Sarah Frank
Modern Language Association
English, Environmental Science, Urban Studies
Juggernaut Infrastructure: Modernism and the Machine Age
New York City, New York and New Brunswick, New Jersey,
2025
It's an exciting time to be researching infrastructure, but the topic often feels abstract. I had spent a good deal of time writing on bridge infrastructures like the Brooklyn Bridge without ever visiting the bridge or its archives. Finally being able to do so through this Fellowship was a tremendous gift. Not only did I get to see (and run to!) the Brooklyn Bridge, but I got to spend time in archives with brilliant and kind archivists. The on-site research I did was illuminating far beyond what I could have done remotely. There is much that can be accessed online today, but there is also great value in good old-fashioned contact, with people as with structures and things.