January 18, 2006
Archivist keeps historical perspective
Peg Siciliano starts to take over historical society position from retiring Steve Harold
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
The Grand Traverse Pioneer & Historical Society welcomed Peg Siciliano this month as its new archivist.
Siciliano is taking over from a retiring Steve Harold, who has cared for and worked with the society's collection of more than 20,000 items for decades. The transition will be gradual as Harold, a professional historian who is president of the Grand Traverse Heritage Center board and director of the Manistee County Historical Museum, plans to hang around a bit.
Siciliano, who previously worked and consulted for the Con Foster Museum in the 1990s, is pleased to be back. She had been a stay-at-home mom for a decade and is now ready to return to the workforce, finding the part-time nature of the job perfect for her family.
"This facility is so important to everyone in the area because it's their history setting here," said Siciliano, a Nebraska native who has a master's degree in American History with a specialty in archives from the College of William and Mary in Virginia.
"By understanding history, you can make logic out of the past," she added. "That's why I like history, because you can look back on it and make sense of it."
Siciliano found out about the position through talking with Harold, who had been contemplating retiring from it. It was a case of the right person coming along at the right time.
"She came to us through Steve and we're excited," said Barbara Rishel, vice president of the Pioneer & Historical Society. "Although it is really sad to see Steve step back, there isn't anybody who knows as much as Steve does. He is a really neat guy."
The society's collection began about 28 years ago as part of a school project by students at the Pathfinder School, led by teacher Donna Bollinger as the archivist. Known as the Pioneer Studies Center, Harold took over in 1980 and helped move it away from the school to the Old City Hall at the corner of Cass and State Streets.
"We were in an old coal bin there," recalled Harold, noting some twists and turns in the collection's evolution and relocations.
The collection, which includes a range of documents, photos and books, wound up in the mid 1990s in a small, stuffed space above DeYoung's. When the Grand Traverse Heritage Center opened in the former Traverse City Library in 2002, the Historical Society relocated its offices and the collection there.
They share office space and archival facilities with four other organizations: the Maritime Heritage Alliance, the Railroad Historical Society of Northwest Michigan, the Women's History Project of Northwest Michigan and the Grand Traverse Area Rock and Mineral Club. The Con Foster Museum and collection are also housed in the building.
"The Heritage Center built a state-of-the-art collection storage bins with fire control, temperature and humidity control," said Harold. "With papers and photographs, humidity is a big problem."
Siciliano has spent her few days as archivist sifting through the collection to become familiar with it and see what needs doing. With Harold's help, she plans to prioritize and plan her efforts.
"Every archive has the problem of having more stuff than they can organize," she said, hoping as all new archivists to boost the indexing rate.
Giving a nod to the many volunteers who have put in hours of work over the decades, Siciliano is eager that they continue under her tenure.
"That's even more important than the organizational aspect," she noted.