Welcome! My name is Ulysses H. Swanson.
I am a community historian and undergraduate student interested in history* and archives**. My goals are to continue on to a public history graduate program in 2025 and work as a historical researcher associated with a cultural institution or a special collections cataloger (or both!) someday.
* My historical interests include food histories of the Americas; trans/genderqueer and intersex histories of the 19th century US; and the development of "road culture" in the Upper Midwest.
** My archival interests include community archives management; genealogy databases and the heuristics of researching and memorializing marginalized peoples; and the life cycles of special collections.
Full CV available online (link).
Education
In May 2025, I will graduate from Metro State University with a Bachelor of the Arts in History, minor in Research and Information Studies. To complete this degree, I have already taken courses in historical interpretation, Latin American and American Indian histories, and archives and special collections. I have also completed two practica (one in exhibit installation, the other in public history and digital archives).
Intern and Volunteer
Notable organizations I have worked for include the Minnesota Historical Society (Jeffers Petroglyphs site and the MN LGBTQ+ Digital History Map), the Metropolitan Council, and the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project. My roles have included researcher, historical materials handler, and content creator.
LGBTQ History
"Edgar Burnham: a transformation of sex in Civil War Era Wisconsin"
Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project (blog post, August 2024)"How Do We Talk About Josie Strawser? Thoughts on family history, trans historicity, and defining transness"
Medium (blog post, July 2023) (honorable mention, 2024 Carothers Distinguished Writers Award)City Ordinances Criminalizing People in "A Dress" or "Disguise" "Not Belonging To" or "Becoming Of" "His or Her Sex," 1848-1986
Google My Maps (map, May 2023)The Tale of Swede Pete: A Nonbinary Cowboy in the 1890s
Internet Archive (documentary, May 2023)Transgender Ancestors
Wikitree (wiki, July 2022, updated June 2024) (awarded a Certificate of Recognition by the Dane County [Wisconsin] Board of Supervisors, August 2024)
Home page of the North Start Speedway digital archive.
Food History
Hotdish: A Historiography
Student Scholars Research Conference, Metro State University, St. Paul, Minnesota (poster, April 2023)
Road Culture
North Star Speedway
(digital archive, March 2024)
