digitizes artifacts<\/a>, then decides which ones can be brought to the archive space. It\u2019s a time-consuming job that requires extensive knowledge of Miami\u2019s history and an understanding of what artifacts can help keep legacies alive.<\/p>\n\n Enjoy what you’re reading?
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\u201cWhat drew me was the opportunity to continue to tell the history and to make sure that we tell the history [correctly],\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWhen you archive a collection, it’s really important because you want to make sure that what you’re creating is a document or a collection that people understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Debbie Baker Spaeth, director of special projects for the Western Alumni Association, worked with Johnson beginning in 2020 to archive the Western College collection. The artifacts had previously been stored at Patterson Place, the former residence for presidents at the Western College, but were moved to the King Library archives, as it\u2019s a climate-controlled space.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy work with Jacky through that process was [that] we were basically responsible for cleaning out a four-story building,\u201d Baker Spaeth said.<\/p>\n
The process, from start to finish, took roughly four years. Baker Spaeth said Johnson helped to determine which items would be archived, like a silver tea set which belonged to Leila McKee, president of the Western College, and Helen Peabody\u2019s Bible.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is such a visionary and just a fun person to collaborate with because she is so passionate about everything,\u201d Baker Spaeth said.<\/p>\n
Johnson also helped reporters for The Miami Student with research topics they wrote about for the 200th anniversary special edition. Not only do the archives contain information about buildings on campus or family history, but they also have information about the origins of clubs and organizations, including The Miami Student, formerly known as the Literary Focus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kassandra Batchelor, a junior English literature and women, gender and sexuality studies double major, first encountered Johnson when she began her job as assistant to the rare manuscripts librarian.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just heard so many good things about her,\u201d Batchelor said. \u201cAnd then I got to interact with her, and it was just so apparent how helpful and intelligent she was. I mean, I don’t work [directly] with her, but she takes the time out of her day to check in with me, make sure everything’s going smoothly, and make sure I’m doing OK.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Johnson\u2019s job may initially seem like solitary cataloging work, it\u2019s the people and interactions that make the job exciting. Johnson said one of her responsibilities is assisting with class instruction. She tailors her presentation to topics the students are learning about, and even brings some archival materials with her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it’s just fascinating that people still contact us, and they’re really interested in history,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThey still want to donate items to us, and the items that we get are so fascinating. I’m always honored.\u201d<\/p>\n
mahones5@miamioh.edu<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019ve ever wanted to learn more about Miami University\u2019s past, research the history of Western College or…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180793,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-180792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}