麻豆村

A fictional character in a dystopian future and a historical figure from Pittsburgh鈥檚 past propelled two 麻豆村 students鈥櫬�Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)(opens in new window) projects, while sharing a first name: Dorothy.

Samantha Mahler, a senior majoring in literature and culture, creative writing and film, worked on a futuristic, feminist novel for middle-grade students titled 鈥淭he Cloudmaker鈥� led by fictional Dorothy Burrows. Ava Arias, a junior majoring in social and political history with a minor in gender studies, researched Dorothy Height, an unsung Civil Rights heroine and her work in Pittsburgh.

Both are students in the聽Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences(opens in new window), who received SURF funding. The program awards $4,500 to undergraduates at Carnegie Mellon for eight to 10 weeks of summer research on campus in any field of study.

鈥淚鈥檝e already recommended the program to my friends,鈥� Mahler said. 鈥淚 think SURF is the perfect opportunity for students to pursue their passions in ways that might not be possible to pursue through classwork or internships.鈥�

A young prophet鈥檚 journey emerges

Mahler said she named her protagonist after the well-known character in 鈥淭he Wizard of Oz鈥� who is trying to get back home.

鈥淚 feel like we鈥檝e all felt that 鈥� even if there鈥檚 not an actual physical home to go home to, it鈥檚 trying to find that sense of home, that is really what the book is about,鈥� Mahler said.

She worked with聽Sharon Dilworth(opens in new window), associate professor of English, as a mentor for the project, taking the first half of the summer to plan and organize the arc of the book, then writing.

鈥淪haron and I would meet up and then discuss where we wanted the story to go and what we wanted to change,鈥� Mahler said. 鈥淚 was genuinely appreciative that she would go through my drafts at any stage and be happy to give opinions.鈥�

Even though Mahler had a strong vision for her work, Dilworth said she was open to criticism and worked hard on rewrites.

鈥淪am is a natural storyteller and the struggle was to find her narrative voice and to set this in place along with a strong interiority,鈥� Dilworth said. 鈥淎fter several weeks, she finally nailed her protagonist's voice and that sort of set her free, and her narrative developed from there.鈥�

Young adult dystopian fiction, such as 鈥淭he Hunger Games,鈥� drew Mahler to reading when she was growing up.

鈥淲omen tended to be such an integral part of that genre and I hadn鈥檛 found that in many others before,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 also just wanted to write what I found fun and exciting.鈥�

In 鈥淭he Cloudmaker,鈥� Dorothy Burrows comes from a maternal family line that means she will one day be a prophet who takes a pill and is able to read the clouds and predict the future of a Florida town called Cherryfield. At first, Dorothy rejects this future. However, once she and a classmate are involved in a murder, they end up becoming close friends on a journey to help her become the next prophet, and save the town at the same time.

Mahler, originally from Punta Gorda, Florida, set the novel in her home state because of its variety of landscapes, weather and ideologies.

鈥淵ou can drive 20 minutes and be in a completely different culture than you were before, that鈥檚 also why I wanted to capture a very close-knit town in Florida.鈥�

Often, dystopian novels promote the empowerment of women, but erase inequality between men and women, she said.

鈥淚 wanted to give my female character agency because agency is such an important thing, which can be lacking in stories about oppressive patriarchal societies,鈥� Mahler said. 鈥淚 wanted to create a realistic oppressive society, but with a main character that fights back.鈥�

An activist鈥檚 family forges inspiration

Activist Dorothy Height embodied that resolute spirit in real life, as Arias found in her SURF project.

Arias first learned about Height in a class with assistant history professor聽Ezelle Sanford III(opens in new window), Introduction to African American History: Black Americans and the World.

Arias researched Height for a class project, but wanted to dig deeper after learning about her work in the Civil Rights Movement, and Sanford became her project mentor.

鈥淚 was like, wow, why have I never heard about her before? When I did extra searching, not much came up about her work,鈥� Arias said.

Born in 1912, Height helped organize the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom 鈥� where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his 鈥淚 Have a Dream鈥� speech 鈥� served as president of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years and counseled first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson. She died in 2010.

For her research, Arias drew from an oral history website hosting videos filmed in 2003, in which Height discusses a range of topics about her life.

In the videos, Height recalls memories of her childhood in Rankin, Pennsylvania, not far from 麻豆村鈥檚 campus, and those during her college days at New York University then involvement with social activist groups such as the National Black United Front, the Harlem Youth Council, the Harlem YWCA and the NAACP.

Arias realized a research gap existed connecting Height鈥檚 activism and that of her parents鈥�. Height鈥檚 father participated in fraternal organization Knights of Pythias and her mother was involved in the Pennsylvania Federation of Women鈥檚 Clubs.

鈥淒orothy鈥檚 mom would bring her along when she was a kid, and she鈥檇 get to hear a lot of impactful civil rights activists come and speak at those organizations,鈥� Arias said. 鈥淲hen I learned about her exposure to these organizations, I started piecing together how her childhood influenced the career path she followed in the future.鈥�

Arias explained that when Rankin, a borough 8 miles to the east of Downtown Pittsburgh, was founded, families of several different ethnicities and races lived there.

鈥淚 feel like that exposure within such a diverse community shows a young Black woman growing up in the early 20th century that integration is possible, and it can succeed and it can prosper,鈥� Arias said. 鈥淭here were aspects of segregation she did encounter in Rankin, but seeing the function of integration succeed, it showed her it was something worth fighting for.鈥�

When she was young, Height was a member of the Girl Reserves Club, a youth branch of the YWCA, which forged a lifelong connection to the organization, Arias said.

鈥淚t encouraged diversity, inclusion, integration, teaching young women mature adult practices like how to be leaders in different communities, what that can look like, and that experience definitely translated into her return to the YWCA in the future,鈥� Arias said.

Fellowship resources lead to opportunities

Overall, the project gave Arias insight into what pursuing a graduate degree in history 鈥� her current path 鈥� might be like.

鈥淭he SURF project gave me the opportunity to learn how to conduct historical research on my own,鈥� Arias said, adding that she鈥檚 taking a historical research class this semester. 鈥淣ow I鈥檓 prepared for what鈥檚 to come.鈥�

As she continues to develop her project into an article for an undergraduate research journal, Arias said SURF workshops were helpful in introducing methods to present her research and she encourages future SURF students to take advantage of those resources.

鈥淏eing able to reach out to my mentor and the聽Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholar Development(opens in new window) was very helpful whenever I had questions,鈥� she said.

Mahler said she plans to continue working on the novel, and hopes that an internship this summer in publishing will help her find the best platform for sharing the story.聽

After enjoying her SURF experience, Mahler said she would recommend future students pursue similar projects this way.

鈥淚鈥檓 so happy 麻豆村 has a venue for creative projects to be funded, that鈥檚 so important,鈥� she said. 鈥淯se the opportunity to do something that you鈥檙e passionate about creatively.鈥