- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock researcher uncovers history of American Indian nurses in World War 1

John Hill — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 14:37:35 +0000

One University of Arkansas at Little Rock researcher has made it her mission to uncover the history of American Indian women who served as Army nurses during World War I. Dr. Daniel Littlefield, director of Sequoyah National Research Center, and Erin Fehr, assistant director and archivist, partnered with the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission to create a website commemorating the approximately 12,000 American Indians who served in the military during World War I. During her research, Fehr came that described two of the 14 who served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. “I realized no one has written about any of the others,” Fehr said. “I am bound and determined to find these women. So far, I have found 13. I am only one away from their number of 14, but I do believe there are more based on historical accounts. There are some women who I have evidence to believe they served as nurses, but I haven’t confirmed it.” The 13 identified American Indian nurses who served in the Army Nurse Corps include Agnes Anderson, Charlotte “Edith” Anderson, Effie Barnett, Marie Broker, Ruth Cleveland Douglass, Cora Elm, Margaret Frazier, Ruth Hills, Louise Lafournaise, Constance Madden, Regina McIntyre, Lula Owl, and Susie St. Martin. The women have fascinating stories to share.

World War I Nurse Edith Anderson

Edith Anderson, who was born near Brantford, Ontario, moved to the U.S. because she was unable to pursue higher education due to Canada’s Indian Act without risking losing her legal Indian status. She trained at New Rochelle School of Nursing in New York, becoming the first Canadian Indigenous nurse in 1914. She served in Vittel, France, in 1918 and 1919 and spent the rest of her life working to improve indigenous healthcare. When she passed away in 1996, Anderson received a military funeral as the last surviving Six Nations veteran of World War I on the reserve. Fehr has been in contact with the grandson of Edith Anderson. “What I like about what I do is that these women are related to people who are alive today, and I enjoy making those connections,” Fehr said. “There are times when people like John, Edith’s grandson, are very aware of their ancestor’s legacy, but there are others who are not, and they are excited to learn about it.” One of the nurses has a local connection to Arkansas. After volunteering as a World War I nurse in January 1918, Douglass was stationed for eight months at Camp Pike, Arkansas, which is now Camp Robinson, before heading to France. One of the nurses, Owl, had intended to go overseas, but she was unable to pass the seaworthy exam due to extreme seasickness. Instead, she served the duration of the war at Camp Lewis in Washington. She was given the rank of second lieutenant and secretly married Jack Gloyne, an enlisted man in 1918, even though it was forbidden. They had four children. She spent her lifetime devoted to healthcare and died April 17, 1985. In 2015, she was inducted into the North Carolina Nurse’s Hall of Fame. She was also bestowed the title Beloved Woman by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. “There were a lot of men from her tribe that served, but she was the highest ranking military member of the tribe,” Fehr said.

