Williams and Kirkpatrick first proposed the idea of producing a documentary focused on Delaware instead of the traditional final paper for the department’s undergraduate research requirement — in the course catalog it is called COMM 468: Undergraduate Research in Communication — to their media production professor, Lydia Timmins. The students credited Timmins with a shared interest in video production that ultimately led to the project idea.
While the pitch was considered unconventional, it wasn’t unheard of.
“Although not a traditional project complete with a final paper, Kayla and Quinn’s proposed final product, a video documentary, makes their research on Delaware accessible and easy to share,” said Timmins, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and the project’s faculty sponsor. “Ultimately, producing a documentary requires research, interviewing subjects and statistical analysis — all of the pieces you would expect for university-level research.”
After receiving approval from Department of Communication Chair Kami Silk, the two worked with Timmins to prepare a storyboard and plan out the project. With over two decades of experience working as a TV news producer, Timmins was able to provide insight into production timelines and capabilities that proved invaluable to the project. She also connected them with UD alumna Bonnie Keller, a long-time broadcasting and communications professional with specialties in scriptwriting and voiceover work, who was able to offer the students advice, resources and even some professional press contacts.
While Kirkpatrick and Williams originally planned for their final project to focus on a variety of Delaware-centric topics, including deep-dives into the cuisine, residents and landmarks of all three of its counties, resource and time constraints led them to limit the focus of their for-credit project.
“Even as we went along with filming, we ourselves as Delaware natives were realizing that there’s a lot about the state we didn’t know,” said Kirkpatrick, a native of Wilmington. “We also realized a lot of other people didn’t know about the Underground Railroad in Delaware — and specifically New Castle County, so we decided to focus on that.”
“The Underground Railroad in Delaware focuses on famous Delaware abolitionists and features historic documents, maps and locations,” said Williams. “It also touches on the different ideologies that existed during that time across Delaware’s three counties.”