University Of Mobile: Dream Becomes Reality For 2 UM History Students

Mobile AL

22 September, 2022

11:12 PM

Description

Press release from the University of Mobile: September 22, 2022 MOBILE, Ala. – Historians far and wide dream of getting published within their lifetime. That dream became a reality for two University of Mobile history students, Alyssa Cherry and Eliza Colbert Simmons. With the help of their professor, Dr. Matthew Downs, the young women were able to publish their encyclopedia entries in the Encyclopedia of Alabama in August. As a way to practice historical research, students in Downs's Alabama History class researched and wrote "encyclopedia articles" that would be suitable for the Encyclopedia of Alabama. Downs also encouraged students to pursue publication after the class. With his help, both Alyssa and Eliza journeyed to their publication dream. "One of the goals for our upper-level history classes is to get our students thinking like historians and practicing the analytical research skills used by professional scholars," said Downs, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and associate professor of history. The process for each student took about two months from start to finish. Once the articles were complete, they were sent to the Encyclopedia of Alabama for review. After a few minor changes, the entries were accepted. Later, copyright documents were signed and the entries were officially published. "I told my students that one of the most rewarding experiences of publishing research comes when scholars see their publications cited in another publication. It demonstrates that we are all working together for a greater understanding of the past," said Downs. "The longest part of the process was the writing for sure! It was very hard to find information on him so I had to do a lot of digging," said Alyssa. Alyssa's entry was on Frederick George Bromberg, who was a state senator for Alabama and also served as a Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1873–1875. Then, he became a lawyer in Mobile. "I was super excited to write this paper knowing I had a chance of getting published," Alyssa said. "When people think about historians, it is usually from research papers/dissertations that they had written. So, getting this published was the first step in becoming a true historian." This press release was produced by the University of Mobile. The views expressed here are the author's own.