Assistantship with the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area
By: Jessie Johnson
Part of the graduate program at UNA is the option for graduate students to apply to one of the several assistantships. Mine is through the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area (MSNHA), which is a branch of the National Parks Service. MSNHA spans six counties in northwestern Alabama that are all attached to the Tennessee River. During the last year or so of my assistantship, I have been able to engage with the local history of this area and create content that showcases it.
Some of the projects I have worked on have been blog posts, digital walking tours, educator resource packets, and compiling a history of a historical site. The blog posts have been my favorite projects to work on because I can actively engage with the public after they are posted. I have been able to research and write about everything from Helen Keller, to industry in the Heritage Area, to the legacy of the Muscle Shoals Sound. These blog posts have allowed me to learn a little bit about everything related to the history of my new home.
Creating the digital walking tour and educator resource packet has also been enjoyable. Each of these projects has made me rethink how I write history and who I write it for. Class assignments and blog posts have very clear audiences, while with the walking tour and resource packet that audience is a little more diverse. Since that is the case, I have had to learn how to adapt how I approach research and how I present it to the public.
My longest project for MSNHA has been compiling a history of the LaGrange College Site. This project has had the largest impact on my graduate career as it has shifted into my thesis. Working on researching LaGrange allows me to meet several people in the community who have personal ties to the site and gives me hands-on experience with collaboration.
The projects that I have worked on due to my assistantship have given me valuable skills and experiences that I know will help me as I begin my career.
