Jennifer Andrella

Year in Program: 2nd Year
Fields: Nineteenth-Century U.S., Environmental History, Plains Indian Ethnohistory, and Latin American Comparative History
Advisor: Dr. Thomas Summerhill
Committee: Dr. Michael Stamm, Dr. Susan Sleeper-Smith, Dr. Mindy Morgan, and Dr. Peter Beattie
Research Languages: French and Lakota
Educational Background: B.A. with Honors, University of Toledo (2016)
Email: andrella@msu.edu
My research interests include nineteenth-century territorial development in the American West, Reconstruction-era politics, and the historical relationship between Northern Plains Indian tribes, settlers, and the government. My dissertation will focus on Montana Territory (1864-1889) as a case study to examine how national issues like territorial development, justice systems, and conflicts with Native communities were debated locally and nationally. Ultimately, these widespread debates reveal how the nation continued to divide during the Reconstruction era and challenges how historians traditionally conceptualize this period.
In 2016, I earned my B.A. in history with honors and a minor in English writing at the University of Toledo. During my undergraduate career, I wrote an honors thesis titled “On the Banks of Bear River: Press, Perception, and Memory of the Piegan Massacre, 1870.” This research analyzed the diverse ways in which the press coverage of Montana’s worst massacre complicated its solidification into historical memory.
Graduate Assistantships
Teaching Assistant, IAH 202 Europe and the World, Fall 2016
Teaching Assistant, ISS 325 The Dynamics of Violence, Spring 2017
Research Assistant, the Lab for the Education and Advancement of Digital Research (LEADR) 2017-2018