24FALL STUDENT LIFE The History House reopens with new additions after being closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. BACK IN ACTION Archives and special collections librarian Hannah Wood talks to associate professor and Chair of the English Department Jonathon Singleton while his class visits on Oct. 5, 2021. Wood was a part of the project to update the exhibits in the house. Photo by: Julianne Baker THE HARDING UNIVERSITY BRACKETT Library’s History House reopened Sept. 24, 2021, after being closed since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The History House’s grand reopening happened during the 2021 family weekend. Students, library faculty and history professors were instrumental in preparing for the reopening and creation of updated exhibits. Archives and special collections librarian Hannah Wood said the History House was a collaborative project that gave students the opportunity to participate in Harding’s heritage. She enjoyed watching the students find interesting historical facts about Harding as they became more involved in its background. “Any student that works in my department, I have them do some reading in Harding history so they can have a bit of a foundation,” Wood said. “If they can learn more about her history, they realize that they’re a part of this larger story.” Wood said they worked on updating exhibits since the History House’s closure in 2020. With each exhibit set up in panels, they were able to remove and replace exhibits easily to keep them relevant. The History House not only kept students involved in Harding’s history, but it gave them a glimpse of what a career in museum curating might look like. Junior Paxton Davis, one of the students who helped create the Preacher Roe exhibit in the History House, said the project aligned with what he wanted to do in his future career. “Designing it was very similar to what you would do in a real museum,” Davis said. “Just trying to think about what would look best for the visitors as they come in, and trying to arrange things and have it look just right was nice knowing I have a lot more knowledge about the exhibit since we did a lot of research finding things about it.” Senior Avery Barnett, a student worker for Wood, said it made her very happy to see her exhibit design class’s work displayed in the History House. “Looking at all the exhibits around, it’s obvious how much work not only went into the exhibit I worked on, but all the exhibits there,” Barnett said. “It’s exciting to know that people not only see all the hard work that went into it but also to invest in Harding’s history and share the story of our school.” WRITTEN BY CHRISTIANE DAVIS Open the
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