Message From Laura Laugle

As the project archivist working with the Theodore M. Berry collection, I’d like to take a moment to tell you a little bit about myself. I have a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Modern Languages from Wright State University where I was fortunate to have studied German, French and Russian under some of the most talented foreign language professors anywhere. In the fall of 2008 I entered the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University. While there, I tailored my coursework toward my interest in archives, manuscripts and rare books.

In the summer of 2009, after browsing the online portions of the extensive German -Americana collection, I contacted Kevin Grace, head of the library about the possibility of completing a practicum project at the Archives and Rare Books Library at The University of Cincinnati for credit toward my Master’s Degree. I began work on the project the following autumn and completed two web exhibits now featured on the ARB website: “Sacred Spaces of Greater Cincinnati and the German Influence” and “German-American Almanacs: the German American Weltanschauung.”

I graduated from Kent State University in the summer of 2010 and am thrilled to be back at UC archiving the papers of such an important and remarkable local figure as Theodore M. Berry. Berry’s life and actions have had a lasting impact on the betterment of race relations in the United States and Cincinnati more particularly. I am honored to have the opportunity to help promote and preserve Berry’s contribution to history, so that researchers may gain a better understanding of his life and ideas.