“The reason we are here is because the [Simmons] community is here,” says University Archivist and Digital Initiatives Librarian Kelsey Kolbet ’21MS/MA. “We are here to serve and advance community members’ scholarship.”
The Simmons University Archives “has anything and everything related to the history of Simmons,” says Kolbet, “as well as materials related to children’s literature, nursing, social work, and other items that record women’s professional educational history.” Her favorite object from the University Archives is one of John Simmons’ surviving looms. This object “not only tells the story of John Simmons and how we got here. [It] also tells us about his democratization of clothing and the democratization of women’s education,” she says.
Kolbet enjoys assisting researchers with a wide variety of projects. “Once we had a doctor from Massachusetts General Hospital come to conduct research on tuberculosis, whereas several Simmons students have used our materials for art-related projects,” she recalls. “I love seeing how creatively the patrons use our archival materials.”
Being a university archivist at Simmons is a position replete with variety and dynamism. “Generally speaking, there is no ‘typical day,’ and that is something I really love about this job,” Kolbet says. “And since our staff is relatively small, we take on more responsibilities, which makes us less siloed than archivists elsewhere.”
Mondays comprise the most consistent aspect of Kolbet’s workweek, when she participates in library leadership and archives team meetings. She also conceives, develops, and manages various projects — currently the digitization of the Gwen Ifill Papers and a vast photograph collection. Refining the University Archives, Kolbet processes papers and other items that enter the repository, arranging and describing them for researchers’ benefit, and she occasionally oversees conservation-related issues. She enjoys helping build the Simmons University Digital Archives, a fast-growing and well-used repository, and assisting researchers in the Archives Reading Room.
Furthermore, Kolbet and her team collaborate regularly with faculty from the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS), History, and the Africana Studies program. “I enjoy bringing Simmons students into the archives to enhance their knowledge and skills,” she says. Beyond coursework, University Archives performs public outreach through exhibitions and events.
Facilitating user access is critically important to Kolbet. “We welcome all researchers, both Simmons affiliates and anyone else who wishes to access our collections . . . In very rare cases, for instance, if an item is in very fragile condition and is about to go off to conservation, then we have to limit or deny access. But most of the time we champion accessibility and we are excited for patrons to use our materials,” she says.
A Women’s-Centered Archival Journey
When majoring in history at Smith College, Kolbet became fascinated by archives. “My undergraduate program involved conducting primary source research in Smith’s archives . . . I consulted several archival collections, including the Smith College Archives, which contain materials on the first three generations of Smith students, and the Sophia Smith Collection of Women’s History, an archival repository of American women’s and gender history teeming with stories of activism and resistance,” she recounts.
“While I was researching as a college student, I always had phenomenal experiences with the archivists. I found them so inspiring,” Kolbet says. “I was amazed by their deep knowledge of the collections . . . and how well they connected patrons to other sources and prompted them to ask broader questions [about their research topics].”
For a year following her Smith graduation, Kolbet worked for a rare book dealer at Babylon Revisited Rare Books (Easthampton, MA). “Though focused on sales, the rare book world informed me about how books were made and used . . . That kept my interest in archives alive,” she says.
Intrigued by Simmons’ dual master’s degree in Archives Management and History and the fine reputation of SLIS, Kolbet realized that she could continue to nurture her love of history while also gaining hands-on archival experience. As a Smith alumna, she also knew the value of a women’s-centered education. “Historically women’s institutions tend to be activist and thoughtful environments . . . in which intellectual freedom thrives,” she says.
Bridging Intellectual Training and Hands-on Learning
Kolbet finds the Simmons educational model unique, given its fusion of the liberal arts and a practical orientation. “Here you are trained in theory, but at the same time you also get that hands-on experience,” she says.
Mentorship constitutes another special facet of the Simmons experience. During her graduate studies, Kolbet found Associate Professor of SLIS Katherine Wisser, Professor Emerita of History Laura Prieto, and History faculty member Stephen Ortega the most influential.
“Professor Wisser always gives great advice, and we collaborate frequently . . . Professors Ortega and Prieto saw my potential and offered me rich academic and professional experiences that expanded upon what we learned in the classroom . . . They also introduced me to other colleagues and students with comparable interests to mine. So, it was a productive and authentic kind of networking. The Simmons network was invaluable to me as I navigated the professional realm of libraries and archives,” Kolbet says.
Being a SLIS student facilitated Kolbet’s placement in choice internships and staff positions. She interned at Boston University’s Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center and worked as a library assistant for the Massachusetts Historical Society. Later on, she became a graduate assistant with the Simmons University Archives under former University Archivist Jason Wood ’01MS, ’11MS. “Jason gave me so much freedom in terms of gaining experience in all aspects of archival work . . . I realized that I absolutely loved doing this work,” she says.
Historicizing the Ambivalence of Gender
Among her many intellectual interests, Kolbet feels particularly drawn to the history of women and gender in the United States, circa the mid-nineteenth through early-twentieth centuries. “I often find that women and gender occupy sites of contestation,” she says.
“In these ambivalent contexts, I want to see how power is constructed but also challenged. More often than not, I have found that there is always resistance that challenges forms of oppression and domination,” Kolbet explains. “And this is particularly true during the Progressive Era [1890s–1920s]. Although this was a time of great change for women— in terms of work, education, rights, and leisure — there were also backlashes to their progress . . . I am motivated to recover voices that are historically marginalized, namely women and women of color and non-gender-conforming/queer individuals.”
Kolbet’s 2021 master’s thesis, “‘Under Present Conditions, No Woman is Safe’: The Criminalization and Hyper-sexualization of Black Working Women in Manhattan, 1915–1930,” examines gender history through the lenses of race and class. As Kolbet wrote, “Developed and supported through the use of stereotypes, violence, oppression, and dehumanization, misogynoir [i.e., Black feminist Moya Bailey’s term for the articulation of hatred of Black women in American visual and popular culture] perpetuated the idea of Black working women as innately hypersexual, promiscuous, and criminal in the White imagination.”
However, as Kolbet argued, “Attracted to the freedom and opportunity presented by spaces like Manhattan, Black working women increasingly lived apart from their families, went to work, and engaged in the city’s nightlife sphere. In the process, they challenged hegemonic progressive ideals of feminine respectability and stoked, first, progressive anxiety, then, progressive social intervention measures.”
Honoring Librarianship
For Kolbet, being an archivist offers many rewards, personally and professionally. “On an interpersonal level, I love the aspect of mentorship that comes with this position,” she says. “I am lucky to have two SLIS students, Zoe Johnson ’25MS and Hannah Gershone ’25MS, work for me as Archives and Digital Initiatives Fellows . . . It’s profoundly rewarding to give them hand-on training and see them grow as library professionals.”
In addition, Kolbet relishes the opportunities for community engagement and collaboration. “There are so many interesting projects, whether they be individual research projects or University initiatives,” she says. “For example, the School of Social Work is celebrating their 120th anniversary, so we are helping them develop a historical timeline with interactive digital components.”
Regarding National Library Lovers’ Month 2025, Kolbet encourages the Simmons community to acknowledge librarians’ dedication and labor. “Libraries offer the public so much. Even just saying ‘thank you’ and recognizing how a librarian or library has made an impact on your life is meaningful,” she says. Kolbet is especially grateful for public librarians, given that they often perform many social services in addition to traditional librarianship.
“Also, visit your local library/libraries,” she adds. “Just being present in the space and interacting with people who make this resource available to the public is a great way to celebrate this time of year . . . We are always happy to engage with the community.”