Official newsletter Of KutztOwn university’s histOry dept.
ABOUT TIME
Fall 2013
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the
Battle of Gettysburg and the end of my 10th year here at KU.
When I came here Allida McKinley was outgoing Chair. Michael
Gabriel was incoming Chair. The redoubtable Judy Groff was firmly in
charge of the office. Dave Valuska roamed the halls like he owned the place. Jerry Innocenti
was a quiet, priestly presence. Bob Blackson and Gordie Goldberg had recently retired, but
remained in the form of student legend.
As I recall, Mike Gabriel called to set up my on-campus interview. He reached me at my son
Sam’s second birthday party in December of 2001. In the nature of academic job searches, I’d
applied in August and by December had come to accept that I simply wasn’t in the running.
The interview itself took place in the History Department’s conference room jammed with
people. Years later, I heard that the hiring decision came down to two of us, and the matter
was decided when a senior faculty member said, judiciously, “Well, Arnold seems like a nice
boy.”
Much has changed since my first semester here. Many of the faculty members who were here
when I began have since retired. My student teaching evaluations were awful that first semester. They improved. We had no overhead projectors or computers in classrooms in those
years, and now we have them in every classroom. Even our non-dress code has changed.
Using almost exactly the same words, two faculty members volunteered the same basic message to me “There’s no dress code here. As long as you wear a jacket or a tie – preferably both
– you’ll be fine.”
Since 2002 we’ve added 5 tenure track professors, including Doug Lea on Europe and Russia,
Chris Saidi on Africa, and Rob Reynolds who focuses on both the Pennsylvania Dutch landscape and the early 20th century built environment. Eric Johnson has joined us to teach about
France and England, and is developing a course on Ancient Europe as well. John Stanley offers courses on Asian history.
There’s much that has stayed the same about the History department since 2002 as well. Many
of the history professors who greeted me when I arrived are still here. We continue to be a
community of active scholars, leaders on campus and off, and committed teachers. To name a
few recent accomplishments: Mike Gambone recently received a contract from Cambridge
University press for his fifth book. He’s been granted a full year’s sabbatical leave in 20142015 to work on it. (Our display case of faculty publications is filling up nicely.) John Stanley
was recently an invited speaker at a major conference in Hong Kong. In terms of leadership off
campus, Eric Johnson is running for the Kutztown School Board this year.
The KU History department is special. I feel intensely proud to have been elected chair.
Do you have a job that is history related? Do you have an occupation not directly related to
history? Did your degree help you remain marketable and competitive? Did the skills and experiences you gained as a KU History major help you in your career path? We want to hear
from you! Contact us on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ku.hist.dept or email us at
manmille@kutztown.edu.
Stop by
and see our new
commemorative
plaques for the
Department’s award
and scholarship
winners in the Lytle
hallway near rooms
108 and 109.
2013 Histor y Award Winners
Bright and Lucille Beck Award for American History:
Elizabeth Ambrose, Brian Daily, and Brittaney Eshbach
Esther Willits Scholarship
Rebecca Van Horn
Anthony J. Mazzaferri Award:
Shawn Devaney
Certificates for Outstanding Achievement in History:
Michael Metz, Alan Schulze, Brooke Schwoyer,
Hannah Seiple, Samantha Wagenhurst
Martin Luther King Award:
(This award is voted on and given by the History Club.)
Mazzaferri Scholarship
Guy Sechrist
Brian Daily
History Honor Society Inducts
New Members
Holocaust Speaker
On April 24, 2013, Kutztown History Department’s Phi Alpha Theta Chapter, Mu Xi, inducted twenty
nine exceptional students. They were recognized by faculty and family during an afternoon celebration.
