Wendy Plotkin
2480 Apple Blossom Ln
Conway AR 72034-8443
Wplotkin66@gmail.com
Ph.D., History Department, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1999
M.A., Urban and Environmental Policy Department, Tufts University, February, 1987
B.A., History, University of Illinois at Urbana, 1971
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Assistant Professor, Department of History, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, August 2003-2009
Editor, Local Community Fact Book, University Library, University of Illinois at Chicago, September, 2001-April-2003
Project Coordinator, Near West Historical Web Project, University of Illinois at Chicago, August, 1999-June, 2001
Financial Loan Specialist (Community-Based Development), Dept. of Public Facilities, City of Boston, 1987-88.
Coordinator, Special Projects Program, Executive Office of Communities and Development, State of
Massachusetts, 1985-86
Planner, Housing & Transportation Departments, Metropolitan Area Planning Council, Boston, MA, 1979-84
DISSERTATION
“Deeds of Mistrust: Race, Housing, and Restrictive Covenants in Chicago, 1900-1953.” (University of Illinois at Chicago, Ph.D., 1999)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS (Encyclopedia Entry, Articles & Chapters)
“Robert Rochon Taylor” (Chairman of Chicago Housing Authority, 1944-1950). Henry Louis Gates & Evelyn Higginbotham, eds.. African American National Biography (Online Supplement), Oxford University Press, 2018.
“Urban Public Policy: A Plague Upon the Cities? (Review Essay), Journal of Urban History (September 2003), 767-777.
"Electronic Texts in the Historical Profession: Perspectives from Across the Scholarly Spectrum" in Orville Vernon Burton, ed., Computing in the Social Sciences and Humanities (: Press, March, 2003)
"‘Hemmed In’: Racial Restrictive Covenants and Deed Restrictions in Chicago in the World War II Era," Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (Spring, 2001), 39-69.
"Rent Control in Chicago After WWII: Politics, People & Controversy," 30:2 Prologue (Magazine of the National Archives and Records Administration (Summer, 1998), 110-123.
Recent Scholarship on Arkansas Journalism History
2021-Present: Research for biography of Dorothy Stuck, Editor, Marked Tree Tribune, 1950-1969.
2021-2022: Research on Stuck’s position as Director, Region VI (Dallas) Office of Civil Rights, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1969-1979.
- Extensive review of primary and secondary literature on federal school desegregation in U.S., including reports of U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and transcripts of hearings of U.S. Congress on school desegregation
- University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Special Collections Library, October, 2021. Dorothy D. Stuck Papers.
- Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan, August, 2022. J. Stanley Pottinger Papers, 1968 -1981.
- Recipient of Ford Presidential Library Travel Grant.
2024: Research on Stuck’s Childhood and Teenage Years in Muskogee, Oklahoma and on Howard Stuck, Jr. Family (Civic and Business Leaders in Jonesboro, Arkansas)
- Jonesboro Public Library Historical Files, August, 2024.
- University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Special Collections Library August, 2024. Dorothy D. Stuck Papers.
2024: Ongoing requests for scans of documents related to life of Dorothy D. Stuck (450 documents allowed per semester), University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Special Collections Library.
- September, 2024. Request #1, received.
Volunteer Work in Arkansas 2016-Present
History Committee, National Federation of Press Women (NFPW), September, 2024-January 29, 2025.
Developed proposed program of preserving and increasing access to NFPW print and digital records for NFPW President and 6-member committee.
Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame, March, 2023
Prepared successful nomination of Nan Snow to Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame, including 200 page documentation of Snow’s career as advocate for women’s advancement from 1969-2016. Hillary R. Clinton provided one of three letters of recommendation.
Archivist, Nan Snow, 2022-Present
Scanned and edited contents of Nan Snow Collection in University of Central Arkansas Archives and of additions provided to me by Nan Snow.
Historian, Arkansas Press Women (APW), January, 2021-2024.
- Scanned print records, including documents and scrapbooks, from 1949-1959.
- Developed database structure for documenting digitized records.
- Transcribed audio cassette tapes of 1989 Panel of Former APW Presidents
- Created digital version of Horizons: 100 Arkansas Women of Achievement (Rose Publishing Company)
- Presented “Arkansas Press Women, 1949-Present: An Introduction at (Virtual) Arkansas Historical Association Conference, 2022.
- Published Articles in APW Communicator (Newsletter)
- “APW History: Skirts in the Front Office” (Early career of Charlotte Tillar Schexnayder). October, 2022.
- “Roberta W. Fulbright: A Most Remarkable Founder, Part 1.” April, 2023.
- “Roberta W. Fulbright: A Most Remarkable Founder-Part II. October, 2023.
- Award: 1st Place in Historical Writing, APW Communications Contest, 2024.
- Award: Honorable Mention, NFPW Communications Contest, 2024.
- Catherine Nolte. “Celebrating APW’s 75th Anniversary Through History.” (Interview with Wendy Plotkin about preparation of 2024 75th Anniversary Arkansas Press Women Calendar.)
- Wrote, designed, and published “2024 75th Anniversary Historical Calendar of Arkansas Press Women”