researchin'

As you know, I'm working on my doctorate. Slowly. But right now, for the first time in my whole PhD-ing time (over six years, mind you), I'm getting to actually work on it full time! Briefly.

Last spring I applied for various research-funding opportunities, and was pretty excited to get three different awards. The first was for repositories in North Carolina, so I spent the first week of 2017 in the triangle area doing dissertation research. It was a day at Duke in Durham, a day at the state archives in Raleigh, and two days at UNC in Chapel Hill. On my last day I thought I'd gone through everything I wanted to, but then I realized there's still some more to do. So I may go back at some point.

special collections library at Duke

special collections library at the University of North Carolina

The second award was for spending four weeks as a research fellow at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston. That's where I've just spent the past week, with three more to go. It's pretty great up here. I'm renting an apartment less than a mile from the library where I spend all day looking through old papers. (Or scrolling through old papers on microfilm.) And sometimes I go for walks to explore the city. (Today I worked a half day in the library and then walked to Cambridge and Harvard! Now I'm resting and warming up in a coffee shop before I trek back.)

Massachusetts Historical Society

Walking across the river to Cambridge!

The third research award was from my school, and will help me spend a week or so in New York City later this spring. I'll probably try to combine it with a Philadelphia trip, since there are lots of collections there I should dig through too.

Fun times.