This past semester, Special Collections & Archives new intern, Julia DeBardeleben, has undertaken a new project researching the origins of FSU’s relationship to the Miss and Junior Miss Florida Seminole Pageants. Traditionally, the winners of Miss Florida Seminole have visited FSU during homecoming in order to crown FSU Homecoming Chief and Princess. Her research relies on the expertise of Dr. Andrew Frank, director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Center, who also personally assisted in the research, communication with members of the tribe, and communication with the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum. In the Fall, Julia will be concluding her research on the pageants and begin a new yet-to-be-determined project on the Seminole Tribe.
Julia began working at FSU Libraries in Fall 2023, and is majoring in Art History and Anthropology with a minor in Museum Studies. In her first semester, she worked on curating an exhibition for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Day by displaying various maps held in Special Collections, with some of the maps dating back as early as the 1500s.
Julia’s internship and subsequent research projects are owed to the generous gift given to FSU Libraries by Susan Keglovich Woodard. Susan emphasizes that not all learning comes from trying to achieve a specific grade or by how many points one gets or loses on an exam. Instead, Susan believes that learning is something that you choose to do for yourself regardless of any sort of external reward, and that is what Julia’s internship and pursuit of knowledge exemplifies. For Susan, this internship also sets an example for all students and researchers; it shows that libraries are more than a place to check out books, print, and do schoolwork. They’re also places where people can freely access curated knowledge pertaining to any imaginable field of interest.
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