April 6, 2023
Meet Lindsey Meza, a senior studying history with a minor in Latin America studies. Lindsey is originally from Lake in the Hills, Illinois, and chose to come to BYU because “it felt right.” She was involved in many different projects and has loved her time as a student in the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences.
Part of Lindsey’s involvement in the college was with the BYU Slavery Project, a student-led research project with the aim of looking into BYU's history to better understand BYU faculty, staff, and student beliefs regarding race and ethnicity. Lindsey helped as both a research assistant and wrote stories to help contextualize BYU's and the Church's relationship with race and slavery. Lindsey also presented at a total of five conferences at Emory University in Georgia, the Mormon History Association Conference in Logan, Utah, an honors conference at BYU, a women and gender studies conference at Weber State University, and the Phi Alpha Theta Conference at the University of Utah.
Lindsey has enjoyed all of the professors and faculty in the history department and notes that they are all amazing people, willing mentors, and incredible teachers. Her favorite professors include David-James Gonzales and Chris Jones. She says her favorite classes so far have been Latinos in the United States and History of Missions and Missionaries in America.
In speaking of her experience as a history student, Lindsey shares that the history department is so welcoming and encourages a diversity of thought and opinion. She says, “My professors have encouraged me to reach beyond what I felt comfortable doing.” In fact, she plans to continue her studies by attending graduate school. She is deciding between Loyola Chicago, the University of Utah, and the University of Connecticut.
Lindsey says her interest in history was sparked by learning about Dolley Madison, wife of James Madison and former first lady. Many credit her with James Madison’s reelection due to her incredible hostess skills. Lindsey also admires Alicia Amador, Maria Mangual, and Gwen Stern who were founding members of the Mujeres Latinas en Acción, a Latina organization in Chicago that is now the oldest Latina-led organization in the country.
In addition to women in history, Lindsey shares that she admires the women present in the history major. “One of my dearest friends is Mak, whom I met in my first ever history class with Dr. Jones,” says Lindsey. “She is the epitome of all that is good and great in the world and I feel so lucky that the history program both brought us together and melded us into two distinct, individual beings, who still love so many of the same things.”
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