WSU Public History Students and Alumni
What they are doing!
Over the years, graduates and students have been active in a wide range of differernt activities.
Devin Brogan, is currently employed at INTRUST Bank, N.A. as a Retail Operations Support Specialist. Devin reviews and revises operating procedures for the Retail Banking Division
Sadonia Corns, is an Sr. Administrative Assistant for the Office of Financial Aid at Wichita State. She is currently working towards a Masters in Public History. In addition, she is the treasurer for the WSU Society of Public Historians and a member of the Young Professionals of Wichita.
Christy Davis, went on to work for the Kansas State Historical Society's historic preservation office and in 2006, founded her own consulting company, Davis Preservation.
Barbara R. Hammond, is currently employed as a Planning Analyst, Historic Preservation Office, City of Wichita. She researches and writes Wichita history in the form of nominations to the National Register of Historic Places.
Dee Harris, after graduation, went on to become director of the Smoky Hill Museum in Salina. She then became director of Visual Arts and Humanities for the Mid-America Arts Alliance in Kansas City, Missouri. She now in charge of exhibits at the National Archives' Kansas City branch
Benjamin Hruska, after completing his thesis on Eisenhower and Highways, went on to become the director of the Block Island Historical Museum in Block Island, RI. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in public history at Arizona State University.
Bob Keckeisen, has been museum director since 1991. In June of this year, the museum celebrated the 25th anniversary of the opening of its current facility on the west side of Topeka. Bob continues to teach the Museum Administration class at WSU, and last year he began teaching a Museum Management class in the Museum Studies graduate program at the University of Kansas. Bob is teaching both classes this fall semester.
Charlie Lawrence, MA, 2004, after completing his thesis on Century II, moved back to Seattle and continues to work for Boeing aircraft.
Sandra Reddish, MA, 2003, is currently a doctoral student at Kansas State University specializing in American History, World War, Memory, and American Literature. Besides reading A LOT and worrying over preliminary exams, she works part-time as a Museum Assistant for the Riley County Museum. Also, she is doing contract work for the Shawnee Museum interviewing long-time residents and providing research materials for truck gradening.
Theresa St. Romain, MA, 2004, works as project coordinator at the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita. She is completing an expansion of her master's thesis, a biography of silent film actress Margarita Fischer, for 2008 publication by McFarland Press.
Joshua Yearout, MA, 2005, was employed as an archivist in the Wichita State University Libraries Department of Special Collections until his passing in 2009.