World War I Nurse Lula Owl

Many of the nurses served overseas for almost two years and found the work of tending to wounded soldiers to be difficult. “There were several that wrote about their experiences, and they talked about how it was just hard, just the sheer amount of suffering that they saw,” Fehr said. “They saw so many men that died that they weren’t able to help. They were also dealing with the flu epidemic at that time. Disease killed more people during World War I than war. There were so many of the men that died of bronchial pneumonia or influenza. The nurses were dealing with that on top of injuries from war. It was a very tough thing to do.” Fehr found the women using resources that many people commonly use during genealogical research. She searched military records on Fold3.com, census records from familysearch.org, and digitized records from boarding schools. The American Indian women who served in the Army Nurse Corps often attended boarding schools like the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Haskell Institute, and the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School. Fehr believes the small number of American Indian nurses came from a number of factors. “I know that nurses had to be single,” Fehr said. “Back in that time period, a lot of women got married young and were not thinking about looking for work outside the home. Some of the boarding schools didn’t have training programs where the girls were given the opportunity. At Carlisle, they worked with Philadelphia Hospital, and those students trained at Philadelphia Hospital. I think a lot of it is just timing for why there weren’t as many American Indian nurses. I don’t think any of the women that I found were not a part of a boarding school atmosphere. Not all of the Indian children were sent to boarding schools, and that plays a role too.” In addition to the nurses who served in the military, Fehr has also found historical records of American Indian women who volunteered as nurses with the American Red Cross. “I have discovered that some of the American Indian nurses only volunteered with the American Red Cross instead of being trained nurses that went overseas,” she said. “There is a gray area where I found that three women actually worked for the federal government in D.C. during the war, and they would volunteer at Camp Humphreys in Virginia. With one of them, I have a lengthy letter and she talks about how she saw a man die, and it was the first person she had ever seen die. It’s really interesting to see the volunteer aspect as well.” Sequoyah is partnering with the George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War at Park University to create a duplicate of the website created for the centennial commission. The Library of Congress archived the website in December 2019, and no changes can be made. However, Fehr and other researchers have continued to find new information about the American Indians who served in World War I and want to include this information in the database. Fehr remains uncertain if the actual number of American Indian women who served as nurses in the military is 14. She is still investigating seven cases of women who may have served as nurses in the American Red Cross or the Army Nurse Corps. This is a mission that Fehr intends to continue. “The research is continuing,” Fehr said. “I feel like this is one of those aspects of World War I that not many people are aware of. Most of these women lived long lives, got married and had children, and have descendants that may or may not know about their time in the war. I think that deserves to be remembered.” Fehr presented her research, “Searching for the Fourteen: American Indian Nurses in the Great War,” in May at the symposium, Lesser-Known Stories of the Great War: Women, Minorities, Civilians, and the Untold, held at the First Division Museum in Wheaton, Illinois. To find out more about these nurses, .

Women to Watch at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock 2022: Erin Fehr

