BREAK-THROUGH!

A Court of Two Sisters: How Two Women Established the Christian Woman's Exchange as one of the Leading New Orleans Woman's Groups, 1881-1891

What do you think?

It's my THESIS title!!!!

I can't tell you how incredibly stoked I am. (Not that you can't already tell that.) Seriously, those of you that know me, completely know what forming a thesis statement and good title means to me - and to UNO since they won't let me graduate without these.

Okay, so here's the story.

The CWE began in 1881, modeled after the New York Exchange for Woman's Work. In a decade, two women - Mrs. Bartlett and Mrs. Walmsley - were able to establish the first free circulating library in New Orleans, a day nursery for working mothers, a consignment shop for women to earn an honest living, and a boardinghouse for women. The best part is...those are only the biggest things this group accomplished in just one decade. So I got to thinking about it, and I realized that this is my thesis - that getting through the first decade set the CWE up as THE standard for almost all other successful woman's organizations in New Orleans. Know what's even better? The CWE is still in existence - known now as The Woman's Exchange. Unfortunately they have changed their mission to historic preservation instead of charity, but the fact that they are still around is HUGE!

Okay, I want feedback. I can take criticism or compliments or anything at this point!

Will Work...Period!

So the economy is going down the crapper. (Vulgar phrase rooted in history, I promise!) What does this mean for historians? Well, it means that those historians just entering the field are having a harder time getting a job that pays...or getting a job at all. I am so blessed to have a job in my field right now, but unfortunately it only lasts to the end of February, possibly March. But after that what's next? What can we do besides stand next to I-10 with a sign saying "Will Work for Food"?


My advise to any budding historian...intern. Find a museum, library, historic house, archive, or other place with historical significance that could use a volunteer and help out as much as possible, learning as much as anyone is willing to teach you - even the boring stuff. The more experience you have, coupled with your education, will open 1000 more doors than just a degree. Believe me I wish someone had explained this to me years ago.The history field is so exciting, but our society is focused more on math and science than anything else right now, and funding for the humanities has gone down drastically. It is not impossible to find a job in our field, but it is harder. Just get in there and volunteer!

By the way, if any of you know of an employer in need of a historian - hit me up!

My Title

I've finally succombed. I have become a blogger. Thus with this first post, I thought I would explain my title "The King's Historian."

The most basic reason is that I am an historian. I study, research, write, and publish history. I am a little lacking on the publishing part, but very soon, the KnowLA on-line encyclopedia will publish an article of mine on the Christian Woman's Exchange (1881-present), a New Orleans women's philanthropic group. This probably seems strange to most people; in fact, my own parents asked me what I would do with a history degree. My answer to them, and to you, brings about the most important reason for the title. History is my God-given passion. History is not linear; it is alive and breath-taking. There are always new avenues to search. As I live my life using this gift, I do it for Him. Thus I am His, the King of Kings', historian.

2 Kings 18:18

"Then they called for the king, but Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebnah the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came out to them." (HCSB, emphasis added)

As I discovered this passage one day in reading the Bible, I found the recording of history was, as it is today, very important. Yet history, as Christians know it, is not simply the passing of time, important figures, and fantastic battles. History is the story of God redeeming man-kind. God has given me a passion for the study and public presentation of history. I seek academic integrity and excellence in studying all historical aspects, but I also view everything through His lens.

I am currently working on my Master's Thesis focusing on the CWE, the group I mentioned above. However, it is not a study of the group's religious affiliation (which happens to be Protestant). In fact, I never actually mention anything about their beliefs because while they all prided themselves on providing a "Christian" service to working women, they never really did anything in the Name of Jesus. Theirs was more of a charitable endeavor, and I focus mainly on their contribution to the labor movement among New Orleans single women during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through the operation of a boardinghouse and creche (a nursery). Yet even in something as secular as this may sound, I can see our merciful God using snobby, elite women to provide for those in need.

Acts 3:15 in the ESV translation calls Jesus the "Author of life." You see, the past is not simply history; it is His story. It is already written from beginning to end. I am merely a tool, a vessel, to study and proclaim God's glory through His story, be it labor movements, ancient archaeology, geneology, or archival preservation. Did you ever think history could be this cool?

Image found at http://www.jesuswalk.com/christian-symbols/chi-rho.htm