Kathryn Reetzke: rewarding would be, I think the, the atmosphere in the History Department. I mean there’s just a lot of support. I recently, actually last week, gave a talk, for the Women and Gender studies lunch, luncheon and before that talk I got an email from a colleague saying, “Hey I have a class right now but I, you know, wish you the best and I’m rooting for you and hoping that it goes well for you.” And that’s just common, like um, just other faculty here in this department specifically support each other. And I think students can see that. Um, and see that when there’s a supportive department then there’s gonna be supports for students –  

Avery Grant: Mmhmm.  

KR: – um as well. So, I would say, you know, kind of looking at Potter College as a whole, you know, my role is mostly just here in the History Department. Um, and so I would say kind of the, the support from colleagues, um is encouraging.  

AG: Mmhmm. 

In response to being asked how he has grown as a part of the Potter College as well as how he has watched the College grow. 

Paul Just: Of course, gosh, government’s in the Potter College too or it used to be I guess it still is. The- I’m trying to think who the Dean was back at that time. I should know. I do know, but I've been through several. But the history department here had a really outstanding reputation. Dr Stickles, who I met once, but he was already like 90 years old. I met at a function. But he had been long-time server as the head of the department. And then he had retired, and Dr Poteat was head of the department when I was here. Then they had some really bright young, instructors and professors that had a big impact on me. They were really aggressive and attentive, but still great to work with you- great to work with students.I think Potter College is one of the really grassroots colleges, of course. The school was created as a teacher's college. So college education was the headliner there. I got my master's degree in education with a major, Master's major in history, that and as well, the impact they'vehad, on teachers in the school systems around the state, particularly in this part of the state, has been. Really they put out a lot of good teachers out there. And they've had a lot of good people go through there, and then go on to careers like in law, literature. 

Hines Bowers - Yeah. So I wanted to get back to, not to backtrack or anything, but I wanted to get back to Potter College. And who, obviously they might not be there anymore. Probably not. Who are some of the people at WKU and Potter College that really helped you get where you are today? 

Tommy Hines - Well, I mentioned Dr. Carol CroweCarrico, who was a professor at Western for many, many years in history, one of the most outgoing charismatic people I've ever met in my life- She still lives in Bowling Green, not too mobile anymore, but she was one of the people that really inspired me. There was a professor named Dr. Lynwood Montell in the folklore department, who by the time I got there was already a published author and well, well-known in the field. And I feel really fortunate to have gotten to work with him. There was another professor named Camilla Collins who was great to work with back in those days that kind of pushed me. You know, you have those professors that you can tell don't really care as much, but you can tell when somebody really does, and they're pushing you to do better, maybe, hopefully, that they see or saw potential in you. So she was one of the best too. Right as I started to get finished with my program, Dr. Michael Ann Williams was great in the folklore area too. And so, made a relationship with her where she didn't retire until about three, four years ago. She sent students here as interns almost every semester. And you talk about a benefit to us. And I hope it was, to the folklore department and to those students too. But just​-​ we got so many wonderful things done because of those interns. So it's kind of this thing that keeps on happening with Potter College after you graduate. You still have that connection. I wish we could get more history students maybe here as interns. ​You know? ​We have all kinds of projects that could be done. Most of our interns that we have now are from the Interior Design Department, which is not as easy for us to find a project, but we have two board members that are professors in that department. So that's why we're getting those. But just to say that Potter College interns were really, really the best over the years. Dr. David Lee, who was dean of Potter College, was an inspiration to- and he's not been retired too many years, and is still a good friend, still lives in Bowling Green, still active in history and all sorts of projects. He's taught out of the Society for Lifelong Learning, which is done through WKU. And his wife actually was the secretary, what they used to call a secretary at the folklore department, music department area for many years too. So yeah, lots of great influence. And I'm sure there are more, but that's just some of the top of my list. 

This is Sarah Schmitt’s response to being asked about any memorable experiences she had at Western that helped her in her future career.

