I came to the museum field somewhat sideways.

I had graduated from Middlebury in the early 90s with a BA in Economics and a minor in Art History, fully intending to take the world of finance by storm and use the inevitable wealth to collect art. But the pastoral beauty and energetic culture of Vermont refused to let me go, so I decided to stay in Middlebury, a bartender by night and a semi-pro cyclist by day. You know, the usual.

One day about five years on, as I was debating a career change, I discovered that my alma mater needed some temporary help in their museum—a two month gig filling in for someone’s maternity leave—so I went for it. I figured a museum job, even if temporary, would be exciting and different and would perhaps get me thinking more creatively about my future. It was fresh. It was unknown. It was stimulating.

After only a few weeks on the job I found myself being pulled into the galleries to help uncrate paintings for a loan exhibit from the Smithsonian. As a team of us hoisted Frederick Church’s enormous Aurora Borealis onto the wall, I thought, “I could get used to this.” A week later, while I was standing at the copier, the loading dock door opened and a six-foot edition of Robert Indiana’s LOVE rolled past. Again, “I could get used to this.”

Another week later September 11 happened. In the days that followed, I watched as an endless stream of visitors took refuge in our galleries and found some measure of peace in the art on our walls. I saw how art softened their souls, how it brought them together at a moment when the world was trying to pull them apart, how it brightened their outlook. And I saw how, as a museum professional, I could facilitate that transformative experience for more and more people. My “museums!” moment.

That was sixteen years ago. I’m still here. And I’ve definitely gotten used to this.

I first fell in love with history through the American Girl series. I had all the books, a couple dolls, the magazine, and paper dolls. I even held a proper Victorian tea for my tenth birthday party. So when my parents heard about the history camp at the Buttonwoods Museum that would include activities each of the American Girls would have done, they signed me up. I loved it! I still use the pincushion I made that week.

As I began to consider seriously my future career, I thought for a few years about being a lawyer. After my first year of college, I spent the summer working in an elder law office where I greeted clients, ran errands around town, witnessed wills and powers of attorney, and never, ever saw the lawyers in the office acting like Jack McCoy from the TV show Law & Order. It was boring and I was glad I had figured that out before spending years and money on law school.

The next summer, after my sophomore year, I worked a retail job to make some money while I figured out my new plan. Knowing that I always loved history, I decided to volunteer at the Buttonwoods Museum to boost my resume a little. It was there, in a little back office, cataloging dolls that I realized I could get paid to work first hand with history! Jan Williams, the director/curator told me about her background and how I might find internships and a graduate program to help me on the museum career path.

I spent the next few years in various paid and unpaid roles at a bunch of museums, doing historic interpretation, collections cataloging, tour guiding, exhibit development, and textile conservation, while working part time on my master’s degree in museum studies. Then in the winter of 2013, I saw a job posted on the NEMA board; the Buttonwoods Museum was looking for someone to run their education programs. I applied immediately, and when I showed up for the interview Jan, the director with whom I had volunteered five years earlier met me at the door and gave me a hug. She said the exiting program coordinator would be conducting the interview and making the hiring recommendation, but that she was so happy to see me again.

I’ve been happily working now at Buttonwoods for five years. Recently, I found an old photo from my week at the history camp, twenty years ago this summer. I’ve been a camper, a collections volunteer, an educator, and when my time here is done, I’ve told the Trustees, I expect to be invited onto the Board as well. They laugh and say I’ll be the first to fill all four roles.

A career change sparked my awareness and interest in the LAM (library, archives, and museum) field, but it wasn't a direct path to the archives world. I had been working as an inventory control specialist for Apple and realized that I did not want to make that my career. I have always loved history, and majored in the subject as an undergrad, but had not realized the many opportunities within the LAM field. While earning an MA in humanities from Mount St. Mary’s University, Los Angeles, I saw more clearly the links between history and other disciplines.

Through an internship at the Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM), I developed my knowledge of the museum field, gained experience as a preparator, and worked with guest curators and the director to ensure that installations went smoothly. That experience led me to consider a career in the field; however, it was through a second internship at the Nahant Historical Society that I discovered archives and found my path.

I have been the archivist at the Peabody Institute Library in Peabody, MA for four years and continue to love my work and learn something new every day. Now I also share my love of public history through teaching undergrads at Salem State University. Because of my experiences in both archives and museums, I realize how many similarities there are and how much each group can learn from one another.