Week 1 [5/27 - 5/30]

Welcome to my weekly blog post! Here, I'll briefly recap each week of the program, including my accomplishments, setbacks, learning, and a few words about my adventures in the area. This week was the first of the program. I arrived in Hattiesburg, got settled into my dorm, and spent the first few days connecting with my peers and preparing for the weeks ahead.

Accomplishments

The first few days were busy! Before anything else, though, I survived my longest solo trip so far, a 14-hour road trip down from Des Moines, although I stopped in St. Louis and West Memphis along the way. My main accomplishment this week was getting acclimated to the new environment and initializing my USM credentials. This is my first time in the South, and, needless to say, it's much different from the Midwest! I spent some time getting to know my peers through group dinners, board games, and exploring downtown Hattiesburg. On Friday, my cohort completed a challenge course at Lake Sehoy, which I feel helped bring us closer together.

Lake Sehoy, Hattiesburg, MS

Barriers to my best work

I'm slowly but surely adjusting my sleep schedule to fall asleep and wake up earlier. I missed most of our two group breakfasts because I slept in a bit longer than I had hoped. Thankfully, lectures don't start until 9, so I have a bit of time to work with. I spent most of this week's evenings with my peers, which delayed completion of my website. As far as my research project, I have a few preliminary ideas, but feel a bit overwhelmed by the quantity of letters and possible topics.

Things i learned

American history is not my area of expertise, so it was nice to get a brief overview and contextualization of Civil War and Reconstruction events. The next lecture, ethical considerations when researching enslaved and freedpeople, challenged traditional notions of race, racism, and the extent of slave ownership in the South. I appreciated Fields & Fields' definition of race as an ideology rather than a biological truth. Finally, I learned how to critically read and contextualize historical letters and primary sources with the understanding that primary sources are not always fact. Researching the individual people in these letters and corroborating their accounts can reveal their true sentiments and motivations.

Next Research steps

I plan to deep dive into the letters next week and narrow down my topic ideas to a few manageable choices. Some current topic interests are the expansion and schools and education during Reconstruction, Native American involvement, spatial analysis of disease and health, and the use of transportation, including railroads and rivers, during the time period.

A snippet of the South

Thursday marked my first foray into the downtown Hattiesburg area. A few of us checked out the Hattiesburg Farmers' Market, which occurs every Thursday from 3-7 in City Square Park, and even has live music! We were then charmed by the delightful miniature displays of the Hattiesburg Pocket Museum, tucked away in an alleyway. My favorite piece has to be The Monster Project, where local middle and high school students brought elementary school student's drawings to life with modeling clay! In my opinion, urban art does much for a city, and more places should promote local artists through these installations.

Hattiesburg Pocket Museum

Bug of the week

My time at Lake Sehoy was mainly spent looking for interesting insects and other animals within the woods, and I'm happy to say my endeavor was successful! I saw several new species on that trip, including this two-lined spittlebug! Their name comes from the foamy white substance which they use to build protective coverings on plants.

Two-lined spittlebug