Male Dominated Field? Scoff.

So during my last semester of graduate school, I was presented with an opportunity to attend a conference with Phi Alpha Theta (an honor society) where I could share my research with the world (and by world I mean the ten or fifteen people in the room with me when I presented).

Four of my fellow students from Valdosta State University presented at the conference as well, which was held at Mercer University in Macon, GA.  Here are three of us...and a bear.  Yes, that is me on the right dressed less like an historian and more like a stripper.  Several months later and my feet STILL have not forgiven me for wearing those boots.

I chose to talk about my favorite episode from my Master's thesis (this will be the subject of another blog I'm sure) which was a boycott that stemmed from the Southwest Georgia Project, which stemmed from the Albany Movement, which stemmed from the Civil Rights Movement.  Anyway, I won't bore you with the details...

I mean really, where would we be without Brown v. Board??

Mercer is a private university.  Beautiful campus, fancy accoutrements, entitled children...  The demographic of this conference looked like something straight out of the antebellum era.  Every one of the 100ish people at this event was white and the entire wait staff who served us lunch was black.  Here is a snapshot of me, a classmate, and a Mercer employee that reminds me of how small I felt when I realized all us fancy white folks were being waited on by a black domestic staff.

Here is the whole VSU contingency.  Notice, I am the only member of the female persuasion.  Story of my life.

So, the moral of the story is (all digression aside), that even though I was outnumbered easily 5:1, the girl came out on top.  I won the award for best presentation at the conference based on originality, depth of research in primary sources, and delivery of presentation.

My handsome reward was a book that fit my interests (in hardback!).