (Summer 2022)
- Forbes, Frances Harper, We are all bound up together (1866) (Summer 2022)
- Forbes, Goodman, Perine & Schucker, Declaration of Sentiments (Summer 2022)
- Charlotte Goodman, Aristotle, Politics (350 BCE) (Summer 2022)
- Charlotte Goodman, Abigail Adams letter (1776) (Summer 2022)
- Charlotte Goodman, Equiano, Interesting Narrative (1789) (Summer 2022)
- Charlotte Goodman, Lincoln to George Robertson (1855) (Summer 2022)
- Charlotte Goodman, Dred Scott Case (1857) (Summer 2021)
- Charlotte Goodman with Prof. Wronski, House Divided speech (1858) (Summer 2022)
- Charlotte Goodman, WEB DuBois, Souls of Black Folk (1903) (Summer 2022)
- Jordyn Ney, Locke, Second Treatise (1689) (Summer 2022)
- Jordyn Ney, Sojourner Truth’s woman’s rights speech (1851) (Summer 2021)
- Jordyn Ney, Esther Popel’s “Flag Salute” (1934) (Summer 2021)
- Gracie Perine, Fugitive Slave Clause (1787) (Summer 2022)
- Gracie Perine, Frederick Douglass, Narrative (1845) (Summer 2022)
- Gracie Perine, Anna Dickinson, Perils (1864) (Summer 2022)
- Gracie Perine with Prof. Wronski, Lincoln, Blind Memorandum (1864) (Summer 2022)
- Gracie Perine, Douglass, Emancipation Memorial (1876) (Summer 2022)
- Nick Rickert, John Dickinson on slavery (1787) (Summer 2021)
- Jordan Schucker, Declaration of Independence (1776) (Summer 2022)
- Jordan Schucker, William Wells Brown, Clotel (1853) (Summer 2022)
- Jordan Schucker with Prof. Wronski, Lincoln’s Second Inaugural (1865) (Summer 2022)
- Jordan Schucker, Fourteenth Amendment (1868) (Summer 2022)
Essay Posts
- Sarah Aillon, James Buchanan & Suppression of Slave Trade (Spring 2019)
- Zach Kalman, Tracking Anti-Semitism (Fall 2014)
- Andrew Nissman, A Warning from the Past (Fall 2014)
- Moyra Schauffler, Fear in the Early Cold War (Fall 2014)
- Sam Weisman, Idealism in the Rosenberg Case (Fall 2014)
Election Day Posts
- 2020 Reflections (HIST 211), Election Day & Aftermath (Fall 2020)
- Trevor Diamond, Election of 1948 (Fall 2010)
- Leah Kaplan, 1932 Socialists and Election Fraud (Fall 2010)
- Leah Kaplan, Socialists and Students in 1936 (Fall 2010)
- Ben Lyman, Marcus Hanna in 1896 (Fall 2010)
- Ben Lyman, GI Ballots in 1944 (Fall 2010)
- Will Nelligan, 1905 Boston Mayor’s Race (Fall 2010)
- Will Nelligan, Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 (Fall 2010)
- Alex Poeton, Women Voters in 1912 (Fall 2010)
- Ryan Schutte, 1874 Elections in Eufaula (Fall 2016)
- Peter Wright, Election of 1884 (Fall 2010)
- Peter Wright, William Jennings Bryan in 1896 (Fall 2010)
Knowledge for Freedom seminar
Close reading essays
- Peter Hass, Lincoln, private letters on slavery (HS –Summer 2022)
- Parker Hayes, Wheatley, On Being Brought from Africa (HS –Summer 2022)
- Cameron Nye, Wheatley, On Being Brought from Africa (HS –Summer 2022)
- Cameron Nye, Flag Salute (1934) by Esther Popel (HS –Summer 2022)
- Jake Sokolofsky, Douglass Editorial (1861) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Jake Sokolofsky, MLK, Letter from Birmingham Jail (HS –Summer 2022)
- Etsub Taye, Declaration of Sentiments (1848) (HS –Summer 2021)
- Etsub Taye, Close Reading on Popel (HS –Summer 2022)
Audio document readings
- Chinue Kinsale, Gettysburg Address (1863) (HS –Summer 2021)
- Lea Quigley, Susan B. Anthony trial (1873) (HS –Summer 2021)
- Ajla Salkic, Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987) (HS –Summer 2021)
