Public History

Dr. G. Samantha Rosenthal, along with students in the Introduction to Public History class, spent weeks digitizing newspaper clippings detailing the history of desegregation, racism and the overall racial history of the city of Salem. It was a unique way to explore such a charged topic.

"As their professor, I'm very impressed that they've developed such an understanding of local history and such a compassionate understanding of the diversity of people's experience over time," Rosenthal said. "We could have just as easily read a bunch of books and sat around the class, but I do think this kind of public engagement is what an education should look like."

“My research really opened up my eyes to the opportunities for heritage tourism," said Kathleen Ouyang ’13, a Fulbright Scholar.

Kim Eslinger '98 entered Roanoke College with the intention of becoming a doctor. At the end of her freshman year, after taking an honors class, Turning Points, Eslinger decided she wanted to pursue history. By the end of her junior year, she announced her decision to study shipwrecks.

After graduating from Roanoke, she pursued a career in marine archaeology. Eslinger's fieldwork includes the Queen Anne's Revenge (Blackbeard's flagship), USS Monitor and SS Commodore projects. Each project employed Eslinger's skills in various manners, with her primary work being conducted in the laboratory. 

"My degree in history from Roanoke College taught me the importance of untold stories, but my minor in theatre arts gave me an appreciation for the people themselves," Eslinger said. "Archaeology is much like that; it takes the historical record and uses it as a guide. I use the scraps people have lost over their lives and use them to fill out the picture of who they really were."