July 2024 Intern Insights: Raegan Lamkin
Raegan Lamkin
Raegan Lamkin is an Audit Assistance and Analysis Intern for MAAV. She has the integral job of assisting Dr. Sarah Plummer in the creation and documentation of thousands of monuments across Appalachian Virginia in order to create a Monument Audit.
Even though I am graduating in Spring 2024, I am staying on for the summer to conclude my work at MAAV. By the end of my internship, I will have been with MAAV for over a year. For the year, I have been primarily working with Dr. Sarah Plummer. When I applied, I was looking for hands-on research opportunities. Research in social sciences has been a passion of mine and something I want to continue as a career. On my first day at MAAV, the other interns and I were getting our assignments. I remember Dr. Plummer saying, "I am so sorry," when she told me I would spend most of the time cataloging monuments.
However, my work with MAAV fully prepared me for data collection in research. Additionally, it made me think about how I can incorporate the design into my own research interests. For example, all of the monuments will be mapped in ArcGIS. I started thinking about how I could do my future research from a spatial perspective. This semester I enrolled in a Principles of GIS class, and I will be taking a cartography course during my master's degree.
Recently, we finished with over 3,000 monuments! The next step is to compile everything into a report. Therefore, I am spending my last summer with MAAV analyzing Civil War monuments in Appalachian Virginia. Fun fact - the Civil War monuments made up 32% of all monuments in the region! During my time at MAAV, Dr. Plummer, Dr. Satterwhite, Dr. Powell, and Lauren Trice have been my biggest advocates. All of MAAV's leadership team has been supportive of my professional and academic development. One thing I wanted to do with the data was develop my own research paper. In particular, a paper that will complement my research interests as I enter my master's program.
As a political science student, I am interested in far-right extremism. The paper allowed me to research the role of monuments in furthering white identity through Lost Cause narratives. Through this paper, I have two major takeaways. First, the data we have collected can produce a lot of valuable research. Second, I learned there are many creative ways to approach my research interests. Before interning with MAAV, I don't think I would have thought to approach white identity with monuments.
Beyond my professional and academic development, MAAV also helped me with grappling with my Appalachian identity. I grew up in the military while most of my family grew up in Dickenson County, VA. I visited often, almost every summer and winter break. When my family and I permanently moved there, I noticed exactly how different I was. My accent was different, my values were different, I was raised differently, etc. Through MAAV, I learned exactly how diverse "Appalachia" is. Additionally, I was able to serve and connect with my community.
As I finish up my internship, I am most excited to see what comes out of the research I have done. I hope people in Appalachian Virginia will dive into the data and consider the landscape of monuments. The report will showcase exactly how uniform the monuments in our region are. A lot of the same people and stories are told over and over again. I also hope local activists continue to fight for representation in the region. Even when MAAV is done, there are so many untold stories. Monuments are one thing that furthers collective memory. These stories deserve to be remembered.
