Meet Amy Steadman DeWitt, Collections Manager & Museum Coordinator
The Heritage Alliance is excited to welcome new Collections Manager & Museum Coordinator Amy Steadman DeWitt! We asked Amy a few questions to find out more about her and what she’s looking forward to.
What other institutions have you worked with before coming to the Heritage Alliance?
I was fortunate to be able to return to my home area immediately after completing graduate school after being hired as the Collections Manager at Rocky Mount Museum. After a few years there, the perfect job
opened up and I grabbed it: Curator at the Eudora Welty House Museum in Jackson, Mississippi; therefore combining my love of southern literature and history. While in Mississippi, I also took a weekend position at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, something completely out of my wheelhouse but I learned a bit about preserving deflated footballs. Ten years ago, I returned to the Tri-Cites area to be closer to my parents, and have worked at some wonderful local institutions such as The Reece Museum on the campus of ETSU,
the Kingsport Carousel, and Hands On! Museum.
What are you looking forward to in your new position?
Learning more about the history of the area where I am from! Also, I look forward to working with others who share the same passions as I do, in preserving both tangible and intangible culture of the southern
Appalachian region. While during Jonesborough Days and spending that time talking with visitors about the Chester Inn, I realized how much I missed interpreting architectural history and material culture. To see both children and adults alike become so excited about looking through a stereoscope made my own work so much more enriching.
Outside of work, what are your hobbies and interests?
Just picked some cukes grown in my garden last night, but I am more interested in my blooming flowers and keeping subtropical plants alive here in the winter! My husband TJ and I are very proud of our huge Night Blooming Cereus that came to us as a small cutting from Louisiana (and if anyone wants a cutting let
me know). I also love being at home reading along next to my two dogs and two cats, but have been fortunate in the past few years to travel as well. Already have taken San Francisco and Florence, Italy off my bucket list.
What do you hope to achieve in your new position?
First off, to complete an inventory of the collections, especially the newer artifacts that have been donated. Having the knowledge of what we have is the basis of good preservation. But, through this, other staff members and I can develop new exhibits and educational opportunities, both on-site and online. Also, I
hope to update both the museum at the visitor center and collections storage with improved lighting, better accessibility, and updated content. Its a huge project, but bit by bit, our staff and community could have a world-class museum for all the thousands of visitors who pass through Jonesborough each year.