There they received a membership certificate and were presented with a red honor society sash which
they wore at graduation. The inductees are: Dylan Bordell, John Burgermeister, Alexander Burkett,
Patrick Crowley, Sarah Danishefsky, Nick Davrados, Brittaney Eshbach, Elizabeth Fisher, Dustin Ger-
Dr. Geoff Megargee, Senior
lach, Danielle Hemler, Andrew Hinrichs, Elizabeth Hopkins, Moira Jefferson, Sheila Joy, Ashley Kellar,
Applied Research Scholar, Cen-
Matthew Lapalombara, Kelly McManus, Brian Miller, Zeke Montgomery, Allison Oates, Stephen
ter for Advanced
Pugliese, Tyler Ritter Butz, Guy Sechrist, Kristin Shirey, Michael Van Brunt, Rebecca Van Horn, Erin
Studies, United States Holo-
Wassum, Jennifer Webb, and
caust Memorial Museum in
Andrew White.
Washington, D.C. was our guest
Holocaust
speaker on September 10,
*Not all new
members are
shown in photo.
2013. Dr. Megargee spoke on
“The Universe of Nazi Camps
and Ghettos.”
History Students Recognized
at Chambliss Awards
Last year History majors presented 17 papers at
scholarly undergraduate conferences. History Club
advisor Dr. Chris Saidi deserves much credit for leading
this charge. This year we will build on our successes.
Our majors are making us look good!!
Brian Daily's paper entitled, “Just a Way of Life: a
Revision of Child Labor in Pennsylvania Coal
Mining” was a winning paper at the Phi Alpha
Theta 2013 Regional Conference held at
Bloomsburg University on 4/13/13. Brian was a
Secondary Education Social Studies student, a
member of Phi Alpha Theta (History’s Honor
Society) and parliamentarian of the History club.
Brian graduated in May and hopes to secure a
teaching position.
Brian Daily ‘13
History Day Victories
This year I hope that more KU history
students will get involved with area schools in the
National History Day competition. History majors
Amy Summer and Caroline Wasser helped lead
Kutztown Middle School and Kutztown High School
to first place wins in the National History Day
competition with projects on the Tet Offensive
during the Viet Nam War, and the Lewis & Clark
expedition.
Just to be clear: this means that with the
assistance of KU students, Kutztown’s small school
district beat out the largest, wealthiest, most
prestigious school districts in all fifty states. Their
museum quality work was put on display at the
Capital rotunda in Washington, D.C. —Dr. Arnold
In April, Kutztown
University bestowed
one of its most important recognitions
of student achievement in scholarship,
the Chambliss Academic Achievement
Award. Supported by
a grant from Professor emeritus Dr. Carlson R. Chambliss, the
award recognizes student academic excellence. Two history
students were nominated and selected for
Copper Medals.
Sarah Ford ’13 graduated with a degree in
both history and psychology. She received
the Copper Chambliss
Academic Achievement Award for her
research project and
outstanding service to
the KU community.
Sarah researched the
history of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among
American soldiers.
She works with soldiers who suffer from
PTSD at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Pittsburgh.
Sarah is a member of
Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society
and served as vice
president of the History Club.
Shawn Devaney
graduated with a
tory degree and
ceived his award
’13
hisrefor
his outstanding original research. His paper, “Montgomery to
Richmond,” examined
the Confederate States
of America’s decision
to relocate its capital
from Alabama to Virginia in May 1861.
Shawn was accepted
to Gettysburg College’s ‘Gettysburg Semester’ in fall 2012
and obtained an internship at the Gettysburg National Military
Park Library. He is a
past recipient of the
Esther Willits History
Scholarship and is a
member of Phi Alpha
Theta History Honor
Society. Shawn has
received a full tuition
assistantship for his
master’s degree in
History at Texas
Christian University.
Sarah Ford ‘13
Shawn Devaney ‘13
History
department
Get the Latest News on the Department
Website:
Andrew B. Arnold,
Chair
Anne Manmiller, Secretary
Lytle 115
http://www.kutztown.edu/acad/history/
Tel: 610-683-4385
Fax: 610-683-4047
arnold@kutztown.edu
manmille@kutztown.edu
Like us on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/ku.hist.dept
Alumni are encouraged to
send us their recent
accomplishments for
future newsletters and to
please keep us posted with
address changes or email
addresses to
manmille@kutztown.edu
About Time Newsletter
Kutztown University
History Department
PO Box 730—LY 115
Kutztown, PA 19530-0730