History Research
History Research
As a public history student at Wayne State University, I love using archival research to tell stories of Metro Detroit history. I especially love digging through newspaper archives as a journalist, finding breaking news of the past. I’m trained in archival research and am familiar with a variety of local archives including the Walter P. Reuther and Burton Historical Library in Detroit, and the Bentley Historical Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
I have used newspaper archives to teach readers about public safety history in Detroit for my rewind column with Outlier Media. I’ve covered a variety of topics including:
The Detroit Police Officer Association's 30 year fight against police residency requirements.
How a legacy of racism in swimming recreation led to a fleet of portable swimming pools in Detroit.
The 10 year Michigan legislature battle to require photo IDs to vote.
As an intern for Chalkbeat Detroit, I helped contribute to their coverage about the 50th anniversary of the Milliken v Bradley case. Here, I helped:
Conduct archival and newspaper research.
Find and interview residents who experienced busing in the 1970s.
Interview current parents of DPSCD students about their thoughts about school segregation.
In 2023, I received an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program grant from Wayne State University to complete an academic research project about abolitionist movements and early Black settlement in two rural midwest communities: Salem Township, Michigan and Vermilion County, Illinois. I found that underlying racism in abolitionist movements impacted how well predominantly white communities accepted (or did not accept) Black settlers. I presented this research at the Warrior Scholars conference at Wayne State University and the Political Science Research Symposium at Oakland University.
I wrote about my experience for Wayne State's history department newsletter published in fall 2024.