Allison Baker is the new curator at the Johnson County Museum of History. The lifelong Johnson County resident has been active in museum studies throughout her education, including volunteering on the University of Indianapolis archaeological dig at Nancy Kerlin Barnett’s famed “Grave in the Road” south of Franklin in 2016, done in partnership with the museum.
RYAN TRARES | DAILY JOURNAL
The joy is in the collection.
For most of her life, Allison Baker has relished the thrill of the hunt — searching out objects that interested her, scouring stores or garage sales for new items in different categories, from antique Sears Roebuck mushroom canisters to glow-in-the-dark glass.
Now, in her new role as the curator of the Johnson County Museum of History, Baker has a large collection of interesting objects around to play with.
“I love stuff. I’m a collector, so I have various collections of different things. I love the history that comes with each object — what’s its history, where did it come from. It’s a constant learning experience with every different object.”
Baker took over as curator in early March, stepping into a role requiring her to maintain the museum’s robust trove of historical artifacts. So far, she’s spent her time getting acclimated to the collection, learning from director David Pfeiffer and other staff and volunteers the quirks of a community museum.
Still, with Johnson County and Franklin in the midst of bicentennial years, she is stepping into a whirlwind time for the museum. Luckily, she brings both an experience in museum studies as well as the knowledge of a lifelong Johnson County resident to the position.
“Allison has that basic knowledge already, allowing her to hit the ground running, which is especially helpful since we have an exhibit opening in a few weeks,” said David Pfeiffer, museum director. “Her experience at other historic institutions gave her a background in collections, exhibits, and programming and we need someone like that who is able to switch between projects.”
Baker grew up in the Whiteland area and graduated from Whiteland Community High School in 2015.
After graduation, Baker attended IUPUI, earning a bachelor’s degree in anthropology with a minor in geography. Her interest had been archaeology, but after going through field school and experiencing the rigors of a dig site, she shifted focus.
“I didn’t love the digging aspect of it, so I thought, how could I still get the archaeology aspect but take out that manual labor. So I pushed toward museum studies,” she said.
Baker was accepted into the museum studies graduate program at IUPUI, where she earned her master’s degree. As she worked toward her degree, she developed a love for working with collections.
Much of her preparation for the world of museums came outside the classroom, though. She did work at Conner Prairie, was a curatorial fellow at the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, and volunteered at the Indiana Medical History Museum.
In 2016, she assisted Dr. Christopher Schmidt as a volunteer with the University of Indianapolis in the removal, analysis, and reburial of remains for Johnson County’s famed “Grave in the Road” — the burial place of Nancy Kerlin Barnett.
“I volunteered everywhere, and I tried to explore all of the different aspects,” she said.
Searching for her first museum job after school, Baker was stymied by a saturated market. Despite applying to numerous positions, she couldn’t get a foothold anywhere.
So she decided to step back. She worked as a preschool teacher and did jobs for a contracting company. But when the curator opening at the Johnson County Museum of History came up, she pounced.
“I hadn’t applied for a job for about two years, so I just jumped on it. I figured if it was meant to be, it was meant to be,” she said.
Though she has always been a county resident, she never really knew much about the museum of history prior to applying to the curator job.
“I had never been here, to my memory. My brother had been here on a field trip, but this is new to me,” she said.
Baker started in her role the first week of March, and since that time, has focused on listening to others and taking it all it. Pfeiffer has helped her get a more robust picture of what the curator job entails.
“One of the biggest challenges is just walking her around the building here. We have artifact collections stored on every floor, so it’s easy to get turned around,” he said. “I’ve had her attend different organization’s committee meetings that I’m on to introduce her to our community partners. She’s listened to some of our tours.”
Still, this is a busy year for the museum. Just days after starting, she took part in the county’s Bicentennial Kickoff event, which brought hundreds of people out to start celebrating 200 years of Johnson County.
Though hectic, Baker has relished the challenge. An exhibit on Franklin’s bicentennial — also this year — opens on April 13, so she’s been immersing herself in ensuring it’s prepared.
“We’ve really been digging deep into this new exhibit. (David ) has let me be more hands-off, to see how the exhibit goes, but I’ve been getting into a little bit of research, object selection, that sort of thing,” she said.
Even at this early point as curator, Baker has ideas about goals she’d like to achieve. Foremost is going through the museum collection spaces and fine-tuning how everything is organized.
“I’m a very meticulous person, so being able to come in and put my own spin on the organization and the database has been very exciting,” she said.
