Kierra Dunnam, a sophomore history major, is exploring stitches in time through an archival internship at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
The Kansas native has long been interested in the daily lives of ordinary people, their experiences and contributions to history. That excitement aligns with the internship, which is focused on processing materials in quilt research collections housed in the University Libraries' Archives and Special Collections.
Dunnam has another reason to be enthusiastic about this internship — it is an experiential learning opportunity that applies toward her goal of becoming an archivist.
“Dr. (Ann) Tschetter recommended me to Mary Ellen Ducey (an archivist in the University Libraries), even though I didn’t have any knowledge of quilts,” Dunnam said.
Tschetter, associate professor of practice in history, was impressed with Dunnam’s strong work ethic as a student in her America by Disaster class (HIST 165). That grew as the two crossed paths again in a Historian's Craft course (HIST 250), during which Dunnam discussed 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,” Tschetter said.
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 said.
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,” Dunnam said. “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.”
In the last year as a student intern, Dunnam has been influenced by other faculty in the University Archives — including Sarah Glover, a new digital archivist, and Ducey.
“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,” Dunnam said.
“Sarah and I have greatly enjoyed watching Kierra develop her confidence and skills in working with archival materials, and the quilt resources in particular,” Ducey said.
Dunnam said the internship makes her look forward to coming to campus each day.
"I'm really interested in what I'm doing for the University Archives," Dunnam said. “The whole experience has helped confirm that working as an archivist is the right path for me.”
The Univeristy of Nebraska–Lincoln's Archives and 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.
