#27 - About the Author
Hello dear reader,
This week I thought I would give you a quick introduction to the author of this blog. You know, now that you’ve had some time to get to know my writing style (such as it is) and learn about my projects and historical interests.
I identify variously as a historian, archivist, and museum person depending on the day and the arena. You see I have worked as all three. I am published as both an author and photographer, in both academic and popular media, in print and digitally. I’ve studied all sorts of topics from Classical temples to the colonization of Early America, from the Weimar Era film to city building in Imperial China. I can make stone tools and safely handle nitrate. ...I’m so much fun at parties.
But I am also an avid heavy metal fan, voracious reader, and a decent baker. I’ve lived all over the States and traveled more than a few countries. And I cannot wait until I can travel and go to metal festivals again.
Over time and at several different jobs, I have found that I am really quite good at organizing and appraising collections. I can see the different avenues down which a project can progress and then make an educated assumption based on the owners, usage, and needs of the collection. I am always looking for better and more efficient ways to do things. What I am not so good at is promoting myself and talking about my methods.
This blog started out as a way to keep myself accountable to my pet projects, you’ve heard about most of them - Lewes & the Ryves Holt House, The Rensselaerville Letters, The Nautical Archaeology Society’s cataloging project, etc. I also wanted to have a place to post my thoughts on doing history. Recently, I’ve started to realize (by that I mean friends and family hit me about the head over this), that I have a unique perspective and skill set. ...What I do have is a particular set of skills… I have the ability to be handed something that no one knows about or a random research question and come up with some variety of an answer. As my friends and family point out, other people may be in need of a person such as I. So, dear reader, check your basements and attics. Do you have any weird stuff from great-grandma you’d like to learn more about? Do you have old letters I could transcribe for you? Is there a building in your hometown that you’ve always wanted to know more about? Are you curious about heavy metal and would like a guide? Well, then hit me up.
If you belong to an archive or institution that could use my perspective for potential projects or current collections needs, please also reach out, I am perfectly happy to work freelance.
Projects and Publications:
The Rensselaerville Letters, 2018 - current
Independent family project
Currently conducting inventory of 2000+ letters from the Niles family & relations
The Ryves Holt House and Lewes, Delaware, 2019 - current
Independent project
Ongoing research into the early history of Lewes and the age of the RHH
Archipedia - SAH research into the history of local Lewes buildings
Photography posted in 2021
International Small Craft Association Online Archiving Project, 2020 - current
Volunteering, Nautical Archaeological Society & the University of Southampton
Navigating the ISCA Archive, with Abigail Parkes, Deanna Cunningham,
Sirin Ghiye, Thomas Price, and Florrie Farkas
Blog Post on NAS Website, 2021
NAS Annual Conference Presentation, 2020
Society of California Archivist’s Winter 2021 Newsletter
“Online International Cataloging - the ISCA Archive,” 2021
The John G. Bourke Scale Armour, 2010-2015
“Scale Armor on the North American Frontier: Lessons from the John G. Bourke
Armor.” With Peter Bleed, Jessica Long, and David Killick in
Plains Anthropologist, 2015
Poster presentation at University of Nebraska’s UCARE Conference
Grant funding from University of Nebraska - Lincoln’s Undergraduate Creative
Activities and Research Experience program
Archipedia Research, 2014, 2021 - current
Oregon research, 2014
Delaware research and photography, 2021- ongoing
Expanding Frontiers: The Jack and Susy Wadsworth Collection of Postwar
Japanese Prints, 2015
Research and interactive display for exhibition at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum
of Art at the University of Oregon
Employment:
Lead Metadata Entry Specialist, ZAI Assoc., current
Supervisor of Still Archives, LAC-Group/Pro-Tek Vaults
Korean-American Archive Specialist, USC Libraries
East Asian Library Supervisor, USC Libraries
Library Digital Image Cataloger, University of Oregon
Interim Collections Manager, Favell Museum
Education:
Master of Arts in Art History, University of Oregon, 2015
“On the Use and Meaning of Wood in Chinese Imperial Architecture,” Thesis
Graduate Teach Fellow:
ARH101: Global Masterpieces: Monuments in Context
ARH208: History of Chinese Art
ARH322: The Art of Ancient Greece
Bachelor of Arts in Art History, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2011
Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2011
Minors in Archaeology, International Studies, & Asian Studies
Global Challenges: American & Chinese Perspectives Study Abroad Trip
Archaeology Field School
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