I’ve combined my experience as a photographer and skills as a historian to tackle a contentious issue: what should be done about weddings at former slave labor camps? Check out my lastest for
@ncph
!
I’m pleased to announce that I’ve rejected Harvard’s rejection into the History PhD program. While I reviewed their kind words carefully, I simply cannot accept their non-offer and look forward to being in Cambridge this Fall.
December 26, 2022 is the 160th Anniversary of the largest mass execution in U.S. history. May we remember the 38 Dakota men hanged as an outcome of American expansion and empire. Below I will list their names in remembrance. After, you will find resources to learn more.
#Dakota38
Me: for Christmas I want a dragon
Santa: be realistic
Me: okay I want Neo-Confederates to stop perpetuating the Lost Cause mythology
Santa: what color dragon do you want
Today, the 159th Anniversary of the largest mass execution in United States history, we mourn and remember the Dakota 38. May we remember these Dakota men hanged as an outcome of American expansion and empire. Below I will list their names in remembrance.
#dakota38
Someone just told me to "tone down the history major thing" with a group of friends, who Civil War reenact, if I want to fit back in. Apparently addressing the Civil War's tough questions is not acceptable to those who actively participate in public engagement + teaching the war.
158 years ago, thirty-eight Dakota men prepared for their death in Mankato, Minnesota. Remember their names.
#dakota38
1. Ta-he-do-ne-cha, (One who forbids his house.)
2. Plan-doo-ta, (Red Otter.)
3. Wy-a-tah-ta-wa, (His People.)
I was “today years old” when I learned that all iPhones have a built in PDF Scanner. Hold your thumb on the “Notes” app, select scan document, and voila!
I passed my comps!! Most people get to post their piles of book. I read most of mine digitally over the course of the pandemic, so here’s a print with all of the books! Onward to the dissertation!
BREAKING: Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is being guarded by U.S. Marshals after she received a suspicious package containing a history textbook.
It's with great pleasure to announce that I've formally accepted George Mason(
@HistArthGMU
)'s offer into the History Ph.D. program. I cannot wait to be in Fairfax this fall!
Every year, Dakota people ride from South Dakota to Mankato, Minnesota, to remember their relatives. They arrive today to honor the Dakota 38. Every September, too, the Dakota host the Mahkato Wacipi to honor the Dakota 38 men and others lost in the Dakota War and its aftermath.
I passed my defense with no revisions! What a wonderful experience. It went so well and I have much to think about as I turn my dissertation into a book. Thanks to my advisor, Joe Genetin-Pilawa, and committee for the guidance over the last few years!
@JimmySkuya
December 26, 2018 is the 156th Anniversary of the largest mass execution in United States history. May we remember the thirty eight Dakota men hanged as an outcome of American expansion and empire. Below I will list their names in remembrance. Lest we forget.
Exciting news! The creator of The Oregon Trail, Don Rawitsch, has agreed to chat with me about my chapter that recognizes the absence of Indigenous communities. He seems receptive to my argument + wants to talk about educational standards of the 1970s that led to the OT.
For my oral comps exam prep, I transformed this notebook into a complete guide to each book for 18, 19, and 20C lists. Every book gets one page + I write about the argument/significance. Started this in Dec and am finally finished writing on all major field books.
#roadtoABD
Some major news! Last night, near the banks of the Mississippi River, I proposed to
@jen_andrella
. She enthusiastically said yes and we’re engaged! We’re so excited about our future together.
#twitterstorianlovestory
Before we list the names, may we remember the Dakota people that also faced confinement, removal, harassment, and violence before, during, and after the Dakota War. An important part of understanding U.S. History that's almost always elided in textbooks and public memory.
Academic Twitter can be a weird place. One moment, you see a tweet from someone moving laterally from one R1 to another R1 TT job. The next, you see a fully capable and brilliant historian having to leave academia because they cannot find employment.
Despite all of this, let us remember that the Dakota people survived. Despite efforts by white Americans in the nineteenth century to erase them or hide them away, the Dakota people (of all different communities) resisted, survived, and persisted.
It's with great honor to announce that the Western History Association (
@WhaHistory
) selected me as one of the Graduate Student Prize winners this year. I cannot wait to be in Las Vegas this October to share my work, network with other scholars, and meet the other prize winners.
