Hampton University Ambassador Update
This Student Ambassador Update is a biweekly update from the weeks of 2/26/23 and 3/5/23.
26 February 2023
On Monday, February 27, 2023, Hampton University held the first HistoryMakers Black History Month Contest with “Guess Who: HistoryMaker Edition!”. The event was held on the first floor of the William R. and Norma B. Harvey Library.
Thanks to Dr. Robert Watson, a History professor and one of the competition judges, the turnout was more than anticipated. Dr. Watson made the competition extra credit for one of his History courses (History 106: World Civilizations). As a result, we had a total of 18 PARTICIPANTS for our competition!
HistoryMakers Student Ambassadors Lillian Jackson (left) and Simone Quary (right) stand in front of the team posters for the Black History Month competition
Prior to the competition, we had a total of 5 responses on the Google registration form. After the competition, we had a total of 15 responses. Out of the 5 initial responses, only one person showed up to the event that pre-registered prior to the competition. Therefore, we had a total of 11 participants that registered for the event. For the remaining students who participated, but did not register with the Google form, we had a form where students wrote down their contact information.
The majority of students who participated in the competition did not have their Microsoft 365 set up, which allows for access to all of the library databases. Before the trivia began, I provided a tutorial on how to set up a Microsoft 365 account. The tutorial was presented on a SMART Board so that everyone participating in the competition would have a demonstration on how to not only create a Microsoft 365 account, but also how to reach The HistoryMakers Digital Archive from the library website.
Once the tutorial was finished, one student from each team ran through an obstacle course to select a HistoryMaker.
Then, each team was given 30 minutes to identify and conduct research on their selected HistoryMaker using ONLY The HistoryMakers Digital Archive.
Teams then participated in a “quiz bowl” style trivia, with the judges verbally reading questions for the selected team to answer.
A team verbally answering questions on their selected HistoryMaker
After each team participated and answered questions the, results were tallied up. In the interest of time, 10 questions were used instead of 20.
Since there was tie between 2nd and 3rd place, a tiebreaker question was used about HistoryMaker and former Hampton University president, Dr. William R. Harvey (1941-).
Posters with participant names, the teams and winning teams of the competition.
5 March 2023
This week is midterm week for all Hampton University students. Following midterms, Hampton University students are on spring break from March 10 - March 19, 2023.
As for campus-wide outreach efforts, Lillian and I would like to hold another trivia/quiz bowl night with The HistoryMakers Digital Archive before our ambassadorship ends based on the positive feedback we recieved from the Black History Month Competition. We will continue to meet with library staff (Tina Rollins and Herbert Nyakudya) to plan another event.
We also have plans to have another HistoryMakers Digital Archive table at the school’s “4-6. One change I would implement is to have my laptop out with the digital archive and ask individuals to type some things that resonate with them in the search engine.
Within my own program, I am finding it difficult to introduce The HistoryMakers Digital Archive to the graduate students due to the rigor and time constraints of the program. I believe the most time efficient and interesting way of getting graduate students engaged with the archive is having them do a “Finding Yourself in the Digital Archive” activity. When first applying to be a HistoryMakers Student Ambassador, this was the activity that had me first acquainted with the digital archive. I believe that this will create interest with graduate students despite their jam-packed schedules. After spring break, I will set up a meeting with my advisor, Dr. Jessica Sullivan to discuss outreach efforts within my program.
As for the upcoming blog post, “Sights, Smells and Sounds”, I have decided to dedicate it to my late grandfather who is from a small town called Washington, LA. When I first searched the archive for the town, I could not find the town, but found other towns nearby such as Opelousas, LA. I would like to expand on this search and find other HistoryMakers who had a similar childhood as my grandfather.
So far, I have looked up:
“Washington” + “Louisiana”
“Washington, Louisiana”
Washington [with Louisiana as a filter state]
St. Landry Parish
St Landry
