Senior Madeline Kingry Presents at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Florida Conference of Historians

On February 27th, Florida College senior Madeline Kingry presented her thesis, “Spanish Flu in Tampa: Discrimination and Cooperation” at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Florida Conference of Historians. Her presentation was one of many given by local scholars during the three-day conference, which was hosted by Saint Leo University. Kingry’s choice of subject was inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I was interested in how minorities in Florida are affected by social crises,” she says.

Kingry was able to reference newspapers, cemetery records, and Florida Disease Reports from 1918 in her presentation. She is grateful for the Chatlos librarians who were, “very helpful in finding some great resources.”

“Public speaking isn’t really my thing,” Kingry also confessed, “so it was really encouraging to have Dr. Hamilton and some of my friends there to support me.”

History professor Dr. Jonathan Chilcote believes public presentations like this one are excellent opportunities to show just how talented and hard-working Florida College students are.

“I hope that other students see from Madeline’s example that they can put their work up against those of other undergraduates from other schools, and ought to do so,” he says. “Our students can and should compete. It helps their credentials, reflects positively on the school, and will serve them well in either graduate school or their chosen careers.”

After graduating from Florida College with her bachelor’s in history, Kingry plans to pursue a master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.