Ellen Haynes

I attribute my success foremost to my faith in God. I believe that everything I have achieved is a result of His guidance and provision, placing me exactly where I need to be. My faith serves as the foundation of my work and personal life, and I am confident that I am on the path I am meant to follow because of His direction.

The best career advice I’ve ever received is to stay persistent and trust the process—especially when research is challenging or sources seem difficult to find. Some of the most meaningful discoveries and breakthroughs come from pushing forward when others might give up.

My advice to young women entering this industry is to be persistent and never give up. Choose a topic or niche that interests you and keep exploring it, even when you encounter obstacles. If you hit a wall in your research, take a break and return with fresh eyes—sometimes the difficulty itself reveals valuable insights. Asking why certain information is hard to find or inaccessible can lead to important discoveries and uncover gaps in the historical record. Persistence and curiosity are key to making meaningful contributions.

The biggest challenge is definitely lack of information and accessibility. It is very hard to find certain sources. Part of that is things just get buried under countless records. Other times, you have to know people who know people who would be able to get you in to talk to this person at that museum that happens to have this one document that hasn't been uploaded to a public digital archive yet. It's not easily located or accessible. But on the flip side, the opportunities come through networking. There are lots of people who are still going for the same goals. Because the field is relatively more niche, like women in military history is a little bit more niche than some of the broader fields, there's a lot of overlap with people, especially in Texas history. So if you try hard enough, you might be able to find someone else working on similar topics. At the conference I just attended, I discovered that one of the professors who went with us as an advisor had a graduate classmate who was one of the authors of the books I researched, and through that connection, I'm hoping to be able to connect with the author directly. I would have never maybe had that chance beforehand.

The values most important to me in both my work and personal life are honesty and integrity, followed closely by loyalty. I believe that progress—both personal and professional—begins with honesty, paired with the discernment to act with integrity and treat others as you would want to be treated. Loyalty, for me, means staying true to my values even when others may disagree, as long as those differences are about opinions rather than fundamental ethics. Beyond these core principles, I am deeply committed to gender and racial equality. I focus on uncovering and sharing stories and histories that have been overlooked, giving a voice to those who can no longer speak for themselves and contributing to a more just and inclusive world.