Capstone Projects for the Archives, Book Studies, & Museums Concentrations, 2025

Students completing the Archives Concentration, Book Studies Concentration, and Museums Concentration presented their capstone projects followed by a reception and project exhibition on Friday, April 25, 2025. Students created both physical exhibits as well as digital exhibits available online.

Projects are located in the third floor exhibition cases of Neilson Library and will be on display for the next couple of months. Projects range from exploring accessibility at Smith throughout the years, to the story of the “lesbian controversy” at the college during the 1970s, to a history of the Riot Grrrl movement and Sophia Smith zines.

Archives Concentration Capstone Presentations

Presentations deriving from concentration projects with Kelly Anderson, Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality, Archives Concentration

• “For theirs is the kingdom of heaven”: The Progressive Religion of Catholics for Choice by Chloé Arciero ’26
  Smith College’s Response to World War II by Dalia Cohen ’25
• Dressing Like Shirley: School, Social Status and the Material Culture of 1930s Childhood by Phoebe Kallaher ’25
  “The Lesbian Controversy": Debates on Homosexuality at Smith College in the Late 1970s by Sydney Kilgore ’25
• Across the Mill River: The Intertwined Histories of Smith College and the Northampton State Hospital by Ella Langenthal ’25
• Affectionate Women: Community and Kinship at Smith College in the Early Twentieth Century by Roan Lord ’25
• Zines, Riots Grrrls, and Self-Publishing by Madeleine Manzer ’26
• Access the Past, Archive the Present: Exploring Accessibility and Disability Justice at Smith College by Sarah Mitrani ’25
• Aunt Tee’s Advice by Stevie Ordway ’25
• “We are provoked to tender dreams by a hint”: Discovering Alma Routsong’s Historical Imaginings by Maddie Rehrman ’25
• Eugenics at Smith: Exposing the Legacy of Frank H. Hankins by Alena Rooney ’25
• How Smith Ate Green Street: Change, Conflict, and Community Over Time by Alexa Schnur ’25
• Rules and Rule Breakers at Smith College by Ryan Turner ’25

Museums Concentration Capstone Presentations

Presentations deriving from concentration projects with Jessica Nicoll, Museums Concentration; and Charlene Shang Miller, Smith College Museum of Art

• Communication, Connection, Commitment: Multilingualism in U.S. Museums by Olivia Sarno ’25
• Museum Public Programming and Building Community by Elena Korinek ’25
• S.T.E.M. in the History Museum by Simone Tricca ’25
• Coming into Compliance: How to Navigate NAGPRA by Cece Coleman ’25
• The Trauma-informed New England History Museum by Ella McDaniel ’25
• Decolonial Practices in Museums Today by Charlotte Kaczmarek ’25
• On Contemporary Art: Find Your Niche by Sophie Hui-Ya Kiang ’25
• Interpreting Controversial Art by Lilly Watson ’25
• Audio Guides and the Voice of the Artist by Eva Weigand-Whittier ’25
• Interactive Creative Exhibitions by Annabel Morley ’25
• Materiality of Art: Bronze Disease by Elizabeth Kidder ’25
• Contextualizing Smith’s Rock and Mineral Collection by Chlo Droumenq ’25
• Using Artwork in Classroom Writing Lessons by Audrey Ebeling Bloom ’25
• Changing Museum Education in Response to the Pandemic by Audrey Willius ’25

Books Studies Concentration Capstone Presentations

Presentations deriving from concentration projects with Cornelia Pearsall, Department of English Language and Literature

• Of all the Minor Creatures of Mythology, Fairies are the Most Beautiful, the Most Numerous, the Most Memorable: Victorian and Edwardian Fascination with Fairy-Story Aesthetics by Violet Paulson ’25
• Memory or Mirage: Creating the History of 19th Century Printing in Deerfield, Massachusetts  by Claire Sullivan ’25