The 2024 cohort of Grass Scholars worked with our partner organizations on one of the following research projects.
A. Quinn Jones Museum & Cultural Center
Tracing the Foundations: The Evolution of the A Quinn Jones Heritage Museum Building
Project Leader: Dr. Joni Perkins, MPA, M Ed
Graduate Mentor: Kevin Artiga, PhD Student in English
The project aims to delve into the rich history of the A Quinn Jones Heritage Museum and Cultural Center in Gainesville, Florida. Students will explore the evolution of the museum, starting from the original home to its transformation into a cultural center and museum. Through archival research and oral history interviews, students will uncover the journey of the building, from its historical significance to its preservation and conversion. The final outcome will be an interactive permanent museum exhibit that creatively showcases their findings, combining infographics with an interactive displays for an engaging visitor experience.
Harn Museum of Art
Exploring Indigenous Art and Culture: A Digital Installation Project at the Harn Museum of Art
Project Leader: Paige Willis, Community Engagement and Museum Interpretation Manager
Graduate Mentor: Allison Westerfield, PhD student in Art History
This project-based research experience will introduce students to humanities research behind the development of interpretive materials for a museum digital installation on Indigenous art and artists in the collection. During the semester, students will meet with staff from different museum departments to discover the unique curatorial and programming responsibilities that factor into installation making as well as consult with Gainesville’s Indigenous Peoples’ Task Force members to understand how art represents culture and community. Students will conceptualize the virtual installation with the goal of contextualizing the objects through contemporary representations. The digital installation will be available on the Harn’s website and on digital display at the museum during Indigenous Peoples’ Week in October.
Matheson History Museum
Gainesville Area AIDS Project Memorial Quilts at the Matheson History Museum
Project Leader: Chloe Richardson, Collections Coordinator
Graduate Mentor: Anthony Smith, PhD Student in Classical Studies
The Gainesville Area AIDS Project archive was donated to the Matheson History Museum by the North Central Florida Community Pride Center in 2023. The collection includes the group’s papers and a selection of Memorial Quilts created by the members in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. Participants in this project will choose one of the quilts to research and document for an online exhibit about the local response to the AIDS epidemic. Participants will learn about the care and preservation of mixed media materials and textiles in museums as well as the ethics of researching and displaying memorial objects in museums. They will also practice their research skills using historic archives and digitized newspapers and learn how to distill the information they gather into an engaging and informative online exhibit for their intended audience.
Smathers Libraries
Researching and Exhibiting Rare Materials with the Smathers Libraries: 19th and 20th Century Almanacs
Project Leaders:
Megan Daly, Assistant University Librarian of Classics, Philosophy, and Religion
Jennifer Hofer, History Librarian
Graduate Mentor: Noah Mullens, PhD Student in English
Students in this group will learn valuable research and information literary skills by engaging with a collection of over 4,000 almanacs in Special and Area Studies Collections. Distributed at low or no cost by businesses, almanacs were everywhere in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, giving families basic information about seasons, weather, and health advice, but also providing amusing stories, helpful tips, and advertisements for medicines and remedies from the companies who paid to produce them. These short books provide a window into how earlier Americans understood issues of personal health, medical advertising, domestic responsibilities, and access to information. Using the collection, students will learn how to conduct research with and think critically about rare library materials. Students will also learn how to use other library resources to find secondary sources that will amplify their understanding of these materials. They will then learn how to present their findings digitally through the creation of an online exhibit.