The Katharine Ordway Natural History Study Area has been Macalester’s “other campus” since 1967. Located along the bluffs of the Mississippi River seventeen miles southeast of campus, it has been an invaluable resource for student research and fieldwork in the areas of anthropology, environmental studies, biology, art and art history, geography, geology, and others.
This past fall semester, a new course was offered that focused on the past, present, and future uses of the Ordway site itself: Indigenizing Ordway: Reclaiming (Hi)stories, Narratives, and Knowledge, co-taught by professors Marianne Milligan (linguistics and environmental studies) and Katie Phillips (history). Students in the class visited both the Ordway and the Archives and utilized archival materials relating to the original purchase and expansion of the site; the building of the research/classroom space there; reports from the naturalists living and working on-site; and previous student work. They also researched the history and use of the site prior to colonial occupation.
Materials created by the class include Ordway-themed zines, which have been donated to the Archives to include in the Ordway collection. A further outcome of the student research is a summer research project creating a full inventory of the materials held in the Ordway classroom, which will help determine what else can be brought to the Archives to add to the collection for the benefit of future researchers.
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