Transportation and Travel History

Recommended Advisor | Dr. Jonathan Hagood, History and Latin American Studies

Traditional Component

Investigate the development of the Pan American Highway and use twentieth century images, documentaries, and travel narratives, such as Lyford's Without A Man, to assess the experience of traveling through South America on the Pan American Highway in the 1940s and 1950s. 

Digital Complement

Use GIS to develop a digital map of the Pan American Highway. Mine the travel narratives, images, and documentaries for information on the routes taken by the historical actors and plot the individual routes. 

Art and Art History

Recommended Advisor | Dr. Anne Heath, Art and Art History

Traditional Component

Assess a selection of Lyford's art within the context of the body of her artistic and literary works. Potential lenses of include but are not limited to sex, gender, social class, economic status, capitalism, and marxism. 

Digital Complement

Process Lyford's art work and establish a set vocabulary, which will be used to digitally catalogue Lyford's sketchbooks, illustration, and paintings on the Omeka digital archive.

Publishers and Publishing

Recommended Advisor | English Department Faculty Member

Traditional Component

Katharine Van Etten Lyford's collection contains a vast selection of acceptance and rejection letters from publishers and editors. Use these letters to evaluate Lyford's career as a female freelance writer.

Digital Complement

Develop a comprehensive, searchable database of Lyford's correspondence to and from publishers, editors, and the staff of literary publications, which research may use to statistically analyze the letters and memos. 

Creative Writing | Theatre

Recommended Advisor | English and or Theatre Department Faculty Member

Traditional Componenet

From 1946 to 1947, Katharine Van Etten Lyford and Joan Rothwell motored down the Pan American Highway in a 1937 Ford Coupe, which they affectionately called Junior. When Lyford and Rothwell discovered that it was illegal for women to travel without a male escort, they adopted Junior as their masculine travel companion. Examine Junior as a consciously constructed, multi-faceted character and analyze Lyford and Rothwell's relationship with the Ford Coupe.

Digital Complement

While exploring South America with Rothwell, Lyford documented their journey for The Christian Science Monitor through the serial publication of "Junior's Girls." While :yford unquestionably penned the installments, she often credited both Rothwell and Junior as writers. Transform this newspaper serial into a podcast series.