Honoree
Elizabeth B. Monroe
AWARDS
- Thomas Ehrlich Award for Excellence in Service Learning (2003)
- Department of History
- School of Liberal Arts
- Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
BIOGRAPHY
Since 1989, Elizabeth Brand Monroe has dedicated herself to developing a vibrant service learning component in the graduate public history program at IUPUI. By 1994, Monroe’s vision had turned IUPUI’s program into a national model.
Monroe’s mentorship of graduate students in service learning internships has had a profound impact on dozens of nonprofit organizations around Indiana—from large institutions like Conner Prairie and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, to smaller ones, such as Historic Madison, Inc. and the Indiana Medical History Museum.
Monroe and her students have helped many organizations to accomplish things that might not have otherwise been possible, such as securing funding for projects, preserving and cataloging priceless artifacts, completing nominations for the National Register of Historic Places, conducting oral histories, organizing tours of historically significant sites, holding workshops, publishing useful guides and handbooks, and much more. Jon C. Smith, who directs the Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, describes the impact of the Cornelius O’Brien internships, which are administered through Monroe’s program, on his organization: “As a state government agency, we face continual budgetary and staffing limitations. Cornelius O’Brien Internships have helped us meet these demands by providing capable young people to work part time at no charge to our office.”
The number of IUPUI public history interns in the field at any given moment has tripled since 1994. Monroe, however, has refused to let the program’s growth turn her position into a desk job. She is committed to her hands-on style of leadership. “Where am I in all of this?” she asked. “Right beside the students. I clean artifacts, move collections, measure rooms, edit booklets, research and write exhibit scripts, introduce speakers, participate in workshops and generally lead by doing. It gives the students a chance to see me actually doing public history and interacting with local professionals, and it gives me a chance to get to know the students better.”
-2003
Monroe’s mentorship of graduate students in service learning internships has had a profound impact on dozens of nonprofit organizations around Indiana—from large institutions like Conner Prairie and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, to smaller ones, such as Historic Madison, Inc. and the Indiana Medical History Museum.
Monroe and her students have helped many organizations to accomplish things that might not have otherwise been possible, such as securing funding for projects, preserving and cataloging priceless artifacts, completing nominations for the National Register of Historic Places, conducting oral histories, organizing tours of historically significant sites, holding workshops, publishing useful guides and handbooks, and much more. Jon C. Smith, who directs the Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, describes the impact of the Cornelius O’Brien internships, which are administered through Monroe’s program, on his organization: “As a state government agency, we face continual budgetary and staffing limitations. Cornelius O’Brien Internships have helped us meet these demands by providing capable young people to work part time at no charge to our office.”
The number of IUPUI public history interns in the field at any given moment has tripled since 1994. Monroe, however, has refused to let the program’s growth turn her position into a desk job. She is committed to her hands-on style of leadership. “Where am I in all of this?” she asked. “Right beside the students. I clean artifacts, move collections, measure rooms, edit booklets, research and write exhibit scripts, introduce speakers, participate in workshops and generally lead by doing. It gives the students a chance to see me actually doing public history and interacting with local professionals, and it gives me a chance to get to know the students better.”
-2003
