Name: Christie Lutz

Title/Duties: Assis­tant Uni­ver­sity Archivist for Pub­lic Services

I am respon­si­ble for over­see­ing and coor­di­nat­ing pub­lic ser­vices at Mudd Library. This includes man­ag­ing our gen­eral ref­er­ence account; han­dling a vari­ety of in-depth remote and in-person ref­er­ence inquiries, from researchers within the Uni­ver­sity com­mu­nity to those around the world; intro­duc­ing Prince­ton under­grad­u­ate classes to and assist­ing them with the use of our mate­ri­als; and sched­ul­ing and work­ing with staff and stu­dent assis­tants in order to main­tain day-to-day ser­vices. And of course,“other duties as assigned.”

Recent projects: Help­ing curate our cur­rent exhi­bi­tion cel­e­brat­ing the 50th anniver­sary of the Uni­ver­sity Archives.

Worked at Mudd since: 2005, but was a project archivist here also from 2000–2002, and was a grad­u­ate stu­dent intern in 1999. I was pro­moted to my cur­rent posi­tion in Sep­tem­ber 2008.

Why I like my job/archives: Each day is dif­fer­ent, bring­ing new chal­lenges, oppor­tu­ni­ties to engage in var­ied sub­ject areas, and inter­ac­tion with unique, inter­est­ing and sur­pris­ing doc­u­ments, pho­tos, and objects. At Mudd I’ve had the oppor­tu­nity to process mate­r­ial rang­ing from Adlai Steven­son cam­paign mate­ri­als to Brooks Bowman’s (com­poser of the stan­dard “East of the Sun and West of the Moon”) per­sonal papers. As some­one with an Amer­i­can Stud­ies back­ground, I find Mudd, and archives gen­er­ally, a won­der­ful place to work. Also, at Mudd we’re embark­ing on dig­i­tal and other tech­no­log­i­cal ini­tia­tives that are allow­ing researchers to access and use our hold­ings in new ways, and we’re open­ing up new avenues for col­lab­o­ra­tion with users and col­leagues on and off campus.

Favorite item/collection: I always have fun work­ing with the Prince­ton Uni­ver­sity Archives Mem­o­ra­bilia Col­lec­tion, espe­cially when it comes to curat­ing exhi­bi­tions. The expe­ri­ence of look­ing for appro­pri­ate objects for exhibits can be like sift­ing through a Princeton-themed (and curated) thrift shop.

Name: John DeLooper

Title and Duties: Spe­cial Col­lec­tions Assistant

I pro­vide pub­lic ser­vice at the recep­tion desk, includ­ing reg­is­ter­ing patrons, record­ing the cir­cu­la­tion of mate­ri­als and pho­to­copy orders, and assist­ing vis­i­tors to the Mudd Library with ini­tial ref­er­ence inquiries. I also respond to e-mail ref­er­ence ques­tions, and cre­ate and main­tain data­bases that aid in the com­pi­la­tion of monthly sta­tis­tics for Mudd’s cir­cu­la­tion and pub­lic ser­vice oper­a­tions. In addi­tion, I sched­ule classes and meet­ings in the library’s class­room, and work on other assorted projects such as assem­bling exhi­bi­tions and the James A. Baker III Oral His­tory Project.

Recent projects: I con­tributed the 1983 case for the 2008 Alumni Exhi­bi­tion, and cre­ated a new data­base to han­dle our cir­cu­la­tion that will replace the old DOS-era sys­tem in use since 1992.

Worked at Mudd since: August 2, 2007.

Why I like my job/archives: I wanted to work in a library/archives set­ting because I enjoy help­ing oth­ers find infor­ma­tion. Work­ing with our col­lec­tions is like work­ing with his­tory hands on, and I get to see the results of the work every­body puts in at the Mudd Library through the enthu­si­asm and joy researchers show when we help them find an unex­pected resource or item.

Favorite item/collection: His­tor­i­cal Pho­to­graph Collection–seeing how the uni­ver­sity, its build­ings, and stu­dents have changed over the years is a way to step into the past and make his­tory feel alive. It is amaz­ing to see both what has changed and how much remains constant.

*Please note that as of Sep­tem­ber 2011, John has moved on to become a ref­er­ence archivist at Hud­son County Com­mu­nity Col­lege. We wish John the very best in his endeav­ors in his new pro­fes­sional position.*

Name: Daniel J. Linke (“Dan”)

Title and Duties: Uni­ver­sity Archivist and Cura­tor of Pub­lic Pol­icy Papers. Over­see the oper­a­tions of the Mudd Library which includes ref­er­ence, tech­ni­cal ser­vices, exhi­bi­tions, and col­lec­tion devel­op­ment, as well as rep­re­sent­ing and pro­mot­ing Mudd Library within the Uni­ver­sity and to the pub­lic at large.

Worked at Mudd since: Decem­ber 27, 1993. Pro­moted to cur­rent posi­tion July 2002.

