Behind the Curtain is a series highlighting IU Archives staff, partners from various departments of the IU Libraries, and students who make all of our work possible. In this post, we highlight just one of our amazing graduating student workers! We are so grateful for everything our students do for us.
What is your title and role in the IU Libraries?
I am an Archives Assistant at the IU Archives.
What is your educational background?
I will be graduating this May from Indiana University as a double major in both Classical Studies, with a focus in Greek, and History, with a minor in Classical Civilizations. For my classics degree, I am writing an honors thesis titled “Reconstructing the Mycenean Warrior Ethos: Exploring the Displays of Power of the Mycenean Elite through Chariot Iconography,” where I am exploring how Elite Myceneans define their identify through emphasizing military prowess and battle imagery, ranging from the Late 16th century to the Early 12th century.
Similarly, for my history degree, I am writing a paper called “Epic Poetry in Economic Conversations: Using the Iliad and the Aeneid to Track Economic Change through Depictions of Greed,” where I am exploring how Virgil adapts Homeric tropes into commercialized language.
Tell us about your previous work experience?
Throughout my time at IU, I have been able to work both in the archives and at the Eskenazi Museum of Art where I have been the student intern for the Ancient Art Curator, Juliet Graver Istrabadi. During the summer, I have also been able to travel abroad to work on excavations. Currently I am working at the site of Morgantina in Aidone, Sicily, where I will be spending my time again this summer.
How do you work or partner with the IU Archives?
While at the Archives, I have had the chance to focus on several different projects. When I first arrived, I worked with the IU folklore collection which I used to write a blog post about one of Indiana’s urban legends. I have also been able to work on accessioning an older collection focusing on IU Alumni, which has been rewarding and one of my longer projects. I was also able to spend a semester working with the IU Archives photo collection, accessioning new material and scanning old photos so that digital copies are available to patrons. Additionally, I have worked on several patron questions, using archives resources to track down information on IU students who attended the university before World War I.
Do you have a favorite experience (or something you’re most proud of) from working with
the IU Archives?
The collection I am currently working on has been very rewarding. While often a solemn collection, many of the IU Alumni records detail previous students who fought in World War II. Naturally, it can be sad material, especially since many of the students died overseas and were unable to come home to their families. This collection, however, has given me the chance to catalogue many names that were lost and pair old war service records with photographs. I’d love for this collection to one day be turned into an exhibit, where the photographs of the fallen soldiers are able to be displayed and remembered.
Favorite item or collection in the IU Archives?
One of my favorite items and projects to work on was the collection of photographs by Carl Purcell. The material was donated by his ex-wife, Ann, and contains some of the most beautiful materials. Carl and Ann traveled around the world in the 80s and 90s and photographed plants, animals, and people wherever they went. It is a truly unique collection if you ever have to time to look through it- particularly his photos of the temple ruins in Greece!
What project are you currently working on?
I am currently working on accessioning an older collection that details the degrees and lives of IU Alumni from the late 19th century to early 20th century.
What’s something you’ve learned working at the archives that you’ll take forward into your
future career?
One thing I have learned from my time at the Archives has been to be flexible with what you work on. Many of the collections I have worked with have been outside of my typical focus of study but have all had their own unique aspects. If you open yourself up to new material, you might be surprised at what interests you!
What’s next for you?
This fall I will begin my PhD in Bronze Age Archaeology at the University of Cincinnati!
2 Comments
Avery validates the advice I give to all my nieces and nephews, and that is attending college is more than just classes. If you fail to take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way, you miss the whole point of being educated at a university. Explore things you don’t know, explore things that supplement your studies, and you do this by volunteering, you do this by seeking work study opportunities, you do this by attending lectures, exhibits, and presentations of areas you do not know anything or little about at the moment.
My time I spent volunteering at the Auditorium and the MAC opened up my world to things I never knew or knew little about. I soon embraced fields of music, art, and drama that I would never have thought of ever being involved. I met some of the great figures in those fields, from Bernstein, Copeland, to Woodward, and heard Lindberg in person. So, encourage every student to make the most of their education beyond the classroom. It will truly be the era in your life that you will value the most for the rest of your life.
Wow, Avery sounds like a super impressive student! Balancing classics and history, working in archives and museums, and even doing archaeology in Sicily?! Go get that PhD! So cool to see students doing such interesting work.
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