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SOAR Profile - Casey Hilferty

Name: Casey Hilferty 
Major/Minor: History, dual minor in Women’s Studies and Education 
Expected date of graduation: 2014 
Hometown: Upper Salford, Pa. 
Activities: History Club, Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society, Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society, The 1742 Experience, among others 
Future Plans: Wants to work in a service- or education-based career; hopes to continue her studies in women’s history, earn a Ph.D. and teach collegiately 
Project title: Rediscovering and Including Women in the Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1975 
Project advisor: Jane Berger

Casey Hilferty, a Comenius Scholar and president of the History Club, didn’t let any grass grow under her feet this summer.

In addition to serving as a team leader for The 1742 Experience, the University’s weeklong pre-orientation program for 20 incoming freshmen, Casey participated in the SOAR program, examining the roles women played in the Civil Rights Movement.

Advised by Jane Berger, assistant professor of history, Casey worked on a project titled “Rediscovering and Including Women in the Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1975,” researching influential women from the end of World War II to the beginnings of the Black Panther Party and the development of the mainstream Women’s Liberation Movement in the 1970s.

Later this summer, Casey presented her findings at the Landmark Summer Research Symposium at Susquehanna University, and plans to submit her work to other historical studies conferences.

“I was motivated to participate in SOAR because of the opportunities it would award me through undergraduate research,” Casey says. “It helped me to hone my skills in researching, editing and writing to prepare myself for graduate school. I also wanted to participate in SOAR because I truly love this topic and wanted to devote myself to studying it further.”