What Our Alumni Say

Heather Erskine Kajic, Registrar, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.:

I was attracted to the University of South Carolina's Public History Program for several reasons. As a person who wanted to work in history museums, I was intrigued by the Public History Program's course of study, which emphasized a solid foundation in both historical research and museum theory. Moreover, hoping to obtain practical skills in a museum setting while attending graduate school, I was impressed that the faculty of the program developed and maintained professional relationships with various cultural institutions throughout the city of Columbia. Finally, desiring to attend a graduate program with a diverse student population, I discovered that the program's faculty was dedicated to recruiting students with various backgrounds and experiences from across the United States.

Once enrolled in the program, I found that the courses not only challenged my understanding of the museum profession but further enhanced my skills in conducting historical research. In addition to stimulating coursework, I was able with the faculty's assistance to secure a graduate assistantship at the university’s McKissick Museum. For two years I worked as an assistant registrar in the museum's collections department, gaining "hands-on" skills in both registration methods and collections management. My time spent at McKissick Museum was not only rewarding on a professional level but on a personal level as well, for I developed several important friendships with both staff members and students. In fact, those friendships have continued to grow despite the fact that many of us have left Columbia to pursue various career goals in the field of public history. By choosing the University of South Carolina's Public History Program, I received a stimulating education and developed the necessary knowledge and skills to successfully enter the museum profession.

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Rita F. Wallace, Historian/Archivist, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit:

The main reason that I choose the University of South Carolina for my graduate degree was the joint program with the Library and Information Science program. After visiting Columbia the summer before graduating from college, I realized that USC and Columbia were perfect for me. The cost of living and the people made me feel like I was at home. Another reason was the availability of opportunities for working in my field of study. Graduate assistantships, internships, and employment were readily available. I arrived a couple of months before fall semester began and quickly found a job at the South Caroliniana Library and an assistantship at the USC Law Library, which provided me with a tuition reduction. That experience coupled with a later assistantship at the USC documentary editing project, The Papers of Henry Laurens, would later prove to be the deciding factor in my employment as the Court Historian/Archivist at the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, Ohio. I've been with the Sixth Circuit Library for a long time now, and look back on my years at the University of South Carolina as the pathway to this great career.

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Daniel Vivian, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.:

The University of South Carolina Public History program gave me the training and experience I needed to begin a career in historic preservation. Compared to the other graduate programs I considered, USC offered a better balance of traditional training in academic history and hands-on experience with preservation projects. The network of public history institutions in Columbia and throughout South Carolina provided plenty of opportunities for students to get "real world" work experience. In all, the Public History program gave me more than just the skills I needed to work in preservation – it taught me how to be a better historian and to think like a public history professional as well. Without question, it was the best combination of experience I could have asked for.

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Carrie E. Taylor, Collections Manager, Monticello:

The Public History Program at the University of South Carolina provided me with a great foundation to start my career as a museum professional. Because half of the degree course work consists of traditional academic history courses, it equipped me with the critical thinking, research, and writing skills essential in any scholarly position whether it is in a traditional academic or museum setting.

Additionally, I found one of the most beneficial aspects of the program was the numerous assistantship and intern opportunities both on and off campus. My experience as an assistant registrar at USC’s McKissick Museum provided real-life opportunities to put into practice the principles I learned in the classroom. Likewise, my daily museum work greatly influenced my perspective on my public history coursework, internship projects, and masters thesis.

The University of South Carolina’s Public History Program is an established leader in the field. I am proud to associate myself with such an accomplished group of alumni working to preserve, collect, and interpret our nation’s cultural heritage.

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Kim Dillon, Natural Resource Manager, Missouri State Parks:

One of the best things about being a museums student at USC is the wide variety of experiences one can have. I found it especially appealing that assistantship and internship opportunities would allow me to pursue whatever aspect of the field I wished to explore. My “hands-on” experiences were quite diverse, including collections management, volunteer administration, and writing an interpretive and furnishing plan for a historic house in Maryland.

It goes without saying that solid academic grounding in both “traditional” and public history have been invaluable as my career has progressed. Though I planned to pursue work in museums, my varied background prepared me for my current position in cultural resource management. At the Missouri Division of State Parks, I work with a small archive, historic structures, museum collections, archaeology, and a multitude of unanticipated cultural resource issues.

