By Savannah Jackson
For Carter County Times
Kaitlyn P’Simer, an MSU Senior from Carter County majoring in History, has won the Certificate of Merit. This award was given in recognition of top-scoring research at the 2025 Celebration of Student Scholarship. P’Simer’s winning poster presentation, “Soldiers and Spies: a Lady’s Guide to Serving in the Civil War,” examined different paths taken by women to aid their side during the Civil War.
According to Dr. Benjamin Fitzpatrick, Kaitlyn’s faculty mentor, “Highlighting the continuing evolution of Civil War scholarship, Kaitlyn’s research for ‘Soldiers and Spies: A Lady’s Guide to Serving in the Civil War’ challenges traditional narratives of the Civil War with an insightful examination of the often-overlooked roles that women, both black and white, played during the Civil War. The experiences of women such as Loreta J. Velazquez, Belle Boyd, and Rose O’Neal Greenhow, showcases the complexity of women’s roles both on the battlefield and on the home front during the conflict.”
P’simer said the work had been both rewarding and “eye-opening.”
“Exploring the untold stories of women in the Civil War has been an eye-opening journey—one that highlights resilience, courage, and the complexity of history,” P’simer said. “Receiving the Certification of Merit for the 2025 Celebration of Student Scholarship is not just an acknowledgment of my work but a testament to the importance of amplifying voices that history has overlooked. I am very grateful to Dr. Fitzpatrick for being my faculty mentor, I could not have done this without him.”
For more information about Morehead State University’s Department of History, Philosophy, Politics, Global Studies & Legal Studies, visit: https://www.moreheadstate.edu/academics/colleges/humanities/history-philosophy-politics-global-legal-studies/.
