Summer Series 2022: In Their Own Words – Elizabeth Engel, Laura Jolley, Aleksandra Kinlen, and Heather Richmond (NWMC, Part 3)

Season Description

Established in 1987 and celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2022, the National Women and Media Collection (NWMC) documents the roles women have played in media fields, as employees and leaders as well as subjects of news coverage, how those roles have altered over time, and how attitudes of and towards women have changed. NWMC includes records of women’s organizations and professional and personal papers of women journalists, editors, book authors, newspaper and magazine publishers, media company CEOs, journalism and mass communication educators, press secretaries, and public relations personnel, as well as radio, television, and film producers and personalities.

To celebrate this important anniversary, and coincide with the opening of the exhibition In Their Own Words: Celebrating the National Women and Media Collection, Our Missouri has dedicated Summer Series 2022 to the women featured within the collection and exhibit, as well as the journalists, scholars, archivists, and librarians who have pioneered and preserved its materials.

Episode Description

Elizabeth Engel, Laura Jolley, Aleksandra Kinlen, and Heather Richmond from the State Historical Society of Missouri join us to discuss their involvement in the creation of the exhibit, In Their Own Words: Celebrating the National Women and Media Collection, The exhibit is on display in the Wenneker Family Corridor Gallery at the Center for Missouri Studies from July to December 2022.

About the Guest

Elizabeth Engel

Elizabeth Engel is a senior archivist for the State Historical Society of Missouri and manages the National Women in Media Collection. Engel is one of four curators of In Their Own Words: Celebrating the National Women and Media Collection. Engel, an Iowa native and a University of Iowa graduate, holds a master's degree in library and information science. Her undergraduate work was in English at Iowa State University. She has been with the State Historical Society since 2006 and currently heads the Columbia Research Center’s accessioning program, working with donors to acquire manuscript collections.

Laura Jolley

Laura Jolley is the assistant director of manuscripts for the State Historical Society of Missouri and one of four curators of In Their Own Words: Celebrating the National Women and Media Collection. Jolley holds a master's degree in library science and a bachelor of arts degree in English from the University of Missouri. She has been at SHSMO for over 14 years and currently oversees the collecting and preservation efforts of the Society.

Aleksandra Kinlen

Aleksandra Kinlen is a manuscript specialist for the State Historical Society of Missouri and one of four curators of In Their Own Words: Celebrating the National Women and Media Collection. Kinlen earned a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in history from Missouri State University. Currently pursuing a master’s degree in library and information science at the University of Missouri–Columbia, she joined SHSMO as a practicum student before becoming a manuscript specialist in April 2021.

Heather Richmond

Heather Richmond is a senior archivist for the State Historical Society of Missouri and one of four curators of In Their Own Words: Celebrating the National Women and Media Collection. Richmond received a master's degree in library studies with an emphasis in archives from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007. Her undergraduate work was in creative writing and psychology at Beloit College. Richmond has been with SHSMO for nearly 10 years and currently oversees the Society's digitization program.