Library of Congress Workshop Taught by Professor Emilye Crosby

For the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, Emilye Crosby gave a talk on Teaching Bottom-Up history at the Library of Congress. She also developed "A Documents-Based Lesson on the Voting Rights Act: ACase Study of SNCC's work in Lowndes County and the Emergence of BlackPower," available through Teaching for Change, and co-authored, with movement activist Judy Richardson, "The Voting Rights Act: 10 Things YouShould Know," for Teaching for Change and Zinn Education Project.

Professor Michael Oberg

Professor Michael Oberg's newest book, Peacemakers:  The Iroquois, the United States, and the Treaty of Canandaigua, appears in print this week.  Professor Oberg will be appearing at several events this year to commemorate the 220th anniversary of the Treaty.  You can read more about his work and the historical and contemporary significance of the Treaty through this article in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. 

Professor Oberg also recently was awarded the rank of SUNY Distinguished Professor based on his extensive scholarly work on early American and Native American history.  Oberg has authored multiple books and won numerous awards during his tenure at Geneseo.  You can read more about his work through the College's press release on this most recent honor here.

Geneseo History Major Involved in Major Digital Project on the Civil Rights Movement

For the past year, Geneseo Senior Todd Christensen has been working on the new online exhibit "One Person, One Vote: The Legacy of SNCC and the Fight for Voting Rights" through an internship with the SNCC Legacy Project based at Duke University. The website went live today and is full of valuable resources on the civil rights movement: http://onevotesncc.org/

Todd is from Cazenovia, New York, and has been working with Professor Emilye Crosby for the past four years.  His senior honors thesis, which focused on the Mississippi Freedom Schools, connected to the SNCC Legacy Project.  You can read more about Todd's work here.

Todd was also interviewed for the 15 March "Rochester in Focus" program on WHEC-TV 10.  The video of Todd's segment is available here.  

2015 Teachers' Day

Continuing the tradition begun with last year's Teachers' Day, the department hosted fifty social studies educators from more than twenty western New York for a day of programs on Friday, 13 March.  Participants attended a teaching workshop on Latin American history led by Professors Ryan Jones, a workshop on modern American environmental history led by Professor Jordan Kleiman, and a keynote on "Six Things New Yorkers Should Know About the American Civil War".  This program was made possible thanks to the generous support of Joe and Elaine Bucci, whose contributions to the department allows us to offer this program free of charge to participants.

You can read the college's press release and learn more about the Teachers' Day program here.

Professors Adams and Behrend on Local NPR Station

Professor Cathy Adams and Justin Behrend appeared this week on "Connections with Evan Dawson", a radio program airing on Rochester NPR affiliate WXXI, to discuss perspectives on African-American history.  Behrend's recently-published book, Reconstructing Democracy, was discussed extensively.  You can read more about the program and listen to the conversation here.

Frank Cafarella (Class of 2001) to Receive National Teaching Award

Geneseo alumnus Frank Cafarella (class of 2001) has been named as the winner of the 2015 Mark K. Bonsteel Tachau Teacher of the Year by the Organization of American Historians.  Frank is currently a social studies teacher with the Spencerport (NY) Central School District.  As a History major, he completed an honors thesis under the direction of Professor Emilye Crosby.  This is a truly exceptional honor, and the department congratulates Frank.

Professor Oberg Publishes His New Book on Eleazer Williams

We have another publication to celebrate - Michael Oberg's Professional Indian:  The American Odyssey of Eleazer Williams has now been published by the University of Pennsylvania Press.  This is Oberg's sixth major book and will be followed later this year by a monograph on the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua.

Professor Oberg has been at the college since 1998 and has won several awards, including a SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2003, the James and Julia Lockhart Professor for Research and Creative Endeavors from 2005-2008, and a SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities in 2013.

More information on Professional Indian can be found here.