Apr 1, 2017 - Ten members of Union’s Delta-Psi chapter of Phi Alpha Theta attended the Tennessee Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference at the University of Tennessee at Martin on April 1, 2017. The Union group included five students and five history faculty members. Twelve colleges and universities participated in the conference, and 46 undergraduate and graduate students presented papers. Dr. Helen Smith, Associate Professor English at Kentucky State University, talked on “History as Activism: Rebecca Skloot and Henrietti Lacks” as the keynote speaker at the conference luncheon. UTM’s Dr. Margaret Lewis, Associate Professor of History, served as the conference coordinator.
Delta-Psi student member Emily Littleton won second place in the undergraduate American history paper competition for her paper “A Strange and Bitter Crop: Examining the Roots of Tent City in Fayette County, Tennessee.” Based heavily on primary source material, the paper, with a focus on African-American sharecroppers, explored the origins and development of the drive for voting rights among African-Americans in Fayette County in the early 1960s. Littleton showed how the economics of sharecropping contributed to the repeated discrimination that the African-American community experienced at the hands of local white officials and landowners as they fought for the right to vote.
Three other Union students presented papers at the conference. They and their paper titles were: Beth Adams, “Nobility or Necessity? Native Americans’ and White Settlers’ Claims to Early Kentucky;” Stephen Lewoczko, “A Real-Life Horror Story: The Unjust Court Martial of Captain Charles McVay III;” and Seth Reid, “The Fall of Tenochtitlan: The Difficult Distinction between Civil War and Conquest.”
Union history faculty members also participated in the conference. Dr. Henry Allen served as a panel chair/commentator for a panel on “Nineteenth-Century Historiography,” while Dr. Terry Lindley did the same for a panel titled “US Political History, Foreign and Domestic.” Adjunct faculty member Robert Briley chaired and commented for a panel called “Nazis in a Broader Context.” At the luncheon, Dr. Stephen Carls brought greetings from the Phi Alpha Theta national office and presented Lewis with two Peeps and Company gifts, one being a Peeps travel book and the other a Peeps spring gift set consisting of a plush pink bunny and 8 pink Peeps marshmallow bunnies.
Delta-Psi chapter participants at the 2017 Tennessee Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference at the University of Tennessee at Martin on April 1 stand together after their arrival at the conference site. They are (left to right) Dr. Keith Bates, Seth Reid, Robert Briley, Emily Littleton, Stephen Lewoczko, Jessica Barton, Dr. Terry Lindley, Beth Adams, Dr. Henry Allen, and Dr. Stephen Carls.
A table of breakfast items awaits attendees at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference at UT Martin on April 1, 2017.
Dr. Henry Allen enjoys a cup of coffee prior to the start of the panel sessions at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference in Martin on April 1, 2017.
Robert Briley, the chair/commentator for a panel called "Nazis in a Broader Context" sits with the student members of his panel at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference on April 1, 2017, prior to the start of the students' paper presentations
Union University attendees at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference on April 1, 2017, wait for the panel titled "American Frontiers" to begin. They are: (front row) Dr. Keith Bates; (second row) Jessica Barton and Seth Reid; (third row, left to right) Dr. Henry Allen, Stephen Lewoczko, and Dr. Terry Lindley.
Beth Adams (second from right) sits with members of her panel on "American Frontiers" at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference on April 1, 2017. Other panel members (left to right) are Dr. Ashley Riley Sousa (the panel chair), Nicholas Lambing, and Sherry Teal.
Beth Adams smiles as she is introduced during her panel at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference in Martin on April 1, 2017.
Delta-Psi chapter member Emily Littleton (center) sits with other members of her "Tennessee History" panel at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference at UT Martin on April 1, 2017. The other panel members are Emily Bernin (left) and Dr. Minoa Uffelman (the panel chair).
Dr. Minoa Uffelman (right) comments on Emily Littleton's (left) paper during the Phi Alpha Theta conference panel titled "Tennessee History" on April 1, 2017.
Dr. Keith Bates makes a comment during the panel on "Tennessee History" at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference on April 1, 2017.
Stephen Lewoczko (left) joins with other members of the panel on "World War Two Military History" prior to the start of their session. The others are (left to right) John Schuler, Dr. David Snyder (the panel chair), and Jennifer Holland.
Union's Stephen Lewoczko emphasizes a point during his paper presentation on "A Real-Life Horror Story: The Unjust Court-Martial of Captain Charles McVay III" at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference at UT Martin on April 1, 2017.
Seth Reid delivers his paper on "The Fall of Tenochtitlan: The Difficult Distinction between Civil War and Conquest" at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference on April 1, 2017.
Members of the Union University group at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference wait for the luncheon to begin on April 1, 2017. They are (starting on the front left and going clockwise) Seth Reid, Jessica Barton, Beth Adams, Dr. Terry Lindley, Robert Briley, Dr. Henry Allen, Stephen Lewoczko, and Dr. Keith Bates.
Attendees at the 2017 Tennessee Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference on April 1, 2017, enjoy lunch together. Members of the Union contingent are at the very front of the photo.
Alpha-Delta-Delta Chapter President Georgia Brown introduces Dr. Stephen Carls at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference at UT Martin on April 1, 2017.
Dr. Stephen Carls presents a book titled PEEPS AHOY! to Dr. Margaret Lewis at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference luncheon on April 1, 2017. Dr. Lewis served as the regional conference coordinator.
Dr. Helen Smith, Associate Professor of English at Kentucky State University, speaks on "History as Activism: Rebecca Skloot and Henrietta Lacks" at the Phi Alpha Theta conference on April 1, 2017. Dr. Smith was the luncheon keynote speaker.
Dr. Margaret Lewis, the 2017 Tennessee Phi Alpha Theta conference coordinator, announces a paper prize winner during the conference luncheon on April 1, 2017.
Georgia Brown explains to Dr. Keith Bates how to obtain a book from Phi Alpha Theta national headquarters as part of the second place award that Emily Littleton won in the American history paper competition at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference at UT Martin on April 1, 2017.
Phi Alpha Theta faculty representatives meet after the society's conference luncheon at UT Martin on April 1, 2017. They are (left to right) Dr. Stephen Carls (Union University), Dr. Minoa Uffelman (Austin Peay State University), Dr. Margaret Lewis (University of Tennessee at Martin), Dr. Ken Vickers (Martin Methodist College), Professor Cindy Bisson (Belmont University), and Dr. Jerry Gaw (LIpscomb University).
Dr. Henry Allen presides over a panel called "Nineteenth-Century Historiography" at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference at UT Martin on April 1, 2017.
Dr. Keith Bates presents to Emily Littleton on April 3, 2017, the second place certificate in the American history category that she won at the Tennessee Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference on April 1. Littleton was unable to attend the awards ceremony at the conference.