Equally important is the support all USC Public History students and alumni receive from the Public History Program faculty. Bob Weyeneth and Connie Schulz are great to work with and are wonderful advocates for their students and graduates. Their belief in the program and its students drive the success of Public History at USC.

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Al Hester, Historic Sites Coordinator, South Carolina State Park Service:

I decided to attend the University of South Carolina Public History Program for several practical reasons. The University was able to offer excellent financial help in the form of an assistantship, and the program had a well-established reputation. I was also advised by a former professor to look for a public history program in a capital city, since the opportunities for projects and internships with a variety of agencies and organizations would be possible. That really turned out to be true at USC, and I feel that one of the Public History Program's greatest strengths is its extensive professional network. The numerous assistantships where you can get hands-on experience doing public history come directly from that strong network. Those connections continue to be helpful even after graduation, and I frequently have a chance to collaborate with other former students who also work in the state.

The Public History Program at USC also has a strong traditional history component that serves as the foundation for more technical training in the various public history fields. I'm constantly glad for the number of history courses that I took – in fact, I'm finding that I can supplement technical skills through professional development training at work, such as seminars and workshops. But it seems that the kind of education in history that I need in my job can only come from graduate-level history coursework.

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John Sherrer, Director of Collections and Interpretation, Historic Columbia Foundation:

Like many of my colleagues, I entered the University of South Carolina's Public History Program after having worked in the museum field for several years. As such, I found the following aspects of USC's program appealing: highly motivated faculty, maturity of the program, courses offered, and cost. The program's successful combination of public history courses with a solid foundation of traditional history classes creates well-rounded graduates who enjoy a high rate of placement within the fields of museums, historic preservation, and archives. Also, graduate assistantships that prove pertinent to career ambitions offer what few classrooms can – on-the-job training. In an effort to bolster my museum training further, I chose to couple my M.A. degree with the Certificate in Museum Management.

I attribute much of my professional success since graduation to the quality of training that USC's Public History Program offered me. Indeed, my current position at Historic Columbia Foundation came as a direct result of my work as a graduate assistant and the focus of my thesis: a comprehensive history of one of the foundation's historic house museums.

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Krista Hampton, Historic Preservation Planner, City of Columbia:

I highly recommend the USC Public History Program to anyone looking to obtain the foundation and experience necessary to obtain a rewarding position in the field of historic preservation. What makes the program so valuable is the emphasis on real-world applications of knowledge. From internships to field schools and classroom activities, the faculty encourage students to obtain experiences that are directly transferable to a good entry-level position.

My first job out of school – as Preservation Planner at the City of Columbia – was obtained, in large part, because of my internship experience at a historic site in Upstate New York, my production of a National Register nomination in Professor Weyeneth's class, and the graduate assistantship organized by the department. Additionally, the strong base of historical knowledge and the associated research skills gained through the graduate history classes have proven extremely valuable. This combination of practice with theory is essential to success in the field of historic preservation, is what is drew me to the Public History Program, and why I highly recommend it to others.

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Andrew Harrison, Material Culture Archivist, Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions:

I chose the University of South Carolina after checking out many different archival programs around the country. I was especially impressed with the staff and curriculum at USC and after touring Columbia and the campus, I chose USC over several other very good programs. I liked the fact that in addition to taking my archival classes and the history part of my degree, that I could also take classes in museum studies and historic preservation.

USC had many assistantships available on campus which helped reduce tuition as well as enabling me to gain experience and knowledge in my chosen profession. I was lucky enough to get an assistantship in the University of South Carolina Archives. The friends and knowledge I gained while there will be with me forever.

The program enabled me to choose my own internship and my thesis topic. With the South Carolina Department of Archives and History and the South Carolina State Museum as well as many other historical institutions close to campus, research was convenient and easy and the staff of all the institutions were always very helpful. Many of them were graduates of the program and were always willing to give advice. Since my thesis topic was South Carolina College Cadets, I used materials located at the University Archives and the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

After graduation, I moved to Baltimore and was employed on a NEH-funded grant project at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, processing the business records of the Canton Company. After that, I took a position at the Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of he Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. I am now the Material Culture Archivist. Basically, my duties include processing all incoming collections, keeping inventories and coordinating any conservation work involving artwork, antiques and medical artifacts within the collection. I also coordinate the handling and assignment of all incoming reference requests. Lastly, I serve as a historical consultant for films and documentaries involving the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions including the PBS documentary “Partners of the Heart” and the HBO film “Something the Lord Made.”

