Deans’ Summer Research Fellowship (DSRF) Story: Jerry Zou

Jerry was awarded the Deans' Summer Research Fellowship for summer 2025. Learn more about his time below.

A barbed wire fence with signage saying "well decommissioning in progress"

 

Author: Jerry Zou

What was your major research question for the DSRF project and where do you hope this project will go?

For my DSRF project, my major research question this summer was through what general directions did the oil industry between 1892 and 1930 influence the social structure and everyday community identity in Los Angeles County and northern Orange County. Using DSRF to travel to multiple local or municipal archives, I learned that there were three major themes: elite oil executives individually sponsoring LA's arts or entertainment industry; oil company-driven community, housing, and civil infrastructure construction; and the indirect media portrayal of oil. Next summer, I hope to return to a few specific local archives to revisit their troves of local newspapers and oral history records to gain a deeper understanding of the industry's local community building efforts.

What challenges did you encounter during your research and how did you work through these difficulties?

I first had challenges in managing my time because of the vast amount of archives (big or small) scattered throughout Los Angeles and Orange Counties. We have the major university archives (e.g. UCLA, USC, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Dominguez Hills, etc) and also municipal museums/archives (e.g. Brea Museum, Workman Family Homestead Museum and Archive, etc.). I was able to solve this issue by blocking specific amount of time per archive and dedicate an amount of days to each archive. I also systematically recorded down their resources that would be useful but I would not have time to use in Summer 2025 so that I could return in Summer 2026 to continue my research.

What sparked your interest in this field?

My interest in studying the oil industry's social impact on Los Angeles and Southern California came from my family's personal experience after having lived there for over six years. In American public memory, Los Angeles is often associated with Hollywood or beautiful beaches, but very few people know about the oil history. Oil excavation work is still being carried out literally in downtown LA. Yet, that is a hidden side of this city that is rarely talked about. 

Curious about DSRF?

This project was made possible through the Deans’ Summer Research Fellowship (DSRF)—a unique opportunity for rising juniors and seniors in the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences to pursue funded summer research full-time!  

Effective this 2025-2026 Academic year, we are rebranding DSRF to be the Trinity Summer Undergraduate Mentored Research Fellowship (T-SUMR)! If you're pursuing graduation with distinction and are passionate about research, consider applying to T-SUMR in December of your Sophomore or Junior year.