- Ava Yuninger, Douglass’s Fifth of July speech (1852) (HS –Summer 2021)
Video document readings
- Shereen Ahmad, John Adams letter (1776) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Shereen Ahmad, WEB DuBois, Souls of Black Folk (1903) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Amber Fienagha, Equiano’s Narrative (1789) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Amber Fienagha, Sojourner Truth, Woman’s Rights (1851) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Amber Fienagha, WEB DuBois, Souls of Black Folk (1903) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Sara Geleta, Sojourner Truth, Woman’s Rights (1851) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Sara Geleta, WEB DuBois, Souls of Black Folk (1903) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Parker Hayes, Lincoln’s Second Inaugural (1865) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Will Stover, Douglass, Emancipation Memorial (1876) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Ariana Suggs, Lincoln’s First Inaugural (1861) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Jonah Weaver, Declaration of Independence (1776) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Jonah Weaver, Blind Memorandum (1864) (HS –Summer 2022)
Website projects
- Jake Sokolofsky, On Ideology and Freedom (HS –Summer 2022)
- Etsub Taye, On Freedom (HS –Summer 2021)
Landmark Cases Posts
- Gina Gonsalez, In re Neagle (1890) (Fall 2010)
- Gina Gonsalez, McLaurin v. Oklahoma (1950) (Fall 2010)
- Nate Grefe, Sweatt v. Painter (1950) (Fall 2010)
- Abigail Hazen, The Prize Cases (1863) (Fall 2010)
- Viveka Jahn, Smith v. Allwright (1944) (Fall 2010)
- Elizabeth Kalaris, Williams v. Mississippi (1898) (Fall 2010)
- Allie Mansfield, Bailey v. Alabama (1908-10) (Fall 2010)
- Artie Phinney, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) (Fall 2010)
- Artie Phinney, Engel v. Vitale (1962) (Fall 2010)
- Jake Rainwater, Giles v. Harris (1903) (Fall 2010)
- Jake Rainwater, Gayle v. Browder (1956) (Fall 2010)
- Brandon Rothenberg, Luther v. Borden (1849) (Fall 2010)
- Brandon Rothenberg, Brown II (1955) (Fall 2010)
Mapping Posts
- Michael Abu, Panay Incident (Fall 2014)
- Lauren Benton, Mary Prince (Fall 2016)
- Michael Borsch, Susie King Taylor (Fall 2016)
- Tom Forte, Battle of Gettysburg (History 118, Fall 2016)
- George Gilbert, Good Neighbor Policy (Spring 2017)
- George Gilbert, William Parker (Fall 2017)
- Julianne Greco, Boxer Rebellion (Fall 2011)
- Imran Hasan, Coming of World War I (Spring 2016)
- Lauren Kennedy, Dollar Diplomacy (Spring 2019)
- Jack Lodge, Paul Jennings (Fall 2017)
- Aidan McDonald, Missionary Ridge (Spring 2016)
- Rachel Morgan, Harriet Jacobs (Fall 2017)
- Will Nelligan, 1842 Maine Boundary Brawl (Fall 2011)
- Moyra Schauffler, US Entry into World War II (Fall 2014)
- Anthony Scioscia, Cuban Missile Crisis (Fall 2014)
- Abigail Stasior, Elizabeth Keckly (Fall 2016)
- Maria Villotti, Josiah Henson (Fall 2017)
- Cooper Wingert, James Williams (Fall 2017)
Oral Histories
- Andrea Bisbjerg, Prof. Doug Stuart as Suspected Spy (Spring 2016)
- Henry Booth, War in Vietnam (Spring 2022)
- Christina Braxton, From the Navy to Black Panthers (Spring 2015)
- Ashlyn Buffum, Hurricanes in the 1950s (Spring 2017)
- Long Bui, 1968 Tet Offensive (Spring 2022)
- Isabel Burlingame, Vietnam Era Protests (Spring 2015)