John Hill — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 19:12:46 +0000

In celebration of Women’s History Month, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is profiling women in leadership positions who are making a difference at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and in the community. The next Woman to Watch at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock of 2022 is Erin Fehr, assistant director and archivist for the Sequoyah National Research Center. Tell us about yourself and your background? I was born and raised in Arkansas as the oldest of four girls. My father was born in Anchorage, Alaska, to a father from Watson, Arkansas, working on the Alaska Railroad, and a full-blooded Yup’ik mother from Hooper Bay, Alaska. Growing up, I always knew about my Yup’ik heritage, but it wasn’t until I got to college and graduate school that I became more interested. I attended Central Baptist College in Conway for my undergrad, where I majored in piano performance. Then I graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Master of Library and Information Studies and a Master of Music in Musicology. I had plans to work in a music library or archive upon graduation, but the job market was tight in 2010. What is your current position and professional duties at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock? As the assistant director and archivist at the Sequoyah National Research Center (SNRC), I have had a wide range of duties over the past decade. When I came on board in September 2011, I was the first professional archivist to work at SNRC, and my task was immense. I created policies and procedures to guide the archives and jumped in head first to begin the job of processing the collections. Processing happens when collections are organized into a meaningful order that scholars can then use for their research. Records are placed into acid-free folders; staples and paper clips are removed; and finding aids are created online. I work with researchers all over the world that come to us via phone, email, and in person. A number of books have been published using the resources found right here at SNRC. Our director encouraged me from day one to become involved in archival organizations and conferences, so I regularly present at local, regional, and international conferences about SNRC’s projects and personal research projects, on average about four per year. Part of my job responsibilities are to maintain accession records for archival materials that are donated to SNRC. I also regularly communicate with donors about their donations and arrange for their acquisition, whether that means receiving them through the mail or traveling to pick them up in person. I also have the pleasure of supervising our graduate assistants and interns. Over the past decade, we have had some outstanding GAs and interns. The best part is seeing how they succeed after they leave SNRC. Since 2017, we have been involved with commemorating the military service of American Indians and Alaska Natives in World War I through an exhibit and a searchable database called Modern Warriors of World War I. We created the “” webpage for the United States World War I Centennial Commission that has since been archived by the Library of Congress. Currently, we are a research partner with the George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War at Park University as they conduct research for the Valor Medals Review, which seeks to determine if minority World War I service members should receive a posthumous Medal of Honor. How did you arrive at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock? I came to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock as an American Indian/Alaska Native Summer Intern for the Sequoyah National Research Center in 2010. I had just graduated and wanted to gain more experience while I continued my search for a full-time job in my field. The two months I was here made me fall in love with the center. I found a position at the Arkansas History Commission, now the Arkansas State Archives, in microphotography. When I found out that SNRC was looking for an archivist, I jumped at the chance to work at SNRC again. I applied and started Sept. 1, 2011. The Sequoyah National Research Center is undergoing some exciting changes. Can you tell us what’s next for the center? The past two years have been eventful in more ways than one. We are currently in the process of moving from University Plaza to a new location in the Fine Arts Building. The task of moving an archive has been a monumental task involving over 10,000 boxes, not to mention the shelving on which the boxes reside. We are looking forward to completing the task of moving, so that we can settle into our new space and regain the momentum we’ve lost over the last two years. Be on the lookout for a grand reopening, probably this coming fall semester. During the pandemic, we completed a touchscreen table project “Journey of Survival: Indian Removal through Arkansas,” and we have had very few people see it. We are very excited for the campus to see the story of Indian Removal come to life in this interactive format. What woman has inspired you the most and why? While this seems like a cliché answer, it’s the truth; my mom has been my biggest inspiration. She has always been my biggest supporter and believed that I could do anything that I put my mind to. She taught by example and has the best work ethic of anyone I know. She raised four girls while my dad was a long-haul truck driver, homeschooled us all, and gave us a head on our shoulders to think for ourselves and not to worry about what the rest of the world said or did. She taught me to be my own person—that I didn’t need to look to anyone outside of God for approval. How have you adapted to working in a world with COVID-19? When we first went home to work during the COVID-19 pandemic, I began the task of cataloging our collection of over 1,200 digitized videos from the Jeanie Greene Heartbeat Alaska Film Collection. While the collection was digitized in 2016, we had not been able to catalog them in our online catalog due to time constraints. I was able to complete that project this January, and all the videos are now available on our YouTube channel as well. Since we came back to work in the office, it has been a vastly different place. We have had to suspend our American Indian/Alaska Native Summer Internship program due to the pandemic and the move. We are hoping that Summer 2023 will bring back our summer interns. We have only had a couple of in-person researchers in the past two years, so we look forward to their return. We’ve had an increase in questions via email and over the phone though. I also had several conference presentations canceled or postponed like so many others. I’ve learned to make virtual presentations, but they aren’t the same. I’m looking forward to the return of in-person conferences and symposia very soon. Name something about yourself that most people would be surprised to learn.�� Two of my sisters, my mom, and I have a booth at the Cotton Shed Vintage Market in Bryant. I’ve always loved flea markets and estate sales, and we always talked about the possibility of opening a booth. During the pandemic, we just decided to go for it. The thrill of the find is what keeps us going. I’m working on my depression glass collection while we’re at it. Is there anything else you’d like to add? Dr. Littlefield is the best boss I’ve ever had!

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Announces Events to Recognize Diversity Month

