Kaitlynn Harless always knew she wanted to earn a master’s degree in history; she just didn’t know where to attend or what topic to focus her research on. Originally from Giles County, Harless attended the University of Colorado Boulder for college where she majored in history. She “loved every minute” of her time in Colorado and says it was an exciting experience being in a larger city after spending her whole life in Giles. Her classes and being surrounded by others who loved history just as much as she did helped seal the deal that this was what she wanted to pursue. “History has always been a part of my life in some way, I’ve just always loved it,” explains Harless. After graduating in 3 years in 2018, Harless made the decision to take a few years off and live in Denver while figuring out what came next. 

Free from the expectations of homework and quizzes, Harless began to read more on topics that interested her. Through these readings, she stumbled across an interest and passion for Appalachian history, especially in unionization labor movements in coal mines and factories and the roles of women in these movements. With this newfound knowledge, she decided to apply for masters programs within the Appalachian region so she could study where her research interests resided. It was a mere coincidence she ended up being so close to her hometown for graduate school. Harless explains, “I was very strategic in picking where I applied. I applied to multiple schools in the region, but I knew VT had materials related to my research and was within the vicinity of other archives. I chose Virginia Tech because of its program, the professors, and the Appalachian studies program.” 

At the end of the Fall 2022 semester, her first in the program, Harless came across an incredible opportunity: interning for the Made by History blog, which was a part of The Washington Post at the time. One of her professors recommended her for the position and she gladly accepted. The goal of the blog is to bring short, argument-driven articles to a public audience to illustrate the impact and context of historical events on current issues. Harless worked with the blog from January 2023 through May 2023 as a social media intern. Her primary responsibility was to discern the key argument and significance of the articles published each morning; this helped Harless to create an attention grabbing post on social media to interest people in reading the full article. Harless enjoyed this process immensely: “It was a lot of fun – I got to read all types of history that I hadn’t learned about before and sometimes it even related to my own research, which was really exciting!” 

When asked what lessons she took away from the internship, Harless pauses before explaining that the biggest impact was to the way she reads and writes. “I’m typically reading on a daily basis for my classes, but reading articles for the blog allowed me to read for a public audience rather than an academic one. It helped me think about my own work and how I want to write it – how I would write for a public audience, how to phrase a sentence, how to grab people’s attention, how to link the past with the present. Even though I wasn’t writing the articles, I found it really helpful to see the techniques being used by the professionals.” Harless admits that she loves writing and sees herself continuing to write and create after graduation. 

While Harless admittedly loves writing, she might enjoy reading primary source documents even more. She’s had the opportunity to look through numerous primary sources during her time in the program thus far. Over Thanksgiving break, she went to Bluefield, WV to do some research at the Eastern Regional Coal Archives, which she learned about from one of her professors, Sam Cook. The archive had scrapbooks and diaries of folks from the time period she’s researching. Harless says, “Sometimes you have to read between the lines of what they’re saying or not saying, so it can be kind of tough at times, but it’s also the best part.” As she describes this, Harless is animated and smiles, clearly passionate about both the topic and the process. 

When asked about life post graduation, Harless laughs and says, “I’m planning to think more about it in February!” What she does know is that she won’t be staying in the New River Valley; she’s ready to move somewhere new for this next chapter of her life. “I’m very interested in working in a museum setting, but I am open to whatever opportunities come my way and wherever that experience takes me. We’ll see what happens!” 

Written by Cammie Sgarrella