Rachael Nicholas

Q&A with Rachael

Who helped you succeed?

I have been the fortunate recipient of excellent mentorship from professors at WVU and elsewhere. I would like to take a moment to first acknowledge Dr. Barbara Terzian, my undergraduate advisor at Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU). She encouraged me to pursue my interest in Civil War Era Studies. She was my #1 advocate when I decided to take a semester to study the Civil War at Gettysburg College in Fall 2014. I gained my first internship with the National Park Service through the "Gettysburg Semester" program. I met numerous scholars, including Dr. Allen Guelzo, Dr. Brian Matthew Jordan, and former WVU professor Dr. Peter Carmichael. They pointed me toward West Virginia University when I had questions about pursuing an MA in history or public history. Dr. Carmichael had a formative influence on my career, in that regard. When I graduated in 2016, I was not sure about my next steps. Dr. Carmichael, who was visiting OWU as a guest speaker, motivated me to pursue an internship with Education and Interpretation at Gettysburg National Military Park. 

Dr. Carmichael introduced me to rangers Chris Gwinn, John Hoptak, and Barbara Sanders, who remain to this day three of my most important mentors. Chris Gwinn emailed me the job description when it came available in late 2023. He supported my application and did all he could to ensure it would receive fair consideration from the hiring officials. I do not think I would have even considered applying for a GS-11 position as a GS-5 without his encouragement. 

I also found great support from WVU's history department. I am especially grateful to Drs. Melissa Bingmann (my MA advisor) and Brian Luskey (my PhD advisor). I am an anxious person by nature, and they were able to create an environment that was conducive to my success. I knew I could always rely on them to say a kind word when I was stressed. Dr. Luskey has this uncanny ability to discern my jumbled thoughts and articulate them back to me as a research question or a thesis. He can cut through the weeds of my confusion, so to speak, and discover the flower that is hiding within. I know for certain I would not be where I am today without Drs. Luskey and Bingmann. Their mentorship was the deciding factor when I chose to stay at WVU for my PhD.

How did your academic work at WVU help set you up to succeed in your internship/job? 

Some of the happiest years of my life have been spent in Morgantown. I began as an MA student with the Public History department. I was not yet a seasonal park ranger--just a student with a few internships under her belt. My first year at WVU gave me the experience I needed to acquire my seasonal position in May 2018. Subsequent courses allowed me to complete my MA and my certificate in Cultural Resource Management. I took classes with Dr. Bingmann, Jenny Boulware, and Dr. Jennifer Thorton--all incredible instructors. The classes I had with them (e.g. Museum Studies, Historic Preservation, Local History Research) prepared me for my current position. As a park historian, I don't spend as much time hyperfixating on the battle as you might expect. Much of my research is dictated by questions pertaining to compliance.  For example, when was this building erected? Did it play any part in the battle? What do we hope to achieve by preserving this building? I mention battlefield structures in particular because the Cultural Resource Management Division is currently evaluating over thirty structures on the battlefield to determine their preservation needs. I provide much of the archival information that will be used to answer these questions according to the SOI's standards. 

My CRM experience was crucial to my selection, but my PhD coursework bolstered my CV. They wanted someone with a thorough knowledge of the Civil War and the commemorative period that followed. My reading list for my comprehensive exams introduced me to books about memory, the Lost Cause, commemoration, and Confederate monumentation. I began my job comfortable with that historiography and all it entailed. 

My dissertation research also qualified me for my position. My research draws heavily on the antebellum and Civil War periods in south-central PA and western MD. I examine perceptions of the Mason-Dixon Line as a borderland between free and enslaved labor and the tangible impact those perceptions had on free and enslaved people during the Civil War. It is this familiarity with the cultural and political landscapes of antebellum and Civil War Era Gettysburg that distinguished me as a candidate.

Noteworthy

• June 2024, Rachel won Best Graduate Student Paper Prize at Society of Civil War Historians Conference for her paper entitled, "'Virginia Should Not Call in Vain': Borderland Perceptions and Experiences of Slavery and Freedom during the Maryland Campaign."
  

Insider Insights: Why is Abraham Brian's name spelled three different ways?

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