John Hill — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 18:38:18 +0000

To celebrate Diversity Month, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Diversity Council has scheduled a variety of events set to take place throughout the month of March. Presentations will include discussions on a range of topics, research findings, and historical events. Addressing Microaggressions – Noon, Wednesday, March 3 The Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence (ATLE) will present this upcoming Lunch and Learn session as an opportunity for faculty to engage in conversations about how to deal with microaggressions in the classroom. Disability and Diversity – Noon, Thursday, March 4 The director for the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Disability Resource Center, Reed Claiborne, will present a discussion on disability and the things that frame perceptions of disabilities such as legal definitions, media portrayals, historical treatments, and more. Anti-Blackness, Social Feelings, and Public Policy: 1964-2020 – 6 p.m. Thursday, March 4 ��Vlog��ý Little Rock English Department’s Cooper Honors Program will present a talk with Dr. Lisa Corrigan, associate professor of communication and director of the Gender Studies program, who will discuss her latest book, “Black Feelings: Race, Affect, and the Long Sixties.” Building Collaborative Relationships to Improve Race Relations – 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 9 A panel of researchers from the Little Rock Congregations Study (LRCS) will discuss findings relevant to race relations from their Fall 2020 survey with 35 community congregations. The panel will consist of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock professors Gerald Driskill, Rebecca Glazier, and Kirk Leach. In partnership with the Clinton School of Public Service, the panelists will also present a process of facilitating community dialogues on key issues found within their survey results. Modern Warriors of World War I: American Indians in the Great War – Noon, Wednesday, March 10 Presented by Erin Fehr, an archivist with the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Sequoyah National Research Center, this event will highlight the sacrifice and bravery of American Indians and Alaska Natives that served in World War I. It will inform audience members about things such as how they used their language to create a code that was never broken by the Germans. The Sequoyah National Research Center created a to identify all 12,000 American Indians that served in World War I, which can be found online as part of the ’s website. New Funds for Minority Businesses in Little Rock – 2 p.m. Thursday, March 11 The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center will present a panel discussion on new funding opportunities available in Little Rock for minority businesses. We Sing! A Celebration of Women’s Heritage – 3 p.m. Sunday, March 14 ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Choirs will host a live-streamed performance celebrating Women’s Heritage Month, featuring historically informed music performances, poetry reading, a speaker with commentary on notable women of the suffrage movement, and a special musical oratory presentation with Dr. Linda Holzer and Dr. Yslan Hicks. Putting the Pieces Together: A look at how Universal Design for Learning, Open Educational Resources, and Affordable Learning Content work together to benefit students and faculty – 3 p.m. Monday, March 15 in the Ottenheimer Library Presented by e-Learning Specialist Hannah Hurdle, will discuss the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Open Educational Resources (OER), and Affordable Learning Content (ALC) frameworks for inclusive learning. Entrepreneurship: My Journey into the Unknown – 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 16 Entrepreneurial Education Specialist Pamela Reed, with the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, will present a panel discussion featuring minority entrepreneurs. Connecting & Utilizing Social Media for Each Generation – 1 p.m. Thursday, March 18 Jennifer McDannold, coordinator of student orientation and transitions, will present information about each generation, focusing on social media and marketing tricks as well as best practices for Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. “This is Not Who We Are:” Discussing Whiteness, Denial, & Division – 10 a.m. Monday, March 29 Laura Casey, a student success coach with the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Student Retention Initiatives (SRI) team, will host a discussion on the experiences of whiteness and confronting denial. She will be utilizing references such as Ibram Kendi’s book “How to Be an Antiracist” in her presentation to unpack what denial mixed with whiteness looks like. Exploring Our Power and Privilege – 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 30 Sharon Downs, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, will present this final event to encourage conversation on the concepts of power and privilege.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Sequoyah National Research Center creates website visualizing American Indian removal through Arkansas

John Hill — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 14:34:15 +0000

The Sequoyah National Research Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has created a website and touchscreen table that brings the journey of American Indians who traveled through Arkansas on their way to Indian Territory to life. The center has completed a two-year research project, “,” that includes a website and interactive touchscreen table that visually maps the journey of American Indians who journeyed through Arkansas after the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The project was funded by a grant from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council. “Indian removal, or the Trail of Tears, through Arkansas was not being taught in the public schools,” said Dr. Daniel Littlefield Jr., director of the Sequoyah National Research Center. “We wanted to create a resource where teachers and students could go to get accurate information about this historical event. We think this website will be a valuable tool for educators to use in developing curricula for elementary and secondary classes.” Those who worked on the project include Littlefield, graduate assistant Alex Soulard, GIS Analyst James Holly, Principal Investigator Erin Fehr, programmer and developer Erik Stevens, and Freta Rogers-Mason, information technology coordinator. The company Media & More provided graphic design services. The Indian Removal Act of 1830, signed by President Andrew Jackson, forcibly displaced the Southeastern tribes in the U.S. – Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole. Each tribe that was removed from their ancestral homes journeyed through the state of Arkansas to their new homes in Indian Territory, which is now Oklahoma. “The idea of removing the Indians to the West was decades old before the Indian Removal Act of 1830,” Littlefield said. “Americans’ desire for Indian land was the motive for pushing the Indians out. As the debate over Indian removal grew hotter after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Jackson took advantage of the debate and ran on a pro-removal ticket in 1828.” The Journey of Survival project maps each route taken by all five tribes and provides historically accurate narratives that document the routes traveled. More than 80 sites have been identified as significant to the story of Indian Removal through Arkansas. The project includes photographs of the current-day locations and historical markers created by the National Park Service and other entities. “We know where every group that came through was nearly every day the group was in Arkansas, taking away some of the vague historical interpretation that often surrounds the story of the Trail of Tears,” Littlefield said. Digital images of original manuscripts found at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C., have been included that will make great primary source tools for educators. The map was based on the 2009 map created by the Arkansas Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association and updated with new research. Littlefield said that Arkansans would find some of the less-known historical information surrounding American Indian removal in the state surprising. “Many people do not realize that the five tribes who came through Arkansas on their ways west were slaveholding people,” Littlefield said. “As a result, thousands of African-descended people, including slaves and free blacks, came over the Trail of Tears with their tribes. A large number of interpreters used in the removal were blacks.” Another little known fact is that the Indian removal was instrumental in the granting of Arkansas statehood in 1836. “Arkansas Territory had no banks because territories could not charter them,” Littlefield said. “So much money was pouring into the territory as a result of removal that Arkansas was granted statehood so it could charter banks, even though it met few of the qualifications for statehood.”

