University of the Ozarks senior Zachary Wilson spent his fall semester bridging past and present-using his digital media skills to help the Johnson County Historical Society (JCHS) preserve local history for future generations.

Wilson spent the Fall 2025 Semester working in an internship with the JCHS in downtown Clarksville. The communication (media studies) major from Jacksonville, Ark., helped the organization move further into the digital age through his video and editing expertise and knowledge.

The idea for the internship came about last summer in a meeting between Susan Edens, associate professor in communication, and Mark Hodge, president of the JCHS.

"We mentioned that we'd been wanting to work on an oral history project, but none of us had any experience with digital media and Susan said that she might be able to work out an internship," Hodge said. "Zachary brought the skills and experience that we were lacking and really helped us."

Wilson worked every Tuesday and Thursday morning of the semester at the historical society center and put in approximately 135 hours for the three-hour, upper-level credit. He did video editing and video recording for things like the quarterly meeting as well researching lenses for their DSLR camera. He also helped set up and train volunteers on editing software and how to upload videos to the organization's YouTube channel.

"I feel like I benefited both personally and as a student from this internship," Wilson said. "I learned some new skills on video editing and learned a lot about Clarksville, Johnson County and the surrounding area."

Wilson said he especially enjoyed hearing the stories from local historians and people whose families have lived in Johnson County for generations.

"I just really liked editing the videos and hearing stories about the families that have been here for years and hearing how the county became to be and how it changed over time," Wilson said. "It definitely made me appreciate history more and to appreciate how important it is to capture these stories on video."

Hodge said working with Wilson was a pleasure.

"Zachary was really friendly to be around and he seemed to enjoy the work," Hodge said. "We were tickled to death to have him here, providing the boost we've needed in our digital and technical areas. His work has definitely positioned us to move further into the digital environment."

Topics: Communication Studies