Aisha Johnson is currently a Ph. D. student in Information Studies at Florida State University where she explores research interests in library and African American history. Her dissertation topic is the African American Carnegie branch in Savannah, Georgia, specifically exploring the African American struggle to access library structures and collections, which is presented in “Service to African Americans” of The American Public Library Handbook edited by Guy Marco (November 2011). Aisha earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science in 2008 and Master's in Library and Information Science in 2009 with concentrations in Reference & Instruction and Leadership & Management from Florida State University. She has worked and interned for local and state libraries and archives. Aisha is placed with Franklin Library at Fisk University in Nashville, TN under the Direction of Dr. Jessie Carney-Smith. She will process the S.L. Smith collection within the Rosenwald Schools collection.
Archivist and digital preservation specialist Alyss Hardin graduated from The Ohio State University in 2007 with her B.A. in Art History. She then earned a Master's in Library and Information Science from Kent State with a concentration in Archival Administration. Since completing her education, she constructed a digital repository for Cleveland State University, volunteered at the Hudson Historical Society, and has traced her own genealogy back to slavery using census records and slave registers. Her research interests include digital preservation, outreach and access, and African American history. Alyss will be placed at the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum where she will be processing Mayme Clayton’s personal papers.
Emergent archivist-scholar, Brenda Tindal, M.A. is a Ph.D. candidate in the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts (American Studies) at Emory University, where she is completing a dissertation entitled “‘What Our Common Past Had Done to Us’: Landscapes of Memory, Representation, and Enactments of Movement Widowhood, 1963-2006.” This work explores the cultural construction, mythos, and private/public trajectories of iconic widows who emerged from the social and political milieu of the Civil Rights movement. She has worked on numerous archival projects, including the Alice Walker Papers and the organizational records of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference at the Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University and the Andrew J. Young Papers at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History. She will spend the year at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library at Princeton University as an IMLS fellow.
Archivist and museum professional, Cheylon Karrina Woods graduated from Louisiana Tech University with Bachelor degrees in History and Political Science. She is a member of numerous professional organizations including American Anthropological Association, American Association of Museums, and the Oral History Association. In 2011, she earned her Master of Arts in Heritage Resources from Northwestern State University. Her thesis, entitled The Evolution of Powwow Traditions within Southeastern Tribes: Louisiana, developed an original exhibit entitled “Why We Dance,” which is housed in the George Williamson Museum of Northwestern State University. Her experience includes developing interpretation plans for the National Park Service and targeted outreach programs, curating archeological collections, and garnering community involvement in public history. Cheylon will be placed at the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery, Alabama, where she will digitize the George Wallace Collection and the Peppler Photograph collection and develop community outreach utilizing the Peppler collection.
Krystal Appiah has been placed at the Maryland State Archives, working on the Legacy of Slavery project. She recently completed her Master of Arts in Public Humanities from Brown University where she was a Fellow for the Study of the Public History of Slavery. She received a Master of Library and Information Science with a specialization in Archival Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2009. Krystal has interned at the Pembroke Center Archives at Brown University, Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History, Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum, Braun Research Library at the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, and the Department of Special Collections at University of California, Los Angeles. Her interests include archival outreach and programming. She is a member of the Society of American Archivists, the National Council on Public History, and the Rare Books and Manuscripts section of the Association of College and Research Libraries.
