Projects
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers 20th Anniversary Project
In the Fall of 2023, Leif Fredrickson’s History of Hunting class completed a public history project about the history of the Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA). The BHA is a national, rapidly-growing organization based in Missoula. Its focus is on…
Documentary: Blue Death: The 1918 Influenza in Montana
In the wake of a global pandemic, it is hard to imagine a similar time or place. But what if you could watch a pandemic unfold in 1918 Montana, through the lives of a Finnish immigrant, a Blackfeet couple, a…
Preserving Montana’s Environmental History
In spring 2023, students in Visiting Professor Eric Zimmer’s U.S. Environmental History class collaborated with the Montana Natural History Center (MNHC) and the Mansfield Library Archives & Special Collections to plan and execute a class project surveying the Gabriel Collection…
Missoula County COVID-19 Documentation Project
The Missoula County COVID-19 Documentation Project was designed to document the Missoula community’s experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. The project emerged from an ad hoc group of local organizations in the spring of 2020, including the UM History Department, the…
Missoula Public Library History
In 2022, the University of Montana History Department hosted the inaugural UM Summer Humanities Institute for High School Students. Thanks to the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), we welcomed 8 Montana high schoolers to campus for…
Interactive Timeline on Climate Change Policy
In the summer of 2022, Leif Fredrickson’s Environmental History class helped build an interactive timeline about the history of climate change policy at the Environmental Protection Agency. The timeline was part of a digital public history project called A People’s…
Documenting COVID-19 Oral History Project
In Summer 2020, UM History faculty spearheaded a special internship program that trained students to use oral history to capture the lived experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The early fruits of this ongoing project are housed at the Mansfield Library…
Online Biographical Dictionary of the Women’s Suffrage Movement
Between 2018 and 2020, in conjunction with the centennial of the 19th Amendment, students in Professor Anya Jabour’s course, HSTA 371H: Women in America: From the Civil War to the Present, researched and wrote biographical sketches of Montana suffragists. Approximately…
Gals Against Smog and Pollution: Montana Women Take on Polluters
In Spring 2020, the students in Professor Leif Fredrickson’s HSTA375: Doing Local History: Missoula course helped create a digital exhibit that examined Gals Against Smog and Pollution (GASP), a women-led local environmental group that battled for clean air in western…
A Music Mosaic: How Missoula Built its Rockin’ Community
In Fall 2019, students in Professor Leif Fredrickson’s Exploring Public History course curated an exhibit on Missoula’s rock ‘n’ roll history. A Music Mosaic: How Missoula Built its Rockin’ Community was the product of several months of archival research, oral…
Outdoor Gear Stories in the Treasure State
Students in postdoctoral fellow Rachel Gross’s Exploring Public History course constructed an exhibit on the history of outdoor gear. “Outdoor Gear Stories in the Treasure State” was on display to the public at the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula from…
Wet Missoula Oral History Project
In Spring 2018, students in Professor Kyle G. Volk’s HSTA377: Intoxication Nation: Alcohol in American History conducted a series of oral interviews documenting Missoula’s craft alcohol industry in the twenty-first century. This first stage of the Wet Missoula project focused on business…