Ongo­ing projects: Direct­ing the James A. Baker III Oral His­tory Project; plan­ning the cel­e­bra­tion of the Uni­ver­sity Archives 50th Anniver­sary in 2009; and advo­cat­ing for an elec­tron­ics record man­age­ment pro­gram, in con­junc­tion with a full-time records man­ager to be hired.

Why I like my job/archives: Mudd’s hold­ings are broad and deep, in both the Pub­lic Pol­icy Papers and the Uni­ver­sity Archives, and some­thing inter­est­ing is always hap­pen­ing at Prince­ton. As a man­ager, I am also grate­ful for my smart and self-motivated staff.

An inter­est­ing work anec­dote: For the Baker Oral His­tory Project, I arranged to have Vice Pres­i­dent Richard Cheney inter­viewed on video­tape by for­mer Newsweek White House cor­re­spon­dent Tom DeFrank in the Vice President’s for­mal office in the Old Exec­u­tive Build­ing, which is adja­cent to the White House. The inter­view was to start at 10:30 but at 10:20, the Vice Pres­i­dent walked into the room unan­nounced and asked, “Who’s in charge here?” I refrained from mak­ing any Al Haig jokes, but strode for­ward and said “I am, sir” and intro­duced myself. For­tu­nately every­one was ready to go so we started. Though I had asked for an hour of his time, Cheney talked for almost 90 min­utes. (He restricted this inter­view though, so it is not yet available.)

Favorite item/collection: There are many. At the moment, when I give tours, I like to show Jacque­line Kennedy’s let­ter to Adlai Steven­son dated Dec. 4, 1963, Earl Gideon’s let­ter to the ACLU, and the Prince­ton flag that Pete Con­rad ’53 took to the moon with him on Apollo 12.

Other infor­ma­tion: I am one of three “Dans” work­ing at Mudd, and though born the ear­li­est, I do not like being called “Old Dan.”

Name: Jen­nie Cole

Title and Duties:

Pub­lic Pol­icy Papers Project Archivist (although this title is some­what obsolete!)

I coor­di­nate Mudd’s acces­sion­ing process, main­tain the gen­eral Mudd ref­er­ence email account, and cre­ate the monthly ref­er­ence cal­en­dar. I am also the project man­ager for the Coun­cil on For­eign Rela­tions dig­i­tal audio project, as well as Ivy Lee and James A. Baker III Papers micro­film projects. I super­vise the New Jer­sey His­tor­i­cal Commission’s grant-funded Spe­cial Col­lec­tions Assis­tant, as well as the Spe­cial Col­lec­tions Assis­tant for accessioning.

Recent projects: I com­pleted Woodrow Wil­son: A Guide to Selected Resources in the See­ley G. Mudd Man­u­script Library ear­lier this year.

An inter­est­ing work anec­dote: I’ve man­aged to have patron over­lap from my last full time archival job at a his­tor­i­cal soci­ety in Ken­tucky (2001–2004), with col­lec­tions focus­ing on the nine­teenth cen­tury his­tory of the upper South, with my cur­rent ref­er­ence work at Mudd. Small world!

Worked at Mudd since: Sep­tem­ber 2005

Why I like my job/archives: I always enjoyed read­ing and study­ing his­tory (B.A. in Mid­dle East­ern His­tory, M.A. in Amer­i­can His­tory) but never had the desire to be an edu­ca­tor, lawyer, or any of the other pro­fes­sions a his­tory major is sup­posed to be inter­ested in. I pre­ferred research and museum work, and after intern­ships at a his­toric house museum and his­tor­i­cal soci­ety, ended up work­ing as an archivist full time and enjoy­ing it so much I went back to school to learn more about the the­ory of archives. I can’t imag­ine being as sat­is­fied in another career.

Adri­ane work­ing on the Lee Walp Fam­ily Juve­nile Book Col­lec­tion as a pro­cess­ing intern at the Spe­cial Col­lec­tions Library at the Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan, 2004.

Name: Adri­ane Hanson

Title and Duties: Project Archivist, Pub­lic Pol­icy Papers. I am respon­si­ble for plan­ning the pro­cess­ing of col­lec­tions, super­vis­ing their arrange­ment and rehous­ing, and writ­ing find­ing aids (guides) to aid researchers in the use of these collections.

Recent projects: I recently com­pleted a two-year NHPRC grant funded project to process 28 col­lec­tions related to eco­nom­ics, total­ing over 1,100 feet.

Worked at Mudd since: Octo­ber 2005.

Why I like my job/archives: Work­ing in the archives is a beau­ti­ful com­bi­na­tion of my love for his­tory, my nat­ural obses­sion with orga­niz­ing things, and my inter­est in the preser­va­tion of paper doc­u­ments and books. An unex­pected ben­e­fit has been being able to work with researchers, learn­ing from them and see­ing how my efforts aid them in their work.

Favorite item/collection: A biog­ra­phy of Sir William Arthur Lewis, a pio­neer in the study of eco­nomic devel­op­ment, writ­ten in comic book form. Located in the W. Arthur Lewis Papers, Box 1, Folder 8.

Other infor­ma­tion: In ret­ro­spect, I can see that I was des­tined to become an archivist, because in grade school my dream job was sort­ing mail at the post office.