I would recommend the program at USC to anyone interested. First of all, Dr. Constance Schulz and Dr. Robert Weyeneth are more than just professors in the program. Both treat everyone as peers and colleagues rather than students. It makes the learning process so much more fun when your ideas are treated as valid from the start. Also, their doors are always open for advice, conversation, help, or anything else needed and they are easily accessible. The program is more like a close-knit family than anything else. I made many friends in the program and still keep in touch with many of them.

Studying public history at USC was one of the best experiences of my life. The experience and knowledge I gained while there have served me well so far and I am sure that they will continue to do so for the rest of my life. I made many friends there and after our dispersal to different parts of the country following education, they are now my professional colleagues as well. Lastly, I met my wife there and we just celebrated our 14th anniversary in 2007.

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Jody Graichen, Director of Historic Preservation Programs, German Village Society:

I highly recommend the University of South Carolina's Public History program. When I was researching schools, a major attraction of USC was the diversity of classes offered and the potential to gain hands-on, real world experience in the field. As a student concentrating in historic preservation, I benefitted from meeting a variety of professionals from throughout South Carolina, many of whom had also gone through USC.

I believe that I am qualified for my position as the Director of Historic Preservation Programs for the German Village Society in Columbus, Ohio in large part because of the contacts, curriculum, and projects I encountered at USC. Professors Robert Weyeneth and Constance Schulz treat their students as colleagues, and their confidence in USC's Public History program and its students creates a positive and engaging learning environment. I consider my time at USC incredibly well-spent and encourage others to make the established Public History program at USC their top choice for professional development.

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Aimee Berry James, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library:

I came to USC as an undergraduate, was a student in the South Carolina Honors College, got my B.A. in Anthropology, and minored in U.S. History. For my Honors College thesis, I designed and carried out an oral history project on my hometown of Neeses, South Carolina, under the direction of Dr. Constance Schulz. As with many public history converts, it was through Connie that I found out about the Public History Program. It was also through Connie that I got my first exposure to the world of archives. While still an undergraduate, she got me a job at the South Caroliniana Library. Although I didn't get to do much archival work at that point, I was exposed to it on a daily basis. When it came time to choose a graduate school and a graduate program, it seemed only natural to stay at USC and to enter the Public History Program in the archives track.

I continued on at the South Caroliniana Library for my entire graduate school career as a graduate assistant, working on two grant-funded projects in the library's manuscripts division. I also completed my internship at the Caroliniana with photo archivist Beth Bilderback. During my second semester in the program, I decided to add the library half of the joint degree to my curriculum. Based upon some manuscripts that I had come into contact with while working at the South Caroliniana Library, I decided to do my thesis on the mentally ill in South Carolina in the late nineteenth century, specifically looking at how the community perceived its mentally ill members.

My first professional job was as Archivist IV and Coordinator of the South Carolina State University Historical Collection, which is located in the Miller F. Whittaker Library at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg. The staff of the Historical Collection consists of only myself, one assistant, and occasional student help, so I do everything from writing and implementing policies, writing grants, and processing collections to vacuuming and dusting.

I have found that my experiences in the Public History Program have prepared me well for my job. The classes, the network of professionals and institutions in the Columbia area, my assistantship, and my internship have all proven invaluable in my current position. The education attained in the library portion of the joint program has also proven invaluable since I have found myself in an academic library setting.

I strongly encourage anyone interested in pursuing a career in archives to consider USC's Public History Program. What it offers in terms of a complete education as well as practical, resume-quality experience is hard to beat. I would also urge people to take advantage of the joint degree program with the library school. On the basis of the strong education and real-world experience I obtained while in the Public History Program, I was hired before I even received my degrees. This is a testament to the strength of the program and the degree to which its graduates are prepared for professional positions.

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