It’s not every day that an archivist works with producers from a feature documentary film. But that’s what happened in spring 2022 when University Archivist Sean Parke was contacted by Salon Pictures about the personal films of Katharine Hepburn that reside in the University of Hartford Archives and Special Collections for their film Call Me Kate.
“At that time, we didn’t know what was on many of the personal films in the collection,” Parke recalls. “Half had been transferred to formats we could view (VHS and DVD), but the rest were still only on 16mm film.” The increased interest in these films and the opportunity to showcase them in a documentary prompted Parke to prioritize having the films digitized.
Making special collections accessible to researchers and the public is the mission behind the work archivists like Parke do every day.
Parke has been the UHart archivist since 2015. While he treats every document, photo, newspaper, textile, painting, music composition, videotape, and digital file with utmost respect, a few stand out to him. These include the set and costume designs of Elemer Nagy, the audio recording of a lecture by Martin Luther King Jr., and performances recorded by the Hartt Recording Studio.
He has always been interested in history and research. After graduating from Gettysburg College with a BA in history, he considered teaching as a profession, but after working in a couple of after-school programs and as a substitute teacher, he decided it wasn’t for him.
“Some of my professors encouraged me to volunteer at an archive to see if it appealed to me,” Parke explains. “I found an opportunity at the St. Louis local records program of the Missouri State Archives, where I surveyed unprocessed court case files from the 1840s—and I was hooked! That’s when I decided to go to grad school to pursue a career in archives.” Parke obtained his master’s degree in library and information science with a concentration in archives management from Simmons University.
After graduating from Simmons, Parke worked part-time at the Trumbull Library and volunteered at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History. Parke recalls, “One day, the archivist there mentioned that the UHart libraries director, Randi Ashton-Pritting, was looking for an archivist. I was eventually offered a part-time position, before accepting a full-time role a few months later.”
The university archivist’s job is to preserve the institution's history and that of its community. Parke is the sole archivist, which in the archival world is known as a “lone arranger.” Being the only full-time trained staff member of the Archives can be a challenge.
“On any given day, I might spend some time answering a patron’s question; pulling materials for a research appointment; talking to a potential donor; helping an intern process a new collection; and adding digital materials to our digital repository,” Parke said. “But I’m fortunate enough to have great student workers, interns, and volunteers that get a lot of work done.”
At home in Meriden with his wife (and three cats and two rabbits), Parke leaves the past behind to focus on the present—which includes gardening, house projects, and piano playing, a hobby he recently resumed after a long hiatus.
Watch for more profiles throughout the summer about dedicated members of our campus community who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make the University a special place.