Andrea Mullins

Hello, my name is Andrea Mullins. I am originally from Charleston, WV, but I grew up in the Cape Girardeau /Jackson area and have lived here most of my life. I was homeschooled and earned my high school diploma through an online program called Penn Foster High School, based in Scranton, PA. From there, I attended Southeast Missouri State University, where I completed my bachelor’s, double majoring in Social Science and French, with a minor in Religious Studies.

When I first started my academic career, I was undecided what path I wanted to take, so the interdisciplinary nature of the social science degree program appealed to me. That and it was online, which I needed that flexibility at the time. History was one of the focuses of the program and I really loved history, so I decided to make that my primary concentration, with anthropology as my secondary concentration. I majored in French because I knew that I would need reading abilities in at least a second language and because it was an amazing program.

I joined the MA program at Southeast because I completed my bachelors at Southeast and wanted to continue researching and writing about Stella Walsh with Dr. Criblez. It is also close to my home so I didn’t need to relocate. I have found Southeast to be flexible (with online and hiflex classes) and affordable, both qualities that are positives for me.

I love historic preservation because historic preservationists make sure that the physical evidence of our past doesn’t disappear. And because they make history available to the public whether it’s in museums, archives, or historic sites. I believe historical literacy is of the utmost importance.

The first year of the MA in Public History program was a challenge, since I was new to historic preservation. There were also a lot of things that I really enjoyed. I loved Dr. Rhodes’ Cold War seminar, where I had the opportunity to write a paper about how Cold War politics influenced the US government’s stance on health and physical fitness. I also enjoyed Dr. Criblez’s Intro to Public History class and the opportunity to experience different aspects of public history. Additionally, I had my first experience with developing museum exhibits that semester when I worked with the HPA on their 40^th anniversary banquet and exhibit.

When I was younger, I variously wanted to be a private investigator, a lawyer, or have some other type of legal/investigative type career, because I’ve always been very good at solving puzzles and taking little bits of information and making sense of them. Before coming to Southeast, I did try law for a bit, made a C in tort law, then moved on to my current career path.

I like the small town atmosphere not only in Cape Girardeau, but also how that carries over into the small campus of Southeast and the smaller class sizes. I love the ability to really get to know people and make friends, and to really have that personal connection with faculty, staff, and classmates that isn’t possible on larger campuses or in areas with higher populations.

Things I’m looking forward to: opening my exhibit on Stella Walsh at Heritage Hall; presenting my paper “Stella Walsh: Queen of the Stadium” at the Missouri Conference on History; and the HPA banquet in April.