Katy Self
Director/ Curator
Katy Self is a graduate of the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC, where she received her bachelor's degree in anthropology, focusing on archaeology. She received her Master of Arts in Museum Studies with a Post-baccalaureate Certificate in Digital Curation from the Johns Hopkins Advanced Academic Program. Her research has focused on the evaluation of exhibitions and the digitization processes and management of small museums.
A Brief Bio
During her undergraduate degree, she worked at the McKissick Museum at the University of South Carolina as a curatorial assistant. At McKissick, her main focus was assisting with digitizing the university’s natural history collection, which was part of the Historic Southern Naturalists Project. She remained with McKissick from 2018-2021. Since then, she has done small tours in Gettysburg and volunteered time at the Conrail Museum in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, where she also interned, developing a digitization procedures manual. She is very passionate about her work, particularly regarding best practices in small museums. She aims to assist us in further developing the Fort Ritchie History Museum and its collection while interpreting its rich history for the public.
Katy is a native of Spartanburg, SC, but relocated with her husband and two boys to Shippensburg, PA, in 2021 because her husband obtained an instructor position with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard at Ft. Indiantown Gap. When Katy is not working or in class, she spends time with her family, traveling and visiting other museums, zoos, and aquariums.