Category: Alumni Voices

NC Civil Rights Trail sign that says "Watts Grill: Black and white students & professors subjected to violence and arrests during sit-ins in 1964. Last local restaurant to integrate. NC African American Heritage Commission William C Pomery Foundation 2023"

1964 Sit-Ins at Watts Grill

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On September 23, 2023, a new North Carolina Civil Rights Trail marker was placed outside Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Chapel Hill, NC. The marker commemorates the 1964 Watts Grill sit-ins, which took place at Watts Restaurant and Motel on the stretch of highway where the church now stands. Calvin history alum William Snoeyink ('18) researched and wrote a short history of the events for his church website. The post below contains an excerpt from his work. Read the full story on the Holy Trinity Anglican Church website.

New alumni book: A Short History of the National Parks: The Southeast

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by Will De Man ('21) We are delighted to share this post by Calvin History grad Will De Man ('21). Will, now a history teacher, launched @NationalParkHistory on Instagram, where he combines his love of history with his skills as a teacher to create short, engaging videos on the history of the parks. He built …

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The Dreaded Second Question – Or, In Defense of My Major

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by Matt Beukema. You’ve likely heard the question or even asked it yourself. After answering “History” to the question of what I studied in college comes that dreaded second question. The question that comes nearly 90% of the time to history (and English, I’m sure) graduates. “Do you want to teach?” I don’t know why …

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The Politics of Memory in Russia

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by Jenna Hunt. My Museum Studies masters’ thesis focused on museums of communism, and as part of my research I traveled to Central and Eastern Europe and analyzed several museums as case studies. One of these was the Perm-36 Gulag Museum, located on the western edge of the Ural Mountains. I arrived in the city …

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Why the Past Matters: Izmir’s Historical Amnesia

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by Spencer Cone. Today, Izmir is the third largest city in Turkey. As a bustling city with a thriving economy and cultural life, it’s become a symbol of the modern, Westernized Turkey. However, the city’s prosperity disguises a tumultuous history. Throughout the course of the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) the city, known then as Smyrna, witnessed …

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The Gilded Age and Ferguson: Teaching Students to Weigh Evidence as Apprentice Historians

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by Caleb Lagerwey. The story of Ferguson, Missouri and the subsequent grand jury decision was hard to ignore in my school in the weeks before the Christmas break. The subject came up before, during, and after a few of my classes, and I noticed that some of my students were rather one-sided about the entire …

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