The digital humanities project "Petitioning for Freedom: Habeas Corpus in the American West, 1812– 1924" received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
The project was developed by Katrina Jagodinsky, Susan Rosowski Associate Professor in the Department of History, and her team in the Digital Legal Research Lab at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Visitors can explore how marginalized communities navigated the courts to seek justice. Hosted by the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities (CDRH), the project is the first of its kind and explores thousands of habeas corpus petitions lodged to challenge coercion and confinement in eight states.
The NEH fellowship will support research and writing leading to a book on the widespread use of the legal principle of habeas corpus by petitioners in American western courts between 1812 and 1924.
Since 1965, the NEH has supported research and learning in the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. NEH grants have supported the building blocks of American civil society, helped to examine the human condition, promoted civics education, created an understanding of our cultural heritage, fostered mutual respect for diverse beliefs and cultures, and developed media and information literacy.