UPDATE: Sadly, after almost seven years, as of Sep­tem­ber 18, 2012, Adri­ane left Mudd’s employ to take a posi­tion at the Uni­ver­sity of Geor­gia. We wish her well in her job and surroundings!

Name: Dan Brennan

Title and Duties: Spe­cial Col­lec­tions Assis­tant IV, respon­si­ble for cat­a­loging and pro­cess­ing of Uni­ver­sity Archives collections

Recent projects: Pro­cess­ing the Depart­ment of Ori­en­tal Stud­ies Records, Depart­ment of Music Records, Depart­ment of Pol­i­tics Records, Office of Gov­ern­ment Affairs Records, and Dean of Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dents Records, as well as tying together the last stages in the pro­cess­ing of the Uni­ver­sity Library Records. I am also cur­rently work­ing on a project, with much help from my stu­dents Sarah and Josh, to make some sense of the many addi­tions to the His­tor­i­cal Pho­to­graph Col­lec­tion that we have received in the last few years.

Inter­est­ing work anecdote: Though not exactly a work anec­dote, almost a year prior to my com­ing to Mudd I did a bit of research on the his­tory of the Prince­ton Art Museum for a grad­u­ate school project that put me briefly in touch with the archives. If I search far back enough in my e-mail inbox, I can find a mes­sage from Dan Linke answer­ing my ref­er­ence ques­tion. Lit­tle did I know…

Worked at Mudd since: May 1, 2006

Why I like my job/archives: My edu­ca­tional back­ground is in his­tory and polit­i­cal sci­ence (plus a grad degree in museum stud­ies) so work­ing at Mudd is a nat­ural fit for me. I feel lucky that I get to work on a daily basis with col­lec­tions in which I have a legit­i­mate inter­est, and which cover top­ics from colo­nial Amer­ica to plasma physics. Find­ing new ways to pro­vide access to them and increase their research value to our patrons is the most reward­ing part of my job, espe­cially since I get to see the results of this first­hand through my ref­er­ence work.

Favorite item/collection: Though I’d be hard pressed to pick a favorite, one small col­lec­tion that I have a par­tic­u­lar fond­ness for is the Prince­ton Print Club Records. The short-lived 1940s cam­pus orga­ni­za­tion arranged for stu­dents to bor­row from the club’s col­lec­tion of art prints for the pur­poses of dec­o­rat­ing their dorm rooms. Obtain­ing the prints was accom­plished largely by sim­ply writ­ing let­ters to the artists and ask­ing them if they might have a copy. When cat­a­loging this col­lec­tion my inter­est in museums/art his­tory com­pelled me to look through the entire folder of cor­re­spon­dence, unearthing inter­est­ing let­ters from Ansel Adams, Thomas Hart Ben­ton, and many others.

Name: Helene van Rossum

Title and Duties: Spe­cial Col­lec­tions Assis­tant. Pro­cess­ing col­lec­tions, orga­niz­ing exhi­bi­tions, and “all other duties as assigned!”

Recent projects: I processed recent addi­tions to the John Van Antwerp Mac­Mur­ray Papers , which included about 1500 pho­tographs taken by Mac­Mur­ray while Sec­re­tary to the U.S. Lega­tion in Peking (1913–1917) as well as 16 mm films that were shot in 1928 and 1929, when Mac­Mur­ray served as a min­is­ter to China (1925–1929). Dan Linke and I curated an exhi­bi­tion about MacMurray’s years in China, which included selec­tions of the pho­tographs and films, as well as doc­u­ments and let­ters from the John Van Antwerp Mac­Mur­ray Papers (Octo­ber 20, 2007 through Jan­u­ary 18 2008).

Worked at Mudd since: 1997

Why I like my job/archives: Han­dling the papers that peo­ple left behind is as if you are look­ing over their shoul­der. It is like trav­el­ing in time! I love find­ing the sto­ries behind the papers and pass­ing them on to others.

Inter­est­ing work anec­dote: Through my ten year old son–a dinosaur expert since he was four–I knew of Roy Chap­man Andrews, the famous explorer who found dinosaur fos­sils in Mon­go­lia and on whom the char­ac­ter of Indi­ana Jones was loosely-based. When I started prepar­ing for the exhi­bi­tion on John Van Antwerp Mac­Mur­ray in China, to my aston­ish­ment, I found that Mac­Mur­ray had not only accom­pa­nied Andrews’ 1928 expe­di­tion out of Kal­gan (China’s gate­way to Mon­go­lia), but actu­ally filmed the event. The movie revealed a quite spec­tac­u­lar entourage: a crew of 37 peo­ple, eight cars, and 150 camels–and because Mac­Mur­ray had made arrange­ments for Andrews’ safe pas­sage with the local warlord–they were escorted by 50 Chi­nese cav­al­ry­men. Still, my son found it all a bit under­whelm­ing. He offered me a small model dinosaur skele­ton to liven up the pho­tographs on display.

Favorite item/collection: Louis Fis­cher Papers

Other infor­ma­tion:

Out­side my Mudd hours I am a children’s book writer and a shadow puppeteer