Please welcome our new collections manager, Autumn Kalikin!
Autumn brings extensive archival processing and collections care experience to the role, as well as a passion for ethical collecting and cultural resource practice. At the DC History Center, Autumn’s ongoing responsibilities now include the preservation and care of all archival and artifact holdings, processing and documenting of collections, managing donations and loans, collections development, community outreach, supporting reference and research services at the Kiplinger Research Library, and contributing to exhibition planning.
“I’m eager to support and develop intentional collection strategies here at the DC History Center, as it is crucial that collections reflect and serve the communities that they represent. I want to engage with collections as holdings that are alive and blooming, elevating stories as vibrant and unique as the character of Washington, DC.”
Prior to this role, Autumn was the lead collections specialist in the museum services division of Southeastern Archaeological Research Inc. (SEARCH) where she served as project lead on contracts with the Naval History and Heritage Command, The National Coast Guard Museum, and the Army Corps of Engineers Office of History. Her contributions ranged from interpretive planning, archival processing and reference services, museum collections management and artifact selection, exhibition development, and historical research.
During her graduate studies, she interned for a variety of DC institutions, among them the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, The Newseum, and the National Museum of the United States Navy.
Autumn holds a master’s degree in museum studies with a concentration in collections management from The George Washington University, and a BA in history from Ohio Northern University. Originally from Cleveland, she has called DC home since 2014.