History

History Internships

Students at Saint Vincent get valuable knowledge from completing internships through applying classroom knowledge to the professional world. History majors at Saint Vincent College have completed internships at a wide range of places such as: 

• the Heinz History Center (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Historic Deerfield (Western MA)
• the Holocaust Museum (Washington D.C.)
• the Merchant’s House Museum (New York, NY)
• Gettysburg National Battlefield Park (Gettysburg, PA)
• Fort Necessity (Western PA)
• a variety of locations in Westmoreland County such as the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, the Westmoreland County Historical Society, and Historic Hanna’s Town; and,  
• locations on campus like the Fred Roger’s Archive. 

Outcome

Obtaining a degree in history from Saint Vincent College will provide graduates with a variety of opportunities. 

• Graduates of Saint Vincent College have gone on to continue their education at prestigious schools such as Villanova University, George Washington University, Michigan State University, Kings College (London), University of Leeds (England), North Carolina State University, Lehigh University, West Virginia University, Duquesne University, University of Washington, American University, and Drexel University /// Syracuse University, Johns Hopkins University, Boston College,  Carnegie Mellon University, and Baylor University. 
• Some have attended law at schools like Indiana University, Bloomington, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Penn State University, Washington and Lee University, and the University of Dayton /// Washington and Lee University Law School, and Duquesne University Law School. 
• Some graduates went on to teach social studies at high schools around the country in California, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, as well as local high schools throughout western Pennsylvania like Latrobe, Seneca Valley, Peters Township, Derry, Jefferson Hills, Norwin, and Butler. 
• Other graduates have gone into a myriad of successful careers in a variety of fields which include museum and archival work, working at the federal, state, and local level, banking, and manufacturing.

Careers

By participating in internships, along with completing in-depth class work, history students are prepared for a career in a variety of historical fields. Graduates of Saint Vincent College currently hold the following careers:  

• Professors of History at Clemson University, Southern Methodist University, Lafayette University, Purdue University, and Rider University; 
• Museum Facilitator at Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Bushy Run Battlefield, the Smithsonian Institution, the Compass Inn, and many others; 
• Attorneys with a wide variety of firms; and 
• Teaching education and school administration at Latrobe High School, Peters Township High School, Seneca Valley Middle School, Maryland’s Charles County Public Schools, and many other districts. 

History Alumni Biographies

Jill E. Kelly, Ph.D. 

The education I received with the history department has shaped my life in so many ways—laying the foundation for my career in history and connecting me to people and a place that I love. My professors encouraged my interest in studying abroad in South Africa and enabled research for what would become my senior thesis on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Dr. Bogner’s primary source analysis assignments helped prepare me for the in-depth research I undertook on that trip—and in my work since then. Dr. Sommers’ Modern Intellectual History course enabled me to explore some of the ideas that would greatly influence South Africa’s liberation heroes and Dr. Kelly’s (no relation—everyone asked!) exciting in-class discussions and mock trials inspire my teaching pedagogy. I had a wonderful summer internship with the Monastery Run Improvement Project that equipped me with the oral history skills I use in my research and classrooms. And I met some of my best friends in history classrooms!  

Jill Kelly is Associate Professor of History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and author of To Swim with Crocodiles: Land, Violence, and Belonging in South Africa. 

Catherine E. Votovich 

It was important to me when choosing the right college of history that I find a school of history that would challenge me, bring forth my potential, and teach me the skills, strategies, and techniques needed to be a life-long learner, and that is exactly what the history department of Saint Vincent College did!  The preparation and nurturing I received allowed me to enter the teaching profession within a month of graduation; I attribute my success to the higher level thinking skills, problem solving,  and knowledge that was imparted to me in my four years by highly qualified professors and small class sizes.  The history department demands, and expects, a level of academic rigor and excellence that I now expect of my learners at Greater Latrobe. Furthermore, Dr. Johnson and Dr. Sommers empowered me as a woman to become the leader I am; their help with my senior thesis on the Martha P. Falconer and the Segregation of Delinquent Women was invaluable.”   

Catherine E. Votovich is a social studies teacher in the Greater Latrobe Area School District of Latrobe, Pennsylvania.