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

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Alumnus Named AMA Public History Graduate Student of the Year

John Hill — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 19:40:47 +0000

Aaron Shuman, a 2021 graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has been recognized as the 2022 Public History Graduate Student of the Year by the Arkansas Museums Association. The award is granted to a graduate student in the area of museum, public history, archival management, or a related field who has shown academic excellence with a minimum GPA of 3.0 and has a minimum of 12 hours completed in the program. The successful nominee demonstrates initiative and leadership skills, has shown a willingness to collaborate with faculty, staff, and other graduate students, and is committed to working in the museum, public history, archival management, or related field. A native of Graham, Washington, Shuman joined ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s public history graduate program in January 2020, just one day after leaving service in the U.S. Air Force. He graduated at the end of the fall 2021 semester, after completing his thesis on the ways that presidential funerals reflect the lives and values of American presidents. He now works as the museum experience coordinator at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas. The museum preserves and exhibits the material history of the war in the Pacific and Indo-China during World War II. “Earning this award was a really pleasant surprise,” Shuman said. “Settling into my new job has shown all types of challenges to me, especially in converting theory to practice with historical interpretation. When my former supervisor asked if I wanted to come down, it was not only a chance to reflect on my successes in school and my internship, but also a wonderful chance to look at how far I’ve come in establishing myself with a history career.” Shuman completed two summer internships during 2020 and 2021 at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. During his first internship, Shuman’s work was focused on completing a photographic inventory of the museum’s collection. After completing an audit of the existing state of the inventory, he photographed or scanned nearly 1,500 items and moved the files into the collection database. When he had completed this main project, Shuman worked to standardize the file naming protocols for the 24,000 items in the database in order to improve search capabilities. During his second internship, Shuman’s work focused on uploading nearly 5,000 World War II photographs from the museum’s Allison Collection to a digital web exhibit. These photographs, accompanied by their original captions, are now stored where the public can easily access them for viewing and research. “Aaron’s two internships provided experience in collections management, exhibit development and installation, as well as educational programming, which has already served him well in his work at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas,” said Stephan McAteer, executive director of the MacArthur Museum. “Aaron’s work at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History was stellar. His attention to detail and cooperative spirit made him a valuable addition. He was an outstanding intern and worked well with both staff and museum visitors.” Beyond his main project, Shuman augmented full-time museum staff at numerous education outreach events with local schools as part of the City of Little Rock’s Summer Playground Program and took over front desk duties when staff was called away for off-location events. In the exhibit space, he removed and stowed an exhibit before providing assistance in the installation of “Undaunted Courage,” an exhibit examining the contributions of Japanese Americans in WWII. “What I learned there has been invaluable to me in my new job,” Shuman said. “It instilled in me a confidence that I could perform at this level in this field.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Student is Coordinating Living History Program at National Museum of the Pacific War

