Finnley Rocca

Research Historian

Work at HAI

Finnley joined HAI in April 2023 and brought their archival-museum-research trifecta of experience along with them. They combine their passion for Diversity Equity and Inclusion, with their love of history to conduct thorough analysis and create clear summaries via writing and infographics. Specializing in ideologies and their lineages, they are aware history never goes away, it only changes shape.

Path to HAI

Prior to HAI, Finnley worked in a variety of positions collecting unique experiences from each place. They started out at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) as an Archival Assistant in Special Collection where they learned the ropes of curation and archival studies. While there, they created three exhibits, but their favorite one was a solo project about Underground Comix. After graduating with their M.A., they accepted a position at the Delaware Public Archives as their Community Services and Public Aid. There Finnley worked on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11 and various digitization projects. But, Baltimore called them back, and they worked as an Administrator in Johns Hopkins University, where they gained acquaintance with medical records.

Finnley earned their Master of Historical Studies in 2020 from UMBC, graduating summa cum laude. Their research focused on ideologies, their lineages, and the importance of remembering the “losers” in a history that is written by the victors.