Nora Crowley, a Northwest student and assistant in the University's Special Collections and Archives, examines a glass plate negative. Crowley carefully cleaned and restored the slides that were donated by Mary Sullivan and covered in dirt and grime, revealing images that were nearly lost to time. (Photo by Lilly Cook/Northwest Missouri State University)
Nora Crowley has taken an interest in history for much of her life and – with an eye on the profession-based opportunities Northwest offers – opted to pursue her bachelor’s degree at the University as a history major with a minor in public history and museum studies.
In just three years, the junior from Kansas City, Missouri, has gained experience volunteering at the National World War I Museum and Memorial and as an intern at the Andrew County Museum in Savannah, Missouri. She also has helped organize exhibits at the Nodaway County Historical Society Museum and contributed history columns to the Maryville Forum newspaper.
But her work as a student employee with Northwest Special Collections and Archives has given her experience like no other. After Mary Sullivan delivered a collection of glass negatives to the campus last year, Crowley was tasked with the delicate responsibility of cleaning the hundreds of glass slides and then scanning, documenting and processing them for safekeeping in Northwest collections and for future public access through an online database.
“It’s been super eye-opening and very cool to get this hands-on experience with a medium that’s very unique and a medium that I personally hadn’t really dealt with before,” Crowley said. “It’s also just been a really neat process to look at these images and see photos of campus that are over a hundred years old. I feel like every day, I see something new or something cool – that’s been really exciting to work with.”
Nora Crowley scans glass plate negatives, revealing details captured more than a century ago by a former Northwest faculty member, John E. Cameron. (Photo by Lilly Cook/Northwest Missouri State University)
Nora Crowley and Jessica Vest (right), the head of archives and special collections at Northwest, sort through a box of glass plates negatives donated to the University last year. The donation was made possible by Mary Sullivan, who found crates of the glass plate negatives in a barn. (Photo by Lilly Cook/Northwest Missouri State University)
Similar to Sullivan’s exploration of the slides since she salvaged them decades ago, Crowley has had the fortunate experience of being among the first people to view the images as she scans each one to a computer.
“A lot of the photos are very interesting and something that I think everyone could find to be neat or cool,” Crowley said. “I think that it’s also just an important thing to recognize the importance of understanding your own history and also understanding the history of the places that you are at. These photos are just incredibly valuable in preserving Northwest history.”
After completing her bachelor’s degree at Northwest, Crowley wants to attend graduate school and pursue a master’s degree in museum studies. She hopes to have a career as a museum curator with a particular interest in contemporary history.
“To have an experience like this and to still be an undergrad and still being early into my academic career is incredibly special,” she said. “This will definitely be a key point that I’ll point out to future employers, or when I’m looking for more internships.”
