Our team is analyzing habeas corpus petitions from 1812-1924 in Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Washington, and Oregon to highlight the efforts of Black, Indigenous, immigrant, child, and institutionalized petitioners in claiming rights not yet granted to them in the law.
Potential Student Tasks |
Student researchers work directly with historical documents to transcribe and encode them. This work allows us to sort the petitions and ask particular questions like “how many child custody disputes involved habeas in Nebraska?” or “how many immigrants used habeas to avoid deportation in Washington?” Student researchers gain important quantitative and qualitative social science and digital research skills through this project.
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Student Qualifications |
Students with interest in historical legal claims and who are interested in knowing more about civil rights claims in American history would enjoy this project. Student researchers must be able to pay close attention to detail and work collaboratively on a team.
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Available Positions | 3 |
Additional Comments |
We’ve enjoyed working FYRE students the past two years and are committed to student success. As a first-generation student myself from a rural and low-income background, I understand the challenges with transitioning to a higher ed campus environment. Our research team is very diverse and most of our student researchers aspire to careers in social justice, social sciences, and/or the law or legal advocacy. We’d love to have you join us!
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