Elijah Beaton is a Doctoral Student in American History specializing in late twentieth-century urban space, the built environment, and material culture. Their research examines the relationship between fashion, architecture, and ideology and ways that capitalism produces aesthetics. Their previous research during their M.Arts in History and Material Culture at Mississippi State University explored the racial dynamics of erasure and consumption in the Beale Street redevelopment project in Memphis during the 1980s. Elijah became fascinated with architecture, art, and material life during their undergraduate degree at Colorado State University, where they majored in History and Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts. They are originally from Fort Collins, Colorado, and enjoy making websites, zines, and other graphic design projects in addition to collecting and fretting over their plants.