John Hill — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 14:25:26 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock public history student has begun a new career running a living history program at the National Museum of the Pacific War, which provides the nation’s most comprehensive account of World War II in the Asiatic-Pacific theater. Aaron Shuman, a native of Graham, Washington, recently moved to Fredericksburg, Texas, to start his new job as the museum experience coordinator at the museum, which preserves and exhibits the material history of the war in the Pacific and Indo-China during World War II. “The public history program worked out really well for me,” Shuman said. “I have a graduate assistantship at the Clinton Presidential Library, and my supervisor introduced me to my summer internship at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. The skills I picked up at both of those locations were critical to getting this job.” The National Museum of the Pacific War’s Living History programs, housed in the Pacific Combat Zone, includes “Pride of the Pacific,” a live battlefield program, and “The Outposts,” an in-depth presentation featuring staff and volunteers in World War II uniforms or period clothing use artifacts and items from the museum’s collection. “Pride of the Pacific” is a live-action performance featuring landing crafts, explosives, and flamethrowers as members of the museum’s own Company K. “The Outposts” includes discussions on weapons of war, Navy fighter planes, and communications during World War II. “One of the museum’s buildings is the birthplace of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, who led U.S. naval forces in the Pacific during World War II,” Shuman said. “The museum is a Smithsonian affiliate, and it’s comparable in size to the Clinton Presidential Library. The Pacific Combat Zone is very unique, and a lot of facilities don’t have a separate building for living history programs. You see tanks driving around and programs that use real flamethrowers. It’s not every day that you see these things that are 75+ years old and being used the way they were originally meant to be.” Shuman’s new position is giving him a real living history experience. Not only does he get to use machines and weaponry from World War II, he has been temporarily lodged at the Ruff Haus, a building that has over 100 years of history and was built by the town’s original German settlers. An Air Force veteran, Shuman started in ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s public history graduate program in January 2020, just one day after leaving military service. “I was in the Air Force, and I realized that I didn’t want to be an aircraft mechanic forever,” Shuman said. “As a kid, I played war board games with my dad and got very interested in the Second World War. I was stationed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa and then I went to Little Rock Air Force Base. I looked for a public history program in Arkansas, and low and behold this very rare public history program was down the street.” Shuman will graduate in December and is writing his thesis on the ways that presidential funerals reflect the lives and values of American Presidents. As he nears the completion of his master’s degree, Shuman is still surprised by how much his life has changed since joining ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. “Two years ago, I was changing tires on a C-1301, and now I’m running a public history program at a national museum in Texas,” Shuman said. “It’s crazy how fast things have changed. If ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s program didn’t have all these work opportunities to fill my resume, I don’t think this opportunity would have happened. I went from a mechanic to an academic in less than two years. I didn’t expect to get it done this quickly.”

Virtual exhibit launched to commemorate history of women’s suffrage in Arkansas

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 18:47:41 +0000

A virtual exhibit by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture showcases the history of the women’s suffrage movement in Arkansas. The exhibit debuted during an event at the state Capitol during which Gov. Asa Hutchinson proclaimed Feb. 7 “Women’s Primary Suffrage Centennial Day.” The day marked 100 years since Arkansas gave women the right to vote in primary elections — three years before the United States passed the 19th Amendment, which established that right throughout the country. Arkansas was the first southern state to ratify the amendment. Representatives Charlotte Douglas (R-Alma), Vivian Flowers (D-Pine Bluff), and Deborah Ferguson (D-West Memphis) also gave remarks during the event, which kicked off three years of activities celebrating women’s suffrage. �� Participants wore suffragist-style clothing and gathered on the steps of the Capitol building to recreate a photo taken on Feb. 7, 1917, with then-Gov. Charles Brough to celebrate women’s primary suffrage rights in Arkansas. The virtual exhibit, “Arkansas Women’s Suffrage Centennial,” features historic documents and photographs as well as essays and critiques on various aspects of women’s suffrage. Additionally, the virtual exhibit includes lesson plans and educational materials for teachers.��

AJ Walker completed a service learning appointment with the Center for Arkansas History and Culture and conducted research on Florence Cotnam, an Arkansas suffragist. Photo by Lonnie Timmons III/��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications.

“Creating this virtual exhibit will give the world access to important resources and scholarly perspective on this critical leap in Arkansas’s long history of civil rights struggles,” said Chad Garret, director of technology and digital initiatives for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Collections and Archives. “The fact that it’s online means that anyone can access valuable information on the struggle Arkansas’s women endured to access their right to vote and be full participants in our democracy.” The virtual exhibit is supported by a grant from the and the Department of Arkansas Heritage. The project steering committee includes representatives from the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office, the Arkansas State Archives, the Arkansas Women’s History Institute, the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, the Center for Arkansas History and Culture, the Old State House Museum, and the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. For more information and to view the exhibit, visit the. In the upper right photo, attendees celebrate��“Women’s Primary Suffrage Centennial Day” Feb. 7 at the state Capitol. Photo by Lonnie Timmons III/��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications.

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

����Vlog��ý Little Rock Alumnus Named AMA Public History Graduate Student of the Year

����Vlog��ý Little Rock Student is Coordinating Living History Program at National Museum of the Pacific War

Virtual exhibit launched to commemorate history of women’s suffrage in Arkansas

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

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Alumnus Named AMA Public History Graduate Student of the Year

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Student is Coordinating Living History Program at National Museum of the Pacific War