Heidi Springfield, history senior, has an evident passion for history. Springfield is also pursuing minors in German and Religious Studies.
Springfield, who already has an associate’s degree in general education, was inspired to study history during her time living in Kaiserslaughtern, Germany.
Springfield lived in Germany for four years as a military wife.
“You’re stepping back in time when you walk through a German town,” Springfield said.
Her face lit up as she described the German architecture and houses.
“I stood inside [a] church where Napoleon housed his horses,” Springfield said.
Springfield is pursuing a degree in history with the desire to get a job as this area’s conservation, building and artifacts preservationist. Currently, there are no conservation experts in this area.
If a historical building or artifact is to be properly preserved or restored, someone has to come from Indianapolis or Cincinnati to do the job.
Springfield said she hopes to become the area’s expert, saving New Albany and Louisville the expense of bringing a conservationist from outside, and also letting her pursue her passion for history in her very own backyard.
Springfield said she has her eyes on a row of old houses on 15th Street in New Albany. She said these houses used to be for dockworker managers in the 1920s, and nothing has been done to preserve or restore them.
As a conservationist, taking on that project would be one of her goals.
Once Springfield graduates from IU Southeast in May, she said she plans to start graduate studies at the University of Louisville in history, as well as earning a conservationists certificate.
Springfield said she is pleased with her time studying history at IU Southeast.
Springfield said she is impressed with the history professors here on campus.
“They’ll bend over backwards to help you,” Springfield said.
The professors at IU Southeast also seem to be impressed with Springfield.
Bob Urekew, professor of religious studies, has had Springfield in three of his classes so far.
He said Springfield provides a wealth of knowledge in his class.
“She is a history major, so she rattles off these facts about history,” Urekew said. “It’s very impressive.”
Urekew isn’t the only person who seems to be impressed either.
“Students seem to gravitate toward her,” Urekew said.
He said Springfield has proven herself to be a person who is willing and able to help her fellow students by meeting with them outside of class and talking through tough aspects of the material.
“Heidi exemplifies what an IUS student should be,” Urekew said. “She is a great critical thinker.”
Springfield was full of advice and encouragement for students taking history classes, whether they were history majors or just forced to take a class for general education requirements.
“Don’t sit there and be quiet,” Springfield said. “You’ve got to talk. The only way you’ll learn history is by arguing it.”
Springfield also said that internships are important though often overlooked by history majors.
“We need people to fill internships in the history department,” Springfield said.
She said there are plenty of internship positions sitting around waiting for students to fill them.
Springfield took an internship herself at the Clarksville Historical Society Museum.
She said the internship helped her decide what she really wanted to do.
Springfield had plenty of exciting facts and stories to relay from what she learned during her time at the Clarksville Historical Society Museum.
One day, while she was doing some cleaning and sorting, Springfield said she found an old box that had been donated to the historical society. The box hadn’t been bothered with or properly tended.
Springfield said she opened the rusted out metal box and found cracked and yellowed deeds of land, many of which were in very poor condition because they hadn’t been properly preserved.
At the bottom of the stack of papers was a will written in William Clark’s own handwriting, describing the layout of a piece
of land under his ownership.
Springfield was upset that this will hadn’t been properly taken care of, but thrilled that she got to unearth such an exciting artifact.
Springfield recommends internships — not only because of the experiences they offer — but because of the opportunities they give students who take them.
“The only way to get a job as a history major is to form that loop of contacts,” Springfield said. “It’s the old-boy network in the history world.”
By MICHELE HOP
Staff
mhop@ius.edu