University of Washington

Sometimes history is about the grand sweep of events, but at other times it can be very personal. Last fall, senior history major Lindsay Little was worried that a piece of history was in danger of being lost—the history of her own family. "On my mother's side we have a huge family. My grandmother, Maria Cornelia Crisantos, was the eldest of twelve children. She came to the U.S. from Mexico, and for many years lived as a migrant farm worker in California. Now she was getting older, and we didn't know all the names and stories, let alone all the details. So my mom, and my aunt and uncle, asked me to start writing down the stories and to get back in touch with that history." At the university, autumn quarter was underway, and Little was enrolled in a senior research seminar class as part of her degree requirements. Inspired by her grandmother's story, Little began to explore seminar paper topics that would connect her own family's experiences to larger historical questions of cultural identity and labor policy. The project jelled when she encountered a collection of California state records related to the Bracero guest-worker program of the 1940s through the 1960s. "My grandmother's father was part of the Bracero program," explained Little, "but it was also important to me how the Bracero project shaped later thinking on agricultural labor, immigration, and Chicano identity. These are all things that have had a direct impact on my family." While writing her seminar paper, Little created a website that her family could use to access her research, professional and personal. Presented in English and Spanish, the site was designed both to preserve the family's memories and to connect them to the larger historical narrative that she was researching. "The academic and personal sides of the project did not always take me in the same direction," Little acknowledged, "but they were definitely THREE GENER ATIONS OF LINDSAY LIT TLE'S FAMILY complementary. I learned how I could use my own experience as a springboard, to inspire and direct a project that has larger significance. I also learned not to assume too much based on my own experience, but to be able to step back and see the big picture—to recognize the many different ways that people experience the world." A gratifying outcome of the project for Little was seeing how history could help her rethink her own experiences. "My family is a unique blend—not Mexican, not Irish, but a Chicano mix of the two. Working on this project has made me think a lot more about what that means. Now Chicano is not just a label for me, it is an entire conversation about how I relate to my family, to language, and to experiences that go back over generations." Still, the greatest reward came from Maria Crisantos's response to her granddaughter's efforts. "It touched her heart," Little recalled. "It was a blessing to be able to pursue a project like this." In just two years, the History Fellows program has become a cornerstone of the department's undergraduate experience. Its goal is to help students translate the academic skills that come with studying history into the professional skills to carry them forward in their careers. This year, 18 undergrads participated in the program. One of the year's defining events was a networking and career planning night, called "History for Life." Held April 8, it featured a panel of recent UW history graduates from fields such as law, nonprofit administration, and education. Fifty-five students attended the event, including 14 nonmajors. "History for Life was 100% driven by the undergrads, "noted History Fellows advisor Jon Olivera. "They took the lead, and each of them played a part in pulling it together." The format included a lively panel Q&A, followed by an hour of socializing and networking. "It was just a wonderful opportunity to see what is out there," recalled Cathleen Buzan, a History Fellow and graduating senior, who plans to enter the graduate program in public administration at the UW's Evans School. "It highlighted the range of opportunities that we might turn our skills to, and provided ideas for marketing those skills effectively." THE "CHICANO EXPERIENCE" FROM FAMILY MEMORY TO SENIOR SEMINAR HISTORY FELLOWS CAREER NIGHT: "FOR STUDENTS, BY STUDENTS" HISTORY STUDENT WINS FULBR IGHT The department is pleased to congratulate undergraduate Richard Ruoff, a student in the History and Near Eastern Studies Departments, for his acceptance to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program for 2015-16. He will be working in a newly established university in provincial Turkey, under a Fulbright English Teaching Assistanceship. D E P A R T M E N T O F H I S T O R Y   7 history matters

• Cover