Sequoyah National Research Center receives $72k grant

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 29 May 2019 16:52:15 +0000

A state council has awarded the Sequoyah National Research Center at the University of at Little Rock nearly $72,000 for compact shelving to better preserve the center’s extensive collection of Native American newspapers. The Sequoyah National Research Center houses the world’s largest collection of Native American newspapers and periodicals. With the grant, the center will purchase and install compact shelving that will help the center better store and expand their collection. “We are so excited about this grant,” said Erin Fehr, an archivist at Sequoyah. “We have received several large donations in the past couple of years and have been rapidly running out of room. With this new shelving, we will be able to house all the newspapers we have in our archives and have room to grow. We are so grateful to the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council for this grant.” The $71,927 grant from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council was one of a total of $24.7 million in grants awarded to 16 state agencies, colleges, and universities in Arkansas for fiscal year 2020, which begins July 1. The council’s funds, which come from a real estate transfer tax, are used for acquisition, management, and stewardship of state-owned lands or the preservation of state-owned historic sites, buildings, structures, or objects. The council also can spend money on objects determined to be of value for recreational or conservation projects. Sequoyah’s collection contains nearly 2,800 unique titles from around 200 tribes in the U.S. and Canada. The current space houses 1,838 boxes of archived newspapers. The new shelving will house more than 2,600 boxes of archived newspapers with room for 200 more boxes. “Most of the newspapers were published after World War II and up to the present. We have a handful of titles that were published before that,” Fehr said. “Most of the periodicals are official tribal publications. We have a few titles about Crazy Horse or the American Indian Movement, also called AIM, which was very big in the 1970s with tribal sovereignty issues. We have a few Native Hawaiian titles, and some publications that utilize their native languages. One Canadian newspaper is written in English and the Native language, Inuktitut. This language uses syllabics instead of the alphabet, so it’s interesting to see a language that doesn’t look like our own.”

New website commemorates American Indians, Alaska Natives in WWI

Janea Snyder — Mon, 07 Jan 2019 16:57:23 +0000

In commemoration of the centennial of the World War I, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Sequoyah National Research Center has published the website “American Indians in World War I” in partnership with the United States World War I Centennial Commission. The website – – commemorates the service of 12,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives who served in the war, mostly as volunteers. The website content was written by Sequoyah National Research Center Director Daniel Littlefield and Archivist Erin Fehr, while a special essay on Code Talkers was contributed by Missouri State University Professor William C. Meadows, who is in the process of publishing a book on WWI code talkers. “Creating the website for the World War I Centennial Commission has been one of my favorite projects to work on,” Fehr said. “The service of American Indian soldiers is often unknown or overlooked, so this website will be an invaluable resource in remembering their legacy of bravery and sacrifice.” The website features articles on all aspects of a soldier’s service and includes a timeline of American Indian history. American Indian women who served as nurses are highlighted in a separate section that includes biographies of each woman. A map of Native American war memorials is also included. The website will be a great genealogical tool for people wanting to learn more about their ancestors war records. “There are very few resources available on this topic, so I think it will get lots of interest,” Fehr said. “Modern Warriors of World War I” was created in 2017 to identify all 12,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives who served in the war. The searchable database is included on the website with nearly 3,500 men to date. Frequent updates are expected. Many contributors have added to this database, including Véronique Lozano of the Facebook page World War I Native American Warriors, who contributed in honor of Muscogee (Creek) Sam Proctor in memory of his uncle, Pvt. Sam Beaver. Information is still being sought on any and all Native soldiers of World War I. The U.S. World War I Centennial Commission was created by Congress in 2013 to commemorate the centennial of World War I through the development of educational programs, organization of activities, establishment of the National World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C., and as a clearinghouse for WWI information. The Sequoyah National Research Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock is the largest archival collection of American Indian and Alaska Native expression in the world. The Center fosters research for the study of Native Americans by providing access to unique resources by and about Native peoples. For more information about ths website, contact Erin Fehr at ehfehr@ualr.edu or 501-569-8336. Captain Ben Davis Locke (Choctaw), in front, with American Indian soldiers at Camp Stanley, 1918. Photo courtesy of Francine Locke Bray.

