History Professor Receives Atkins Library Engagement Award

Gregory Mixon, a professor of history, is the recipient of the second annual J. Murrey Atkins Library Faculty Engagement Award.

Presented to a UNC Charlotte faculty member who has engaged in innovative or exceptional work with library collections, programs and services, the Atkins Library Faculty Engagement Award includes a $2,500 allocation for professional development to recognize the faculty member’s outstanding contributions to the library’s mission, vision and strategic initiatives.

Mixon will be honored at a reception, scheduled for 3:30 p.m., Sept. 15, 2016 in the Halton Reading Room.

The history professor credits university libraries; state, public and private archives; and public libraries for enriching his life since elementary school.

”It is these personal experiences with the library and the various librarians who have welcomed me in each facility that I have sought to share with my students at UNC Charlotte,” Mixon says. “I am indebted to libraries and librarians in my personal and professional lives. I am glad to return the support by creating meaningful library experiences for my students.”

Amanda Binder, social sciences and history librarian, and Marilyn Schuster, local documents librarian and interim Special Collections reference and outreach librarian, nominated Mixon for the award. In selecting Mixon, the award committee recognized his collaborative work with library faculty and staff to produce creative opportunities for students to feel connected to history through the exploration of library materials.

Mixon’s students complete an archives assignment in which they visit the library’s 10th-floor Reading Room for a review of primary sources that relate to the class. The assignment allows each student to explore a manuscript collection and to gain experience with analyzing primary sources, a core research skill in the history curriculum. With liberal studies courses, Mixon invites librarians into the lecture hall where students work in small groups to analyze copies of local primary sources from Special Collections.

Mixon worked with Binder to develop a “Who Am I” project for his 2000 level history courses. In this assignment, students researched a profession that interested them and then identified an African American pioneer in that field. Students used reference sources to gain background information, and used the library collections to research specific individuals.

“These opportunities to work with rare and special collections truly engage students in the work of history,” Binder says. “Beyond introducing students to the Atkins Library collections, Dr. Mixon also promotes library and archives professions. Library faculty and staff that work with his classes are asked to discuss librarianship so that students with an interest in our work can learn more about it.”

Mixon received his doctoral degree in history from the University of Cincinnati. His research focuses on race relations; Southern history; black, Southern and United States urban history; progressive era; and black Southern state militia companies from 1865 to 1910. He is author of “The Atlanta Riot: Race, Class and Violence in a New South City” and the forthcoming “Show Thyself a Man: Georgia State Troops, Colored, 1865-1905.” (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, August 2016).