KATIE STOCKDALE

Lithia, FL 33547 | 813-541-8177 | kstockdale1@verizon.net | Portfolio: https://katiestockdale.weebly.com/

EDUCATION
University of West Georgia 2022
Master of History
Public History Concentration
Museum Studies Certificate

University of Tampa 2018

Bachelor of Arts
Majors: History and Writing
Minor: English

Oxford University 2017

Christ Church
Hillary Term

WORK
Curator, Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion and the Sallie Ellis Davis House July 2019 – June 2022
Curated a total of ten exhibits and four tours at both sites. Served as collection manager and
registrar at both sites, ensured safety of collections, managed collections storage space,
implemented acquisitions, accessions, deaccessions, and loans. Acted as purchaser for department
and served in a secretarial capacity: answered phones, managed schedules, coordinated calendars,
and filled in as a front of house employee, greeted guests, sold tickets, and gave tours.

RELATED EXPERIENCE
Exhibit
The Governor’s Outbuildings
Curated a permeant, introductory exhibit for the breezeway space at Georgia’s Old Governor’s
Mansion. The exhibit aimed to represent visually the grounds of the mansion in the nineteenth
century by focusing on the buildings that are no longer standing. The exhibit also includes a visual
panel which provides a representation of livestock on the grounds of the property, as they would
have been in the nineteenth century.

Exhibit
Our (In)Justice System: A History of U.S. Policing and Incarceration
Curated an exhibit on the evolution of policing in the U.S. from colonial times, through the
antebellum, post-Civil War, Jim Crow, and War on Drugs eras, to the present. In particular, the use of
policing as a form of control was examined, as was the institutions of convict leasing and chain
gangs. In the present, the legacy effects of these polices and mindsets on the non-white population
are examined through current statistics.

Exhibit
American Hypocrisy: The Great Migration and Racism
Curated an exhibit on the multiple waves of African American migration out of the South in the early
twentieth century. The exhibit then turned to the subsequent legalization of housing segregation in
both the North and South. Many factors were examined, including wartime jobs, the GI Bill, and
federal policies of redlining.

Exhibit
A Legacy of Hate: Jim Crow from Minstrel to Law
Curated an exhibit that explored the solidification of the racial hierarchy in the new south. Jim
Crow’s origins in minstrelsy were examined along with the influence of false racial stereotypes
presented on stage. The exhibit then turned to the violence Jim Crow bigotry and hatred created,
taking the 1919 Red Summer as a case study. The exhibit ended with a look into how African
Americans used art to disprove these racist stereotypes and to speak out against attacks.
KATIE STOCKDALE PAGE 2

Archival Internship
The Breman Museum
Curated an exhibit, “Culture Shock: Henry Alexander, Leo Frank, and the New South” based on
archival material for The Breman’s Google Arts & Culture page. I chose to use the Henry Alexander
Sr. Papers and focused on Henry Alexander's involvement in the Leo Frank Trial. The exhibit is virtual
and utilizes photographs, letters, and newspaper articles, among other archival materials to tell the
story of how regionalism played a major factor in the Leo Frank trial. By examining the trial through
Alexander’s eyes as one of the lawyers for the case the exhibit shows the differences between Leo
Frank and Alexander, how they fit into the social hierarchy and social anxieties of the new south,
and how these differences defined their lives.

Exhibit

Health Hazard: Racism in U.S. Medicine

Curated an exhibit that examined the ways in which the health care system in the U.S. was designed
to underserve and exclude African Americans. The exhibit started with the first federal health care
program, The Freedmen's Bureau hospitals which were constantly underfunded by the Johnson
administration. After this program ended, health care entered a long period of segregation during
which African Americans created their own medical schools and practices to provide better care for
their communities. The exhibit ended in the present with a look at the health care disparities still
present in the country.

South Africa Virtual Study Away at the University of West Georgia

Student, Museum Education and Interpretation
As part of a class project, we worked with the San Heritage Centre outside of Cape Town, South
Africa. A fellow student and I created designs of t-shirts that could be sold in the Sam Heritage gift
shop. Our designs revolved around themes that are central to the heritage site, including celebration
of nature and San Culture.

Exhibit
More than Meets the Eye: A Close Look at Nineteenth Century Furniture
Curated an exhibit for Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion that provides a closer look at the furniture
of the mansion and its many uses. The exhibit will highlight the collections decorative arts pieces and
uncover the compartments and different configurations of the objects.

Exhibit
Complicating Colonization: A History of African American Removal from the U.S.
Curated an exhibit for the Sallie Ellis Davis House that explored the removal of African Americans
from the United States throughout the nineteenth century, known as colonization. Colonization was
both a tool for abolition and a way for enslavers to preserve control over free African Americans in
the states. The exhibit used the creation of the colony (later country) of Liberia on Africa's west
coast as a case study and examined the governmental and presidential support the process of
colonization had, particularly during the U.S. Civil War.

Exhibit
Stolen Rights: A History of Voter Suppression in the Nation
Curated an exhibit at the Sallie Ellis Davis house that chronicled the systemic disenfranchisement of
African American citizens. The exhibit started during Reconstruction, when African American men
gained voting rights and actively participated in the government. At the end of Reconstruction, those
gains were walked back as whites regained control of Southern states and created a system
designed to lock African Americans out of voting. This system affected the entire voter turnout of
the southern region as was dominant through the Jim Crow Era until it was widely challenged by
Civil Rights Activists. The exhibit then examined how voter suppression works today, in the era after
the Civil Rights movement.

