Uncovering Hidden Histories
Idea exchange, the weird things people do, and how great it is to be around people smarter than me
“Jack” (RS 12/5/4, 1925-1936, box 7), Iowa State University Archives.
Last week I spent a couple of days at Arkansas State University at the Rural Women’s Studies Association Conference. Historians present at conferences regularly and it has been a while since I’ve done this in person—since Covid, many conferences have gone online. There’s something so different about being in a room with others because the exchange of information is so much more meaningful. I heard interesting talks on others’ research agenda, many that inspired thoughts on my own research and possible future projects.
It’s not just learning about something, say the Practice Houses that existed on some college campuses 1920-1940 where home economics’ students practiced homemaking, including the raising of babies. And yes, actual, real babies and toddlers were brought to the houses and lived there for months or years and college students cycled in-and-out to care for them. I had no clue that such houses existed and that school administrators “sourced” children from single mothers and care agencies to serve as “subjects” for student practice. Such a thing is fascinating and so morally gray—if not outright wrong.
Selections from the scrapbook for Betty (RS 12/5/4, Box 4, folder 2), Iowa State University Archives
But I also learned about the frameworks and methodologies that these researchers were using in interpreting the past—and new source materials they were finding and applying. This sort of idea exchange is crucial to the life of the mind. It’s what I imagine a good literary salon would be like—a pleasant place of running through ideas and ways of thinking in a non-threatening environment. And I also learned how much I’d missed this, this conference in particular because it’s almost entirely made up of women, with no men dominating the conversations, setting the agenda, or telling us what to prioritize. In short, it’s a safe space for women to talk about researching women.
As for the Practice Houses that I learned about—a survey taken in the early 2000s revealed that a lot of the students had qualms about how these children might have been impacted by living in these houses with care changing every semester. The children were also looked at longitudinally and it was found that most of them had fared better than had those who had stayed in state care during the same period of time. Apparently, any kind of love and attention, even if the caregiver changes over time, can lead to a better life over time than does little to no care, as many children in state care (orphanages, children’s homes, or multiple foster home) receive. Children need to believe they matter.