Students Present Papers at History Conference
Elizabeth Nahach receives the Lynn and Kristen Morrow Prize for her paper.
History majors Elizabeth Nahach, Nathan Dowell, Véla Lightle, Logan Kammerer and history/anthropology major, Micaela Reiss, represented Truman at the Missouri Conference on History by participating in two panels moderated by Jason McDonald, assistant professor of history, in Columbia, Missouri, March 15.
On the panel, “Challenging Traditional Perceptions and Projections on Identity and Hierarchy,” Nahach and Dowell delivered presentations on research they conducted during the TruScholars program in summer 2023. On the same panel, Reiss presented on research during her time as a Schwengel Scholarship intern at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri. Dowell’s paper discussed the German immigrant experience in 19th-century St. Charles County and Reiss’s paper discussed the role of religion in Harry S. Truman’s political life.
Nahach’s paper on the African-American economic activity in early 20th-century Jefferson City won the Lynn and Kristen Morrow Prize for the best student paper on an aspect of Missouri history. She was presented the award while at the conference.
On the panel, “The American Eugenics Movement during the Early Twentieth Century,” Dowell presented on the ideological conflict between eugenicists and the Roman Catholic Church. Lightle examined Missouri eugenicist Harry Laughlin’s influence on anthropological exhibits at prestigious American museums during the interwar period, and Kammerer discussed the conflation of religion with race by eugenicists. The attendance of Reiss and Dowell at the conference was supported by conference travel scholarships from the Office of Student Research.
