Kierra Dunnam, a sophomore from Kansas who is majoring in history with minors in anthropology and queer studies, has always been deeply interested in the daily lives of ordinary people and their experiences and contributions to history. Her excitement for and interest in the history of people aligns neatly with her internship that involves the processing of materials in various quilt research collections housed in the University Libraries Archives & Special Collections.
Dunnam has another reason to be enthusiastic about this internship. It is an experiential learning experience that applies toward her goal of becoming an archivist and working in an archive or library.
“Dr. Tschetter recommended me to Mary Ellen Ducey [university archivist], even though I didn’t have any knowledge of quilts,” explained Dunnam.
Ann Tschetter, associate professor of practice in the History Department, was impressed with Dunnam’s strong work ethic when she was a student in Tschetter’s HIST 165 (America by Disaster) class; then Tschetter worked with Dunnam again in HIST 250 (The Historian’s Craft), during which Dunnam revealed her dream to work as an archivist.
“I already knew Kierra loved history and that, combined with her work ethic and great abilities in terms of writing and critical thinking, made it easy for me to recommend her to Mary Ellen,” explained Tschetter.
For Ducey, Dunnam’s interest and experience in HIST 250 was perfect timing and a perfect fit.
“A donor-funded initiative related to processing our vast quilt collection, thus increasing its visibility, was established, and we needed a student intern to assist in the work,” Ducey explained.
Dunnam is delighted to go through boxes, arranging materials into files and describing the contents in an inventory for the public.
“I had to go through quilt patterns—like hundreds of quilt patterns—and figure out which ones were the same or unique and, in another collection, I had to reorganize photographs and newspaper clippings within the folders,” Dunnam said.
Dunnam worked on an inventory of each collection with the goal of making it easier for people to discover materials to support their research.
In some cases, the collection covers the career of one person or artist. An example is the Michael James, Studio Quilt Artist Papers collection, which spans the beginning of his work in the early 1970s until 2025.
“I liked seeing his career grow and to see how the personal aspects of his life intertwined with his career,” explained Dunnam. “Working with his collection really solidified for me that this is what I want to do—to be able to witness, learn and share someone’s personal history.”
Dunnam has been influenced by a couple faculty members in Archives, namely, Sarah Glover, the new digital archivist, and Mary Ellen Ducey, university archivist, within the last year that she has worked as a student intern.
“I had a lot of questions because I wanted to make sure I was doing everything right, and they have both been patient and helpful,” said Dunnam.
“Sarah and I have greatly enjoyed watching Kierra develop her confidence and skills in working with archival materials, and the quilt resources in particular,” said Ducey.
“I look forward to going to work in the Archives and I’m really interested in what I’m doing,” said Dunnam. “The whole experience has helped confirm that working as an archivist is the right path for me.”
Archives & Special Collections has 123 distinct collections that make up the quilt research collections. The finding aids of some of the collections can be found at Quilts, Quiltmakers, Quilt History, and Textiles.