Once again, this year’s issue of Past and Present represents a departure from previous issues. As with many other aspects of our lives, Covid-19 has disrupted our traditional mode of producing Past and Present, and this year, for the very first time, the journal is being published only in electronic form. Our spring term editors, rather than see their hard work and that of their fall semester peers go unseen, were determined to present this year’s journal on the departmental web page created last year under the guidance of Jacqueline Beatty, who again assisted the editors with this undertaking. As has been the case annually, this year’s Past and Present reflects the stellar scholarship produced by York College students. I am indebted to all of my departmental faculty colleagues who have mentored students in the research projects that were submitted for consideration, whether or not the papers ultimately were accepted for publication; faculty devotion to nurturing students at every step of the research process has direct bearing on the quality of the final projects. I am also grateful to all of our department’s students for providing their scholarship, which serves as a foundation for the journal. This year I was blessed to work with four outstanding student editors, all of whom have been an absolute joy to work with, and I appreciate their unceasing hard work, dedication, and care with which they approached this endeavor. After difficult deliberations, the editors selected seven exceptional manuscripts that reflect the broad research interests and high quality of scholarship of our department’s students, and have spent many hours reading and preparing the manuscripts for publication. Sadly, Covid-19 intervened just as editors were planning an exciting cover design commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of Past and Present with assistance from Karen Rice-Young, Archivist at the Schmidt Library, for whose help and ideas I am grateful; this tribute will likely be paid with our planned double print issue next year.
-Ilana Krug, Past and Present faculty advisor