Honors Thesis: North Carolina Genealogists And Historical Newspapers
UNC Chapel Hill Honors Thesis
This is the honors thesis I conducted for my Media and Journalism major during my senior year at UNC Chapel Hill. I defended my thesis to a faculty panel and received highest honors, the highest level of recognition available for senior theses.
Abstract
Historical newspapers are a valuable tool for modern genealogists. With the digitization of newspapers, more family researchers are using them in their practice than ever before. This thesis examines how active North Carolina genealogists access, authenticate, evaluate, interpret, and contextualize historical newspaper records produced from 1877 to 1918. Notably, this qualitative research study also explores if and how interviewed North Carolina genealogists practice critical family history in their newspaper research. Results explore participant’s genealogy backgrounds, how they use and understand historical newspapers as sources, if and how they practice historical contextualization, how they align with five of Scodari’s (2016) requirements for critical family historians, and how they practice, consider, and value power dynamics and critical family history in their genealogy research.
My Process and Takeaways
This project combined my interests in genealogy and history with my educational focus on journalism. I also chose to examine these topics from the lens of critical theory given my interest in understanding and exploring how power dynamics shape how journalism is conducted and history is written.
Conducting an IRB-approved qualitative research project was an excellent learning opportunity for me. I’m so grateful for my interview participants and my faculty advisor, Dr Trevy McDonald, for their participation and support.