Sarah Schmitt: I will say, most of my great memories about Western it’s kind of a long story as to, as to why, have to do with the Folklife program and things I learned there. Like from Dr. Brady, one good thing about her, she was she's very um, she's quirky, but she's also very genteel. You can tell- she grew up in like, she's a very, her- it's clear that she came from a background of folks who have been educated for multiple generations, right? She went to Harvard, but she was very careful about letting us know that that does not make her special, nor did- would our educational background make us in any way special and that we should act accordingly. Um, she was very good about correcting things that we did, both as folklorists and just as professional people, with a lot of grace. So if we mispronounced a word like- a good example is, it's very common for people to say, and it's not wrong to say “mischievous [“misCEEVious”],” right? And she goes, it's really “mischievous [“MISchevus”],” right? But she she would never make us feel bad about it, and we would have opportunities to present, so we might have to give like an oral presentation at the end of a semester, some type of similar presentation. And she would say, you know, “dress like you're going to a conference,” right? And “here's the dress code for women,” you know, “You don't got to be fashionable. You don't have to be, you don’t have to buy anything expensive.” But, “you,” you know, “should have your arms covered.” You know, “If it's the winter time, you should have something on your legs.” You know, “You can wear pants or pantyhose, but don't have bare legs in the winter.” Things like- things that folks may have come to Western not necessarily getting from their family background, but she never made us feel bad about it. She just said, “Well, here's how you do it.” And she, you know, she taught young men that when they had a blazer on the buttons were always, sometimes never, you know, things like that. So, you know, it just sort of prepared you for life in a professional world, regardless of what field you went into.

Interviewer Mary Crimmins asked Sarah Milligan, “How did your time in the PCAL program influence what you do after you graduated?”

Sarah Milligan: So, that- I wouldn’t have done any of those things though, if I didn’t have someone say “Have you looked at this?” Right? And I think that that is one of the wonderful things that that program did, was that they understood their students, they absolutely understood who their students were and what their capabilities are, what their interests were, and they very, very much- and it wasn’t like they were like “we’re gonna guarantee you employment.” But, they worked really hard to get you in front of other professionals that- you know may be a point of next career space. Right? And so whether that’s- I mean and that wasn’t even- The job part is like the concrete, you know like she [Michael Ann Williams] said “you should apply for this. You’d be great. Just try.” And of course, like that was, yes that worked. But I also had an internship at the Area Health Education Center that Dr. Brady pointed me towards. And that was huge- life changing for me cause I didn’t understand how you could use folklore and folk studies in this sort of medical training centers. I mean like, I still talk about that experience in that internship now. Like a lot. And I had- you know I had other professors who encouraged me to just like reach out to, y’know, professionals in the field, and gave me introductions and just said “have a conversation with them about what they do.” And so I- I- learned a lot, but I also was… felt really included in a profession, before I was even was ready to launch. And that was incredibly valuable. 

Context: 

Ryder Rominger: I know that you mentioned literature and stories being a big draw to history. You know, what were some of the bigger stories that stuck out to you here, at least, if you can remember any,  

Lucas Somers: Yeah. I mean, when, I guess, when you asked er, are you asking about like stories from history and literature, or stories about Western or stories- 

Ryder: -you know, is any – anything that relating to your history classes that really just of made you think that you were making the right decision by staying in history. 

Transcription:

Lucas Somers: So, like, I couldn’t always take American history classes. I was taking European and world topics. So, one of them was called “the Golden Age of Spain,” which I took with Dr. Marc Eagle. I’m not sure if he’s still here, he was a couple years ago when I came back, but it was an online class. But the assignments that he gave us, the readings that I read for that, um- I had no interest in studying European or Spanish history at all. But like, I love that class, like reading stories about King Philip the Second like I still have in the back of my head, just like, um, I read a biography of him, I guess, and then a biography of one of his like ministers, Count Olivares or something like that. I don't know how I remember that, but like, and you’re-like you said before, we were just reading stuff when we were writing, maybe some papers, but also discussion boards. And even in that context, like, I feel like a lot, learned so much about like how to talk about history, even when it’s just like a story of a king, like, that’s kind of the more traditional types of history I was still learning in that online course that Dr. Eagle managed. I don't know how he managed it so well, being an online course, but I was able to get enough like discussion and feedback that I loved it. I learned so much about like this, the biggest European empire in the world at the time, and like, the motivations for colonization, the motivations for the war with Queen Elizabeth, like that was the thing about Philip. Like the whole thing was him trying to, does he want to marry Queen Elizabeth of England? Does he want to invade and kill her? Like this, this stuff that he's deciding by the time the Spanish Armada attack happens, stuff is fascinating. And again, it's not something I wanted to write a thesis on, or anything, but those are the–I did say the stories hooked me. I guess I was right. They did stick with me, and that’s just some of it.