Carroll 250: Doing History: An Archivist’s Approach to Uncovering the Past

Join Kyle Dalton (Union Mills Homestead), Adrienne Smith (Gatehouse Museum), and Gwen Coddington (McDaniel College) for an engaging session exploring the theme of Doing History as part of the Semiquincentennial celebration. This conversation invites participants to step into the historian’s role—examining how archivists interpret evidence, uncover silences in collections, and craft inclusive narratives. Through an archivist’s lens, attendees will gain insight into the historical method, learn how community knowledge and oral histories shape our understanding of the past, and discover how they too can “do history” in meaningful ways. This session emphasizes transparency, collaboration, and the evolving nature of historical interpretation, encouraging public engagement with history as a dynamic and participatory process.

This program is part of the Carroll 250 Speaker Series celebrating the United States Semiquincentennial, the 250^th anniversary of the 1776 United States Declaration of Independence.