I’m thrilled to announce that my thesis, “Unforgetting the Dakota 38: Settler Colonialism, Indigneous Resurgence, + the Competing Narratives of the US-Dakota War, 1862-2012,” has been awarded the William Preston Society Outstanding Thesis Award at
@virginia_tech
!
I’m pleased to share that the American Philosophical Society (
@AmPhilSociety
) has awarded me the Phillips Fund for Native American Research Grant! This fund will support dissertation research to Manitoba as well as to Yale’s Beinecke Library.
I’m pleased to share that George Mason’s Office of the Provost has awarded me a Doctoral Research Scholarship for the 2022-2023 academic year. This award covers credits as I live away from Fairfax, VA to research and write my dissertation.
I am pleased to announce that the Dept. of History at Virginia Tech has awarded me the Award for Excellence in Public History Practice.
I'm incredibly honored that my hard work continues to be recognized by the University.
Photo at
@ACWMuseum
at our exhibit "Enacting Freedom"
Today's been a mix of emotions. While I was rejected from a PhD program this morning, I heard that
@VT_LiberalArts
awarded me the Most Outstanding MA Student Prize for the entire College of Liberal Arts + Human Sciences.
I am thankful + proud that all my hard work has paid off.
Grad students should not be forced to work under the same reimbursement processes as tenured profs. My entire summer thesis research trip was funded through wedding photography, not from immediate funds promised through the university—money received weeks into fall semester.
Universities should not take months to reimburse graduate students for their conference expenditure.
Even if it is a small amount for the university, it is not so for the students.
#phdchat
#phdlife
@AcademicChatter
Also, take a listen to "Little War on the Prairie," from
@ThisAmerLife
, that includes Gwen Westerman's telling of the U.S.-Dakota War and her own family's connection to it and its legacy.
I've been nominated by Virginia Tech's Department of History as the Most Outstanding MA student in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. I am extremely proud of myself + grateful that all of my hard work has been recognized by my professors and the university.
This execution was not the end of the Dakota War, despite what white Minnesotans believed. The war continued for three more years as the U.S. Army pursued Dakota, moving west into Dakota Territory and north into Canada.
Some important books to read by Dakota scholars:
Gwen Westerman and Bruce White, Mni Sota Makoce: The Land of the Dakota
Waziyatawin, In the Footsteps of Our Ancestors
Keep an eye out for
@JimmySkuya
's scholarship. Follow him and pay attention to his work.
19. Harry Milord, (mixed ancestry.)
20. Chas-kay-dau, (First born of a son.)
21. Baptiste Campbell, _____.
22. Ta-ta-ka-gay, (Wind Maker.)
23. Hay-pin-kpa, (The Tips of the Horn.)
24. Hypolite Auge, (mixed ancestry)
25. Ka-pay-shue, (One who does not Flee.)
13. Shoon-ka-ska, (White Dog.)
14. Toon-kau-e-cha-tag-ma-ne, (One who walks by his Grandfather.)
15. E-tay-doo-tay, (Red Face.)
16. Am-da-cha, (Broken to Pieces.)
17. Hay-pe-pau, (Third child of a son.)
18. Mah-pe-o-ke-na-jui, (Who stands on the Clouds.)
At long last a manuscript has been accepted with revisions for a peer-reviewed journal. I’ll spend the next few months changing things up, addressing questions raised by the editor. This is a major milestone and motivates me even more that it’s before I enter a PhD program.
26. Wa-kau-tau-ka, (Great Spirit.)
27. Toon-kau-ko-yag-e-na-jui, (One who stands clothed with his Grandfather.)
28. Wa-ka-ta-e-na-jui, (One who stands on the earth.)
29. Pa-za-koo-tay-ma-ne, (One who walks prepared to shoot.)
35. Chau-ka-hda, (Near the Wood.)
36 Hda-hin-hday, (To make a rattling voice.)
37. O-ya-tay-a-kee, (The Coming People.)
38. Ma-hoo-way-ma, (He comes for me.)
39. Wa-kin-yan-wa, (Little Thunder.)
A thirty-ninth Dakota man was reprieved at the last moment before the execution. But many other Dakota entered periods of confinement in US Army prison camps in Minnesota and other places throughout the Midwest, like Davenport, Iowa.
