Becoming an Archivist

–Raichelle Johnson, 2021 Jean Outland Chrysler Library Intern

I graduated from Randolph-Macon College in May of 2021, where I studied art history and arts management; two days after completing my studies, I began my internship at the Chrysler Museum of Art. Since I was a freshman in college, I have been an archival assistant, working with my school’s extensive collection of photographs, documents, rare books, and art collection. When I saw the internship posting for the Jean Outland Chrysler Library and Archives, I guess you could say the posting called to me.

Throughout these summer months honing my skills and developing new ones, I learned so much about being an art librarian and archivist that it reaffirmed my long-term career goals. To me, working as an intern in the archives and library made me feel like a kid in candy land. My main project was to create finding aids and look for conservation issues in the Museum’s extensive scrapbook collection. While doing this, I learned so much about the history of the institution and what art truly can do for a community.

One day while reading through articles from 1933, I read a quote from The Virginian-Pilot:

All passes, Art alone
Enduring stays to us;
The Bust out-lasts the throne-
The coin, Tiberius

This quote embodies, in my opinion, everything an art archivist should stand for. We preserve so that art can continue to endure. Art librarians learn, collecting books and knowledge so that art can endure. Working at the Chrysler as an archive and library intern taught me what being an art historian, archivist, and librarian truly means. I am to gain knowledge to preserve so that art can endure, lasting longer than life itself. I intend to pursue this path and further my studies so that I might be a part of something that lasts longer than my lifetime on this earth.