Archivist Erin Fehr to be featured in webinar on American Indian newspapers

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 13:15:40 +0000

Erin Fehr, an archivist with the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Sequoyah National Research Center, will be a featured speaker in a webinar about American Indian newspapers.�� The Association of College of Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, is presenting the webinar, “American Indian Newspapers: Exploring Primary Sources for the Study of American Indian Cultures,” at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 31. Tribal newspapers can provide a broad understanding of historical and contemporary Indigenous experiences across North America. Produced by and for Indigenous communities, these newspapers present scholars with unique research opportunities that cannot be found in textbooks alone. Working closely with Tribal Councils and in collaboration with the Sequoyah National Research Center and the Newberry Library, two centuries of Indigenous print journalism from the U.S. and Canada are now digitally accessible in the primary source collection, American Indian Newspapers, from Adam Matthew Digital. During the webinar, Fehr will discuss the origin of the digital collection, while Robert Warrior, Hall Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of Kansas, will discuss the significance of Indigenous journalism as an untapped tool for teaching and research within American Indian studies. Those interested in the webinar may. If participants cannot watch the webinar live, a recording of the webinar will be emailed to all those who registered.

Sequoyah National Research Center to create website on American Indians in World War I

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 17:39:02 +0000

The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Sequoyah National Research Center is partnering with the to commemorate the approximately 12,000 American Indians who served in the country’s military during World War I.�� Dr. Daniel Littlefield, director of Sequoyah National Research Center, and Erin Fehr, archivist, are working to create a website that will capture all aspects of American Indians’ involvement in the World War I effort. “In the past, we have done so much work with American Indians in the military, with the World War I project, and we feel like it is so important because no one else has done this, and we feel like it is needed,” Fehr said. “We have reached out and met individuals who have told us stories about their families, and it is very important for us and their family members to be able to tell those stories and have them remembered.” When the U.S. entered World War I on April 6, 1917, American Indians from across the country volunteered in large numbers to protect and defend their homeland. The U.S. World War I Centennial Commission (WWICC) was created by Congress in 2013 to commemorate the centennial of World War I over the next five years. The commission was created to develop educational programs, organize activities, establish a National World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C., and serve as a clearinghouse for information related to the commemoration. To that end, WWICC has partnered with local, state, and regional entities to create a website dedicated to World War I. Commission members approached Sequoyah National Research Center about creating a website about Native Americans who served in World War I after seeing the center’s fall 2017 exhibit, “Untold Stories: American Indian Code Talkers of World War I.” During World War I, Americans Indians transmitted military messages between the U.S. and its allies in their native languages. The Germans, who were adept at code breaking, could not decode the messages, as they were unfamiliar with American Indians languages. Known as code talkers, Americans Indians served an important role in protecting military messages, and the effort was expanded significantly during World War II and included additional tribes. In fact, Elijah Horner, an Arkansas native from Mena, recruited members from the Choctaw Nation to serve as code talkers during World War I. As part of the exhibit, Sequoyah started a database, “Modern Warriors of World War I,” to identify the 12,000 American Indians who served in World War I. They collected more than 3,000 names and have been actively searching to identify the additional American Indians who served in the military during World War I and their tribal affiliations. Courtney Peyketewa, a Seminole tribal member and graduate student at the University of Central Oklahoma who was a summer intern at Sequoyah, continued this work by contacting tribes regarding their World War I service members. She made great progress and received several information-filled emails with names from various tribes. Additionally, she kept track of tribes that have created veterans’ memorials. Sequoyah’s new graduate assistant, Will Lusk, a graduate student in interdisciplinary studies, is continuing this work. In addition to the database of American Indian World War I veterans, the website will also cover other examples of how American Indians were involved in the war effort. “In addition to those who actively served in the military, you had American Indian women who served in the Army Nurse Corps. We’ve only identified eight so far. Even though there were so few, we still feel like that is a significant involvement,” Fehr said. “There were also many who served on the homefront volunteering with American Red Cross, growing victory gardens, investing in bonds. We want to give a well-rounded view of the war effort for Native Americans. We have also found some of the letters that were written by the men, so people can read in their own words how the men felt. It’s a huge project, but we feel like it was well worth doing.” The website will go live on the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission’s website, wwwicc.org, this fall. In the upper right photo, this panoramic photo depicts the 36th Division of the 142nd Infantry Company E, who served in France during World War I. The company was made almost entirely of American Indian soldiers.

