Hi there! My name is Hannah Herrmann and I’m currently an undergraduate student majoring in Psychology. I’ve lived in Virginia my entire life, so I’ve driven past historical markers and old farmland a million times, but I honestly never knew much about the specific stories behind them. This project gave me a chance to finally dig into the history of my home state, specifically looking at how the peanut industry shaped local communities after the Civil War.
Even though my classes usually focus on how the mind works, I think history and psychology go hand-in-hand. I’m really interested in understanding people, whether they are here today or lived a hundred years ago, and seeing how they dealt with the challenges of their time.
Outside of class, you can usually find me working on homework, trying to hunt down the best iced coffee in town, or walking my German shepherd, Barnaby. I also work part-time at the campus library, which definitely came in handy when I was trying to track down texts for this project! I hope you find this site interesting and learn something new about Virginia’s nutty past.
