Vikings and opera – beyond the cliché
Athleticism and the arts are a natural at Augustana, especially in opera. Football lineman Spencer Warfield ’23 and fencer Soryn Richter ’26 take the stage in “Amahl and the Night Visitors” on April 21 and 23.
The Augustana History Update
February 2023
Hello history folks!
I’m writing to you just after the end of Augustana’s J-term, an intensive 3 1/2 week term in which students take only one class — and that class meets every work day. From the standpoint of an instructor, it can be exhausting... but it is also an enormous amount of fun. Our course offerings this January ran the gamut. Some students learned about medieval Europe. Others analyzed American war films.
One course, taught by Assistant Professor Elizabeth Lawrence, asked students to create “based on a true story” projects about imperial China — hence, students worked on projects surrounding all kinds of topics, including palace intrigue and terracotta warriors (which students built in Minecraft).
Another course, taught by Special Collections Librarian (and Augustana history department alumna) Micaela Terronez ’15, asked students to examine archival materials from the Black Power Symposium, which was held at Augustana College in February 1969. Students sifted through articles from the Augustana Observer, papers from President Clarence Woodrow Sorensen, and ephemera preserved by the college’s Black Student Union.
Students doing research during HIST 267, taught by Micaela Terronez, Special Collections librarian.
Professor Jane Simonsen’s course about American Indians and Visual Culture took a field trip to the Figge Museum to visit their current exhibit "Decolonial Intervention," which features the work of indigenous/Latinx artist Tlisza Jaurique in conversation with items from the museum's Spanish Viceregal collection.
The class was later joined by Tammy and Kelly Rundle of FourthWall films, who shared their collaborations with the Ioway Nation in making the documentary film series "Lost Nation: The Ioway."
Lisa Huntsha ’10, the assistant director of the Swenson Center, taught a course for the history department on museum studies. Her course can best be summarized by a video of class activities that she made to thank her students for a great term. The department also thanks Lisa for her hard work at Augustana. This course marked her last contribution to the college (after almost 11 years!) before moving on to a new opportunity.
Beyond J-term, things have been busy at Augustana’s history department. Since I last wrote to you, the department hosted a fall semester gathering for history majors, where we enjoyed pizza, the patio at Carlsson Evald Hall, and each other’s company.
The History Department’s Fall gathering — back when we didn’t need to wear a warm coat every day!
Our students continue to do amazing things. This November, history senior Nishal Weems ’23 deservedly became a new student laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois.
Each year a senior from each of the state’s colleges and universities are awarded the Abraham Lincoln Civic Engagement Award. We were thrilled to hear that President AndreaTalentino selected Nishal for this honor based on his work to develop a peer mentor program for his fellow Black male students. Weems hopes to attend medical school after graduation.
Cait Duffy is on the conning tower of the U-505, the only German submarine captured by the Americans that is now housed in Museum of Science and Industry. This area is restricted to general guests of the museum, so it was a once-in-a-lifetime moment for her!
For the last update I gathered a number of stories about summer internships, but decided I had already written too much. I’ll therefore share another student’s experience in this update. This one comes from the history department’s current intern, Cait Duffy ‘23.
Cait spent her summer interning at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, where she worked in the collections department. In her seven-week internship, she archived and organized more than 1,200 radio show recordings, helped de-accession a large exhibit, worked with an auction house, and prepared for upcoming exhibits!
Working in the museum helped Cait realize her love for museum work, and so she is planning on making a career out of it in the future.
In faculty news, Dr. Jane Simonsen was a contributor to a feature-length documentary that just won a Mid-America Emmy Award. That documentary, “Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon,” was made by the aforementioned local filmmakers, Kelly and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films), and Garry McGee (McMarr, LTD).
Dr. Niels Johnson ’53, posing as Harry Truman, and fellow historian David McCullough.
Finally, I want to thank the many alumni who wrote back to me after the last update. It was such a pleasure to hear what you’ve been up to.
With his permission, I’ll share one bit of a rich exchange with Dr. Niel Johnson ’53, a historian who not only taught briefly at Augustana in the 1960s but who was an archivist and oral historian at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum from 1977 to 1992.
Johnson impersonated President Truman for 26 years, too. You can find a fun discussion of his 700 appearances in Truman’s garb in a 2019 book “Becoming Truman; 26 Years of Impersonating our 33rd President.”
During his many years at the library he became a friend of the David McCullough, a Pulitzer Prize winner for two books, including one on Harry Truman. Johnson shared with me that he corresponded with McCullough many times over the decades.
Many of you, like me, have probably picked up a few David McCullough books over the years. You may also be aware that the historical community sadly lost McCullough when he passed away in August.
The turn to a new year tends to make people nostalgic — it’s a time when professional organizations and newspapers often memorialize the people we have lost. I thought it would therefore be nice to recognize McCullough and his connection with our alumnus through this photo, which Johnson was kind enough to allow me to share.
I’m headed off on a sabbatical this spring (unfortunately, books don’t write themselves…yet), but I’m sure I’ll be in touch in the future.
Until then,
Brian Leech, asssociate professor of history