Alaska Native students learn about heritage through internship at Sequoyah National Research Center

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 13:40:09 +0000

Two Alaska Native students are getting in touch with their heritage by serving as interns at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Sequoyah National Research Center.�� The goal of the Native American Student Internship Program is to provide students an experiential learning environment in which to acquire an understanding of the value of archives and the research potential of the collections of the center and to engage in academic research and practical archival activities related to tribal culture, society, and issues. The interns work 25 hours a week from June 4 to July 27 and receive on-campus housing and a $2,000 stipend. Recent ��Vlog��ý Little Rock graduate Heidi Davis and senior Stephanie Rabaduex, who are continuing internships from last summer, spend their internships archiving an important part of their Native Alaskan heritage. They are both Alaska Natives who are members of the Haida and Tlingit tribes. In 2014, the center acquired the, which included 1,263 videos. Thanks to a $24,000 grant from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council, Rabaduex and Davis now decipher the videos, cataloging names, dates, places, and issues for the center’s archives. While growing up in the small village of Kake, Alaska, Davis, 29, fondly recalls tuning into “Heartbeat Alaska” as a child to watch the show’s host, Jeanie Greene, broadcast heartfelt stories of Alaska.

Heidi Davis works on digitizing photos of the Jeanie Greene collection on Alaska Natives at the Sequoyah National Research Center.��

“I would have been happy to do anything interning here, but the Jeanie Greene productions were special,” Davis said. “I grew up watching her shows in Alaska. Jeanie Greene actually babysat my dad, so my dad can tell me stories about her, but she is like a celebrity to me since I never met her.” Davis, who graduated in May with bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice and political science, will attend William H. Bowen School of Law in the fall. One day Davis would like to return to Alaska to represent Alaska Natives in the court system. Davis worked for the Alaska Court System before she and her husband moved with their two small children to North Little Rock, following her husband’s return from the Coast Guard. While she enjoys living in the Natural State, working on the Jeanie Greene collection gives Davis a little piece of home. “It was pretty hard to adjust the first couple of years I was here and then I found Sequoyah and they kept reaching out to me,” Davis said. “I’m all the way in Little Rock working on a project that is close to my heart, so it’s amazing. I have family members on these videos who have passed away, so anytime I am watching and come across a family member, it is really exciting. It definitely gives me a new perspective because I grew up in southeast Alaska, but my kids will not grow up there, so it’s important for me to keep informing them on who they are.”