- Sarah Cayouette-Gluckman, Women’s Movement (Spring 2022)
- Glenn Carr, 1993 World Trade Center Bombing (Spring 2015)
- Ryan Cohane, 1987 Wall Street Crash (Spring 2017)
- Logan Cort, The Farm (Spring 2021)
- Liam Donahue, Phil Shevlin and Baseball (Spring 2018)
- Killian Donohue, Watergate (Spring 2017)
- Sam Drabkin, Fighting AIDS in the late 1980s (Spring 2015)
- David Drawbaugh, Integration in Atlanta (Fall 2017)
- Patrick Dunn, Title IX and Paul Richards (Spring 2021)
- Matthew Ferry, Integration in Philadelphia (Spring 2015)
- Ryan Ford, Three Mile Island (Spring 2021)
- Jordan Forry, American Homefront during the Cold War (Spring 2015)
- Noah Frank, Vietnam Era Draft Lottery (Fall 2017)
- Rachel Glick, Civil Rights in Birmingham (Spring 2015)
- Alex Glonti, 1987 Wall Street Crash (Spring 2017)
- Sarah Goldberg, Anti-War Movement at Dickinson (Spring 2016)
- Charlotte Heroux, Marshall Plan in France (Spring 2015)
- Dane Huber, A Soldier in Vietnam (Fall 2017)
- John Jankowski, Student Protests in May 1970 (Spring 2022)
- Aidan Keillor, Saint Clair, PA in the 1950s (Spring 2022)
- Heidi Kim, 1992 LA Race Riots (Fall 2017)
- Patti Kotrady, Vietnam Campus Protests (Spring 2015)
- J. Miles Krein, Nuclear Freeze Movement (Spring 2022)
- Molly LaBelle, Oil Crisis of 1973 (Spring 2016)
- Kassidy Lesher, Poverty in the 1950s (Spring 2015)
- Jack Lodge, Vietnam Era Draft Lottery (Spring 2016)
- Andrew Long, Anti-Busing in Boston (Fall 2017)
- Charlie Luparello, 1987 Wall Street Crash (Fall 2017)
- Dalton Maltz, RFK Assassination and the late 1960s (Spring 2015)
- Dana Marecheau, Invasion of Grenada (Spring 2017)
- Abby Marthins, Everyday Life in WWII (Spring 2022)
- Caly McCarthy, 1968 Washington DC Race Riots (Spring 2015)
- Patrick Meier, Hydrogen Bomb (Spring 2015)
- Max Menkes, Baby Boomers (Fall 2017)
- Catie Nolan, Spying in Vietnam (Spring 2018)
- Kendal Packo, Hippie Counterculture (Spring 2015)
- Matt Pasquali, Remembering Kent State (Spring 2015)
- Cole Pellicano, An Auto Worker and the UAW (Fall 2017)
- Jake Pesko, Secret Bombing of Laos and Cambodia (Fall 2017)
- Nick Reese, 1967 Newark Race Riots (Spring 2017)
- Mitchell Snyder, Reagan Revolution (Spring 2018)
- Jessica Snydman, 1948 Berlin Crisis (Spring 2015)
- Amanda Sowah, Dickinson in the 1960s (Spring 2021)
- Troy Thornton, 1964 Rochester Race Riots (Spring 2016)
- Megan Triplett, A Housewife’s Balance (Spring 2022)
- Roberto Valentino, Cold War in Turkey (Fall 2017)
- Martin Vatanka, Iranian Hostage Crisis (Spring 2021)
- Sam Waltman, A Nurse’s Experience with the AIDS Epidemic (Spring 2018)
- Vincent Warzecha, Invasion of Grenada (Fall 2017)
- Sam Weisman, Remembering E.F. Schumacher (Spring 2017)
- Marcus Witherspoon, Korean War (Fall 2017)
- Kaileigh Wright, Title IX and Women’s Sports (Spring 2015)
- Olivia Zoratto, Vietnam Era Protests (Spring 2017)
Video Documentaries
- Amanda Donoghue, 1859 Doy Stampede (Summer 2019)
- David Gillespie, Do They Miss Me at Home? (Spring 2011)
- Sarah Goldberg, First Photograph of Dickinson (Summer 2016)
- Colin Macfarlane, Henry W. Spradley, Citizen (Spring 2011)
- Dana Marecheau / Cooper Wingert, 1854 St. Louis Stampedes (Spring 2020)
- Leah Miller, Lincoln’s Autobiographical Sketch (Summer 2014)
- Rachel Morgan, The Autograph Book, 1861 (Summer 2017)
- David Park, Lincoln-Douglas Debates (Summer 2009)
