Meet Stefanie Caloia, AFT Project Archivist

The Reuther Library is pleased to welcome Stefanie Caloia as our new AFT Project Archivist. Her recent experience ranges from work at a private archive to positions with History Associates, Inc. and the National Parks Service. She completed her graduate work at Wayne State, and first came to the Reuther as a practicum student in the spring of 2011.

As the AFT Project Archivist, Caloia hopes to process over 1500 linear feet of material. She explains, “I'm excited to work with the AFT records because there is a need, especially in the current political climate, to have these resources available for researchers. When people talk or write about teachers and about unions, they can draw from a clearly documented history, instead of repeating misinformation.”

Most recently, she has worked on the records of the Ohio Federation of Teachers. She notes that the Federation spearheaded programs to create peer-to-peer evaluation methods and professional development techniques to help teachers ensure their students get the best education possible. Since the records were created in the 1980s, many locals have mimicked the program. Caloia hopes that these records will be helpful to those studying education reform.

So far, she enjoys working at the Reuther because it’s a fun, welcoming environment. The work is pleasant, too – processing combines physical movement and the mental labor of problem solving, which keeps things interesting.

Caloia loves working with archival photographs from various formats and photo processes. She cites her undergraduate degree in Photography as a reason she came to the archives profession. Some day, she would like to combine these two loves and work full-time with photographic archives.

Meghan Courtney is the AFSCME Archivist at the Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs.