Suffolk’s Historical Society kickstarted their first meeting Jan. 21. In mid October, a group of students and advisors began to discuss bringing back the club for history and non-history majors alike.
“I love having it now that I am at Suffolk. It was always hard for me to find history related communities at my old school. Now that I am at Suffolk, I was glad to see that the history department was starting one, because before there wasn’t really anything relating to history, so it’s very exciting to have that now,” said Sophia Daniel, the secretary of the Suffolk Historical Society and a sophomore transfer, who’s a public history major and English minor.
At Suffolk a strong sense of community for students is something that is valued throughout the majors and different schools. For history majors, this is a bit of a different story. Many said they have found it hard to meet other history majors outside of having classes together.
“I only got into the history major last year after I studied abroad and I think that I would have gotten into history earlier if I had actually had a place like this to interact with people who like history in a non-academic setting,” said Jean Paul, a junior global history and English major.
The Suffolk Historical Society serves as a place for like minded individuals who aren’t just history majors to come together and connect. Even though it is new, the club aims to bridge a gap between the current and the past. At their first meeting, members made commonplace books, which are personal journals often used for keeping mundane observations about everyday life.
“I want to leave a dedication to the preservation of history and the importance of the social value of history. That it is something that is socially important and that is valuable to everything even if people don’t believe it is,” said Catherine Fagan, the treasurer of the club and a senior history major and art history minor.
In addition to making commonplace books, the e-board gave a presentation outlining goals and plans for the future during their first meeting. As the club grows, their vision expands to include table discussions, presentations about history and field trips. The e-board said they value group influence and want members to have the ability to shape what the club is going to become.
“I’m really excited, we have been trying since October to get it off the ground and to have our first meeting so it’s nice to finally see the culmination of our work. A lot of meetings, a lot of emails with admin and such but we got there,” said Nicki Birangi, the vice president of the club and a junior majoring in history and political science.
Many members in attendance expressed an interest in getting further involved and continuing to attend meetings and participate in activities.
“I think this brings a space to share ideas in a student-led environment, I enjoy that aspect a lot,” said Lena Gawish, a junior who is majoring in history and sociology.
The Suffolk Historical Society meets every other Wednesday from 5:00-6:15 p.m. in 73 Tremont.
This history driven group provides a welcoming community for history majors and history lovers alike, allowing for people of different backgrounds to come together over a common connection and create something that hadn’t existed prior.
“Honestly I want to make that space for people to meet other people and for it to be more casual. I want it to be a place where people can go to hang out with people who share the same interests and talk about things that they are interested in but don’t feel like they have a place to talk about it,” said Corey DeCristofaro, a Journal Contributor and the president of the Suffolk Historical Society and a junior majoring in global history and English literature.
