I was delighted to be hired as a Project Assistant in the fall of my second year, thanks to generous support from the Nadia Sophie Seiler Fund. Material culture and conservation are complementary programs, but of course, they have distinct curriculums, and I had not imagined that there would be a place for me on the PBP team. Per the job description, I began by mailing out bookmarks requested by institutions and professionals, an excellent education in small-scale finances and operations. Walking to the Winterthur post office with a fresh stack of envelopes always lifted my spirits, since I knew that the bookmarks would truly be helpful to our colleagues around the world.  Amusingly, I even mailed a set of bookmarks to a program in Winterthur, Switzerland.

Though this task may seem straightforward, there is always a way to optimize systems. I took it upon myself to sort the shared email account with new labels, created Google Forms for both paid and complimentary institutional bookmark orders, and wrote instructions in the shared Drive for the next Project Assistant. I also thought about strategies for PBP to strengthen the mechanics that support its advocacy. I made major changes to the website, adding copy that sets an engaging, confident tone and reformatting pages to better support the user experience. On a recent episode of Antiques Roadshow Detours, screen recordings of the PBP website were shown to explain the project. It was so exciting and affirming to see how my work had been useful. Other projects this year have included preparing for development campaigns (hey, did you know you can donate here?), archiving all news stories and publications pertaining to PBP, and tracking how people are learning about PBP (leading answers: online searches and social media).

This fall, I will swap coasts to serve as the Graduate Intern in the President’s Office of the Getty Trust. I am confident that part of why my application was successful was my description of working with PBP. My goal is to move into museum administration, so having recent, demonstrable accomplishments in both traditional academia and public engagement projects made me a stronger candidate. When I move, I might have to bring a small stack of PBP bookmarks to share with my new colleagues. They are an excellent research tool, a fun conversation starter, and to me, a material tie to a role that, amidst all the challenges of thesis writing and graduation planning, reminded me of my personal mission in the field — foster good research, then go forth and share it.

-Estrella Salgado, Winterthur Program in American Material Culture, University of Delaware Class of 2025