September
10, 2004
MHC
Welcomes New Archivist Jennifer King
Photo
by Todd M. LeMieux
Jennifer
King |
It’s
hard to imagine a person better suited to the job of managing
Mount Holyoke’s archives and special collections than Jennifer
Gunter King, the College’s new archivist. Every step of
her professional career seems to lead to the College’s
collections.
King majored in history at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and had
her first taste of archival work during a summer volunteering at the National
Park in Vicksburg, Mississippi. She went on to get a double master’s degree
in history and library science from the University of Maryland, during which
time she interned at the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art Museum and
the Library of Congress. After earning her joint degree, she worked at the Library
of Congress processing the papers of former Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun.
She began using a new technology known as encoded archival description. Coincidentally,
Mount Holyoke recently began using this system. King earned a fellowship in the
Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia, one of the preeminent
collections in the world, and from there took the position of coordinator of
special collections at Virginia Technical Institute.
While at Virginia Tech, King was appointed archivist of the International Archive
of Women and Architecture (IAWA), an impressive collection that showcases women
architects from all over the world. King explained that the archive was started
more than 20 years ago by Milka Bliznakov, a retired professor of architecture
at Virginia Tech, who was concerned that women’s significant contributions
to architecture were often overshadowed by the famous men they worked for. King
was particularly gratified to acquire the papers of American architect Eleanor
Pettersen, an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright’s who opened the first female-headed
architectural firm in New Jersey in 1951. “The donor (not Pettersen but
Pettersen’s heir and executor) was concerned about Virginia Tech’s
ability to handle such a large collection, and so we arranged a special endowment
for the collection,” she said. “It was a really exciting achievement
to create a solution that furthered Eleanor Pettersen’s goals to promote
women in architecture.”
King moved to New England in October 2003 with her husband, Brian King, who was
working on a master’s degree in education at Harvard. Before accepting
the job at Mount Holyoke, King worked for her mother-in-law, who runs a girls’ summer
camp in Maine that was founded by her family back in the 1920s. “It was
a great prelude to coming to Mount Holyoke; though different, it is also an historically
significant development in the history of women’s education,” King
said.
Although she has only been on the job for three months, she is already deeply
involved in the ongoing Historical Architecture Survey, which is being done under
the auspices of the Council of Independent Colleges, funded by a Getty Institute
grant solicited by history professor Bob Schwartz. “It’s a really
exceptional opportunity for Mount Holyoke,” King said. She explained that
the survey targets buildings unique to Mount Holyoke and the education of women.
She cited the example of Blanchard Gymnasium, which was built in 1900. “Students
lobbied for this building and raised money to have it built,” King said. “They
wanted a first-rate
gymnasium.”
King has significant ambitions for Mount Holyoke’s collections. She wants
to increase their visibility and make them more accessible to the community.
She is especially enthusiastic about displaying the reassembled collection of
books that belonged to the original Mount Holyoke Female Seminary back in 1837. “This
is immediately appealing to students because of the history of the College,” said
King.
King says that once she becomes more conversant with the collections she intends
to work actively with faculty and students to generate exhibits. “I want
to work with faculty to create exhibitions that focus on themes that have broad
interest, that ask questions of the Mount Holyoke community and generate dialogue,” King
said. “We have great resources but need outside participation and input.” One
such exhibition that she is seeking support for is hosting the National Library
of Medicine and American Library Association’s traveling exhibit featuring
women and medicine. It will occur in conjunction with the opening of the papers
of Virginia Apgar ’29, who developed the Apgar score, the index used to
evaluate newborns.
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