Applied history graduate student Sierra Harvey spent the summer all the way in Fairbanks, Alaska, working as an intern at the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum. This experience not only strengthened her interest in museum studies but also broadened her understanding of preservation work and public history.
Harvey’s interest in museum studies started in the classroom. After earning her undergraduate degree in secondary social studies education from Penn State, she taught history. She then had to obtain her master’s to continue her teaching certification, and attended a program at the US Army War College for teachers’ professional development. While she was at the War College, she saw an advertisement for careers in museum studies, and wanted to learn more. From there, she decided to take a leap and enroll in the applied history program at Ship.
While pursuing her master’s at Ship, Harvey gained experience as a graduate assistant for the history department and as a volunteer at Shippensburg University’s Fashion Archives and Museum. Under the guidance of Dr. Steven Burg and Dr. Karin Bohleke, she conducted research and learned about conservation work. Harvey even had the opportunity to contribute to a book with Burg on historic districts. She believes that these experiences are what prepared her for her internship in Alaska.
“I was helping research for the different chapters and writing them, and then also collaborating with the other writers and attending workshops,” she said. “Once it got published last spring, we did a small talk for the Shippensburg University Center for Land Use and Sustainability (CLUS). That was a really unique experience.”
At the Fountainhead Museum, her internship responsibilities included research, exhibit design and public engagement. “The expectation was that I would present two lectures to the public, create two displays for them and also be willing to be filmed on camera,” Harvey said.
Her favorite part of the internship included creating exhibits on women’s driving wear and motorcycle clothing, including one outfit that matched an advertisement for an Indian motorcycle also in the museum’s collection.
“We ended up choosing an outfit with a divided skirt from about 1910,” she said. “As we were researching, we found the exact outfit in an advertisement for an Indian motorcycle, and that motorcycle is also in our collection. We were all so excited, everything came together really well.”
Beyond helping her grow professionally, Harvey also enjoyed her time living in Alaska for the summer, as it provided her with a once-in-a-lifetime experience. “Living there was really unique. It was a very laid-back and relaxed place compared to PA. I could drive down the highway and see no one for an hour or more at a time,” she said.
Harvey expressed gratitude to her mentors for helping her along the way. “Dr. Bohleke was the person who got me to Fairbanks, and then also Barb Cerny and Connie Stricks were the two people who worked with me a lot at the autom museum. They gave me the freedom and creativity to do what I loved, while also guiding me and making the experience really great.”