- Don Sailer, A Texas Farmer’s Civil War (Spring 2010)
- Don Sailer // Singers Divided, Lincoln & Liberty (Spring 2011)
- Don Sailer, From Carlisle to Andersonville (Spring 2011)
- Ryan Schutte, 1874 Eufaula Riot (Fall 2016)
- Sam Weisman, Journeys of Moncure Conway (Summer 2017)
Research Papers
- Hillary Kativa, Carter’s Playboy Interview in the 1976 Election (Spring 2005)
- Brian Krussell, Bound by the Numbers: Robert McNamara (Fall 2009)
- Aidan McDonald, Amos T. Ackerman and Reconstruction (Spring 2016)
- Moyra Schauffler, Madeleine Albright Profile (Fall 2014)
- Becca Solnit, Adlai Stevenson at the UN (Fall 2009)
Website Projects
- Sarah Aillon, Allen Dulles (Spring 2019)
- Taylor Bye, Daniel Anthony of Kansas (Spring 2012)
- Jacob Doherty Munro, 1921 Washington Naval Conference (Fall 2020)
- Matthew Flores, Al Haig (Spring 2022)
- Forbes, Goodman, Perine & Schucker, The Path to Justice (Summer 2022)
- A. Forbes, Stanzas and Speeches: Frances E.W. Harper (Fall 2021)
- Tom Forte, WWI: Fiery Baptism at Little Gibraltar (Spring 2018)
- Tom Forte, July 30, 1864 (Spring 2020)
- Charlotte Goodman, Henry Wallace (Fall 2020)
- Charlotte Goodman, Roads to Freedom & Equality (Summer 2021)
- Matthew Guariglia, Visions of Red: FBI Blog (Spring 2012)
- Morgan Yandow Harding, Clark Clifford (Spring 2022)
- China Harvey, Race for the White House: 1864 (GRAD Summer 2016)
- Julie Haueisen, Poetry of Lincoln (GRAD Summer 2016)
- Luke Heilmann, McClellan and 1864 Election (Fall 2021)
- Aidan Huntington, Trent Affair 1861 (Fall 2020)
- Joshua Jeong, Dean Acheson (Fall 2020)
- Jacob Kaufhold, Allen Dulles (Fall 2020)
- Daniel Kline, Francis Lieber (Fall 2021)
- George Ladner, Operation Eagle Claw (1980) (Spring 2021)
- Maddie Littlepage, Paul Nitze (Fall 2020)
- Sam Lorenzo, WWII: Battle of Peleliu (Spring 2018)
- Carlos Marroquin, Meuse-Argonne Offensive (Spring 2021)
- Kaileigh McNellis, Civil War Photography (Spring 2020)
- Rachel Morgan, Civil War: Mary Dillon’s Carlisle (Summer 2017)
- Rachel Morgan, Benjamin Rush: Ties to Slavery (Fall 2017)
- Rachel Morgan, WWII: Operation Husky (Spring 2018)
- Jordyn Ney, Furman v. Georgia (Spring 2020)
- Jordyn Ney, Fight for Freedom (Summer 2021)
- Jesse O’Neill, Lincoln’s Wit (GRAD Summer 2014)
- Naomi Familia Paredes, Robert Scherrer (Spring 2022)
- Gracie Perine, Anna Dickinson (Fall 2021)
- Nadia Shahab Diaz, Wild Bill Donovan (Fall 2020)
- Aidan Sichel, Election of 1960 (Fall 2020)
- Duncan Spilsbury, Election of 1876 (Fall 2020)
- Becca Stout, Thomas Cooper & Slavery (Fall 2017)
- Maeve Thistle, John Taylor Cuddy (Fall 2019) ***FY Library Research Award***
- Megan VanGorder, Lincoln’s Bloomington (GRAD Summer 2014)
- Maria Villotti, Vietnam: My Lai Massacre (Spring 2018)
- Cooper Wingert, Richard McAllister: Fugitive Slave Commissioner (Fall 2017)
- Calvin Wirfel, Bobby Seale and the Anti-War Movement (Spring 2021)
Honors Projects
- Sarah Goldberg, Temperance Reform in Black Atlanta (2017-18)
- Patrick Kelly, Carlisle Awakened (2008-09)
- Matthew Sheehan, National Jurisprudence During Civil War (2004-5)
- Don Sailer, Piedmont Unionists (2007-08)
- Becca Solnit, The Forgotten Lobby: Advocates for India in WWII (2009-10)
- Becca Stout, James Miller McKim and the Abolitionists’ Civil War (2018-19)
- Cooper Wingert, 1850 Fugitive Slave Law (2019-20)
Leave a Reply