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WSU welcomes history students for research exploration

February 14, 2014

Eighth-graders visit WSU's Museum of Anthropology — Eighth-graders visit WSU’s Museum of Anthropology

From sewing a miniature book binding to seeing how to shape a stone tool, nearly 200 eighth-graders from Lincoln Middle School in Pullman took a whirlwind tour of library sciences and anthropological research at WSU to prepare for a special history project this spring.

The teens visited the WSU Libraries and the WSU Museum of Anthropology to glean ideas for their upcoming “Night of the Notables.” They are responsible for investigating an important historical figure, writing a paper, and answering questions while dressed as that figure in an event for parents and friends.

More than preparation for their big event, the field trip gave participants a chance to explore topics and places they might not normally see, said LMS history teachers.

Learn more about the middle-schoolers’ hands-on learning experience at WSU.

Feb. 3-March 7: German resistance is topic of exhibit, films, talks

January 29, 2014

They were college students with lives like WSU students might have today. Some studied medicine and did military service. One had a fiancé. One was a married father of three.

But for the unpardonable crime of speaking out, considered treason in Nazi Germany, the University of Munich students and a sympathetic professor were executed. Their story is the subject of a traveling exhibit, “Die Weisse Rose: The White Rose,” at WSU Libraries’ Terrell Atrium, Feb. 3-March 7, on the Pullman campus.

“Very normal people can undertake very major resistance,” said Rachel Halverson, associate professor of German and Marianna Merritt and Donald S. Matteson Distinguished Professor in Foreign Languages and Cultures. “It’s really ordinary people who can make change happen, believing in doing the right thing.”

Find out more about the White Rose movement educational events at WSU.

Mormon church explains polygamy in early days

December 17, 2013

A new essay by the Mormon church about the practice of plural marriage published days after a judge struck down key parts of Utah’s polygamy law is something of a revelation to millions of Mormons worldwide, says Armand Mauss, retired professor of sociology and religious studies at WSU. Mauss estimates that less than 10 percent of rank-and-file Mormons would previously have known everything in the article.

The acknowledgement that as many as one-third of Mormons lived in polygamous households by 1870 contradicts a widely held belief that polygamy was practiced by only 2 or 3 percent of Mormons, Mauss said. The new article and previous scholarly research show that polygamy was a formative institution among Mormons during that time, Mauss said.

Human rights: work to do

December 11, 2013

After 65 years, the United States and other countries still have work to do to honor the intent of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, said Ken Faunce, WSU instructor of history.

“Right now in the United States, there are 250,000 estimated slaves living and working,” Faunce said. That number includes domestic servitude and sex slaves.

Sacajawea: Important to U.S. History

December 10, 2013

Few women in U.S. history have had more influence on the nation’s history than the young Lemhi Shoshone woman called Sacajawea. It’s very likely that Lewis and Clark would never have reached the Pacific Ocean had it not been for her help.

Orlan Svingen, professor of history, has worked with the descendants of Sacajawea, the Agai Dika people, since 1991.