Everything’s official! I’m now a PhD Candidate, also known as ABD — all but dissertation! Now I can’t wait for
@jen_andrella
’s dad to crack jokes about me not knowing my ABCs with this much education.
I’m thrilled to share great news! I’ve been awarded the inaugural research grant by the Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era! This award and recognition of my research truly means so much to me. I’m very thankful!
Cc:
@HistArthGMU
@GeorgeMasonCHSS
Do you have any fond memories of playing The Oregon Trail as a child? Any memorable anecdotes that you might be willing to share? Let me know as I am working on a chapter for an edited collection on Civil War era video games.
I will call you “Dr. so and so” until you tell me not to. I have professors who end their emails with their first names, and because they haven’t told me to call them differently, I still call them “Dr.”
I am no longer affiliated with my PhD institution. I do not have access to letterhead for my fall teaching opportunity. What do I use for letterhead when writing cover letters?
My mom gave me such a wonderful graduation present. These pens are constructed with wood collected years ago at land my parents owned in northern Michigan. It survived many years at our home in Hartland, MI + the move to Macon, GA in 2012.
It’s
#ConfederateMemorialDay
in Alabama today. Here’s a picture of the 20th Maine swiftly overwhelming the 15th Alabama at Little Round Top. The courage of the Union to defeat the charging Confederates forced Lee to fight again, leading to the humiliation of Pickett’s Charge.
A message to those starting PhDs this year: I’ve learned that people complete various tasks of their PhD at different speeds. It’s really okay if it takes you longer or quicker compared to others in your program. Some people make it out to be a competition when it’s not.
The experience at reservations, soon after this forced removal, was not good either. At various reservations, the Dakota faced starvation, mistreatment, and sickness due to mismanagement by the Office of Indian Affairs and the U.S. government.
Sometimes my photography work has an emotional side. Yesterday I photographed a friend’s dog, who had been diagnosed with cancer + given a week to live. I took photos at 12p yesterday, + by 5 they had to put him down. I’m so glad I captured these photos for them to always cherish
Dissertation submitted to the committee. They are going to take the next week to determine if we can schedule a defense for March. What a euphoric feeling!
I hope to have a piece out about this anniversary soon. Keep an eye out. But in this moment, remember these Dakota names and reflect on America’s dark relationship with settler colonialism.
Is your child texting about the War of 1812?
LMAO - loyalist militia attacking ohio
WTF - warn the federalists
SMH - send more horses
GTG - garrison troops guarding
FML - fort mackinac liberated
BBW - british burning washington
Thanks to the Harvard tweet, I’ve gained over 500 new followers! Just a quick introduction about me and my work. I’m finishing my MA this semester at VT, with a Public History cert. I study one of the most contentious moments in US history, and plan to continue that into the PhD.
I’ve always been interested in
@GhostAdventures
. Today I watched Zak Bagans new documentary “Demon House,” and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Very intense and an interesting story of a afflicted house in Gary, Indiana! Say what you want about the show but I find it entertaining!
Archivists are great people. I contacted the University of South Dakota for an oral history in their collection. The guy then sent me a spreadsheet with over 40 other oral histories that all talk about the Dakota War!
Folks, I’ve submitted the second draft of my thesis to my committee. They will “decide if the thesis is defendable.” I’d like to believe that it’s in great shape, as there were no major issues (only small tweaks) in the last draft.
Also, we’ve agreed on the new title!
Academia hack: if you’re in a situation that you want to get out of, simply say you have a meeting. That meeting could be going to a coffeehouse to write or going to binge watch The Office for 5 hours. No one will ever know.
I’m thrilled to share that one of my photos taken at Gettysburg will be on the cover of a forthcoming book by
@niels_eichhorn
and Duncan Campbell! I snapped this photo of the Pennsylvania Monument in 2022.
The Minnesota Historical Society has a great digital platform that offers the basic history of the Dakota War. While it needs some updating and additions, it's a good starting point. I highly recommend looking at the Dakota oral histories.
I've submitted my final formatted dissertation to ProQuest and received great news that my regalia will be delivered tomorrow (so, no longer stressed out about that)! All that's left to do is approve proofs + copyedit a few articles for the J of Social History. Almost
#PhDone
!