Stephanie Rabaduex works on digitizing photos of the Jeanie Greene collection on Alaska Natives at the Sequoyah National Research Center.��

On the other hand, Rabaduex, who will graduate this summer with a Bachelor of Art in English with an emphasis in creative writing, grew up in Ward, Arkansas. Her mother was adopted from Alaska and grew up in San Diego, so Rabaduex sees the Jeanie Greene project as a way to learn more about her heritage. “I didn’t know anything about my heritage. I have never even been to Alaska,” Rabaduex said. “Having the opportunity to see the videos, I’ve learned so much, so it’s important for everybody who wants to learn about the cultures of the Alaska Natives to have access to the videos.” Rabaduex, who also works at Baptist Health, learned about Sequoyah National Research Center when she took a tour during a mythology class. At first, she didn’t know the center also did research on Alaska Natives. “Erin Fehr (archivist) mentioned all these scholarships and the summer internships, and I never realized they would accept me, so that is a real thrill,” Rabaduex said. “I like the atmosphere here. Everyone makes you feel at home, like you are just part of this place since day one. It was an amazing opportunity for me to experience, not just my culture, but Alaska Native culture in general. I encourage anyone who has Native American background should come check out the Sequoyah National Research Center. You never know what you might find.” For more information about the Sequoyah National Research Center, contact Erin Fehr at ehfehr@ualr.edu or 501-569-8336. In the upper right photo, the Sequoyah National Research Center has selected four students for its 2018 Native American Student Internship Program. The interns (L to R) include Kevin Briceland, from Southern Methodist University, Courtney Peyketewa, from Oklahoma Central University, Heidi Davis, and Stephanie Rabadeux, both from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. Photo by Ben Krain/��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications.

Native American students selected for internship program at Sequoyah National Research Center

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 13:16:24 +0000

Two Native American students are getting in touch with their heritage by serving as interns this summer at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Sequoyah National Research Center.�� Kevin Briceland, a doctoral student studying American history at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and Courtney Peyketewa, a graduate student studying adult higher education at the University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, have been selected for the center’s Native American Student Internship Program. The goal of the program is to provide students an experiential learning environment in which to acquire an understanding of the value of archives and the research potential of the collections of the Center and to engage in academic research and practical archival activities related to tribal culture, society, and issues. The interns work 25 hours a week from June 4 to July 27 and receive on-campus housing and a $2,000 stipend. Interns are expected to demonstrate the value of their experience by either a summary report of work, finding aids for collections, or reports of research or other written work that may be shared with their home institutions. Peyketewa, a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, is working on the center’s World War I project with SNRC Director Dr. Daniel Littlefield and Archivist Erin Fehr. “We are working on modern warriors of World War I,” she said. “The has asked the center to help identify the 12,000 American Indian servicemen who served in World War I. We are collecting names, their enlistment records, and any medals or honors they have received. In honor of the centennial, we wanted to honor those who served and recognize them for their service.” The center will also create a website where the public will be able to access the records. “It is very interesting. I am learning stuff every day that I didn’t learn about before,” Peyketewa said. “Currently, I am contacting all the tribes to ask them if they have any information or memorials on their tribe members who are WWI veterans to be able to obtain that information.” After Peyketewa earns her Master of Education, the 27-year-old Oklahoma City native plans to work in student affairs at a university. She also hopes to learn more about her family history while working at the center. “It was awesome to be selected for this opportunity. I feel like I am filling in information for people, and that it is a way of giving back,” she said. “I plan to learn about my family heritage by talking to Dr. Littlefield. He tells me tidbits of information. I also hope to be able to trace my family tree and learn more about my family.” Briceland, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is processing the manuscript collection of SNRC Director Littlefield. He said working at the archives will help prepare him for his dissertation research. “As an historian in training, it will help me to have a working knowledge of an archive,” Briceland said. “I plan to do a lot of my dissertation research here, so this is a good introduction. I like that I am getting two months of complete access to the materials I know I am going to use down the road.” Briceland is planning to write his dissertation on race and policy in Indian Territory from the post-Civil War era through the 1920s. “I think it is a very interesting period of time that often gets overlooked,” he said. “In Indian Territory, you have a lot of different ethnic groups coming together in a complex way. Plus, I grew up there. The people have demonstrated a resiliency and adaptability to change that is important to understand. Being a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma gives you an outlet to connect with the history and culture.” For more information about the Sequoyah National Research Center, contact Erin Fehr at ehfehr@ualr.edu or 501-569-8336. In the upper right photo, the Sequoyah National Research Center has selected four students for its 2018 Native American Student Internship Program. The interns (L to R) include Kevin Briceland, from Southern Methodist University, Courtney Peyketewa, from Oklahoma Central University, Heidi Davis, and Stephanie Rabadeux, both from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. Photo by Ben Krain/��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications.��

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