Exhibit
Carver: An Enduring Legacy
Curated an Exhibit for the Sallie Ellis Davis House that focused on uncovering the history of the
Carver School. The exhibit started at Carver’s beginnings as a high school, transitioned to elementary
school, and ended with its final years as an integrated junior high. The exhibit was based off of
primary documentation, records of the Carver School, and oral history testimonies from those who
worked at and attended the Carver School.
KATIE STOCKDALE PAGE 3

Tour
The Silent Voice: The ways in which Georgian women shaped and were shaped by the South
Researched and curated a women’s tour for Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion. The Tour is an in-
depth look at women's lives in the mansion and explores the dichotomy between the privileged lives
of wealthy women and the lives of enslaved women who provided the labor to support those
lifestyles. Through following the lives of enslaved and free women during their time in Georgia's Old
Governor's Mansion we will uncover the strict rules that regulated and divided southern culture,
from gender norms, to fashion, to the expectations regarding labor and service.

Exhibits at Museums and Historical Sites at the University of West Georgia

Student
Throughout the semester, in conjunction with the Atlanta History Center, I worked on a class project
providing a new exhibit proposal for Turning Point. Our proposal focused on widening the scope of
the narrative of the civil war to bring in histories that were not usually acknowledged. Including
those of enslaved, indigenous peoples, and women. I worked on the objects team and created the
list of artifacts to be used in the exhibit, and also created object facts sheets and label copy for
fifteen artifacts, and a preservation plan for all artifacts.

Exhibit
Eddy School: The Foundation of a Community
Curated an exhibit for the Sallie Ellis Davis House that focused on the origins of the Eddy School, its
formation from community advocacy, funds from the American Missionary Association, and
teachers from the Freedman's Bureau. The conditions and curriculum at Eddy was explored through
the lens of being the only school for African Americans in Baldwin County through most of the
period of segregation. Ties between the community and the school were discussed before a look at
the end of the Eddy School and an introduction to the Carver School.

Tampa Bay History Center

Research Assistant July 2018 – May 2019
Assisted the Touchton Map Library Curator Rodney Kite-Powell with research for upcoming exhibits.
One project was researching historic maps of Pensacola. I looked for the first time Pensacola
appeared on a map, and then into the development of Pensacola, researching origins of the maps
and the people involved with their creation. Other projects include researching collections on loan
for upcoming exhibits.

Henry B. Plant Museum

Student Worker May 2018 – August 2018
Welcomed museum guests, sold tickets, instructed museum guests on use of audio wands and gave
short descriptions of temporary exhibits. Cashier in museum store, watched guests in store,
organized store, helped store manager with projects for the store, answered guest questions and
sold store products.

Museums, Historic Sites, and Archives at the University of Tampa

Student January 2018 – May 2018
Throughout the semester the class collectively curated and designed a temporary exhibit for the
Henry B. Plant Museum, Red Cross Nursing and the War of 1898: The Tampa Connection. The
narrative would focus on nurses, but we also wanted to stress the narratives of those who have
been traditionally excluded from the story of the war. Therefore, the exhibit had to be a narrative of
women, which we accomplished through biographies of them and including their own record of
their experience. We also wanted to return the Cuban narrative to the American-centric story and to
engage the Cuban audience of Tampa by including Spanish-language sources from Cuba and the
contemporary Tampa-Cuban community in the exhibit. For my focus, I researched the nurse’s
records of their experience, choosing and transcribing letters and diary entries that were turned into
a script. I and two other classmates recorded the script and it was played on a loop next to the two
panels devoted to nurses.

Henry B. Plant Museum

Intern March 2017 – August 2017
Researched for exhibits and newsletters, curated social media posts including all for Museum Week,
led docent tours, created a Children’s Guide for the Epicurean Exhibit, wrote copy for online
archives, took and edited pictures for online archives, and helped with data entry. Greeted visitors
at front desk and handled payment and entry into the museum, watched museum store.
KATIE STOCKDALE PAGE 4

CONFERENCES
Georgia Association of Museums in Columbus, GA
Attended talks and workshops on collections, exhibitions, and programming focusing on diversity
and inclusion.

National Council on Public History, virtual

Attended online panel talks on diversity and inclusion in programming and how to make accessible,
virtual content in a pandemic.

National Council on Public History, virtual

Attended online sessions and roundtables on navigating public history during the pandemic,
including digital options, and modifying oral history programs. These sessions emphasized the
importance of continuing to keep inclusivity a main priority.

American State and Local History Conference, virtual

Attended online sessions and panels on museum leadership, and institutional concerns, including
institutional genealogy and museums’ relationships to capitalism.

Southeastern Museums Conference in Chattanooga, TN

Attended sessions and workshops on presenting difficult histories, focusing on diversity and
inclusion. These sessions emphasized partnerships between museums and their communities.

PUBLICATIONS AND PAPERS

“Hysteria in Utopias: The Condition of Women in Bellamy and Morris”
A Royal Road

“Caesura”
The Merrimack Review

“After”
Neon

LANGUAGES
English– native language
French– speak, read, and write with basic competence

MEMBERSHIPS

American Alliance of Museums

Georgia Alliance of Museums
Southeastern Museums Conference
National Council on Public History
Milledgeville Museum Association