Lindsay Long
Archivist | Pathfinder for Curious Collections
“Buried within archives, libraries, and museum collections are so many stories untold. By arranging and understanding a collection, in whatever form, we can bring new information to light and out into the world. There is potential hidden in unprocessed and underserved collections, and I hope to help their caretakers find a path forward.”
Work at HAI
While only recently joining the HAI Team, Lindsay has nearly 15 years of experience in archives, libraries, and museums. She has worn a variety of hats: Museum Collections Intern, Photo Archivist, Library Supervisor, Digital Archivist, and Supervisory Archivist. She has worked with many unique collections across the country from film studios to local museums, from university libraries to federal institutions. Lindsay delights in the ever changing circumstances of working in contract archiving, where it seems almost every day brings a new challenge and a new collection.
Lindsay excels at creating paths; whether an archive needs arranging, a collection needs cataloging, or even if a client simply has no idea what they have or what to with it, she can help build a plan for discovery and organization. Her unique skills give her the advantage of being a true Jack-of-all-Trades, so whether a collection contains or is about nitrate still film, architecture, Chinese art, family papers, Classical archaeology, or even something else entirely, Lindsay has expertise and knowledge to bring to the table.
Path to HAI
Originally Lindsay set out to be an archaeologist. However, she quickly grew to love the work involved in preserving and organizing the object collections more than the fieldwork. She interned at the Nebraska History Museum while gaining her dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Anthropology and Art History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She continued in academia, seeking her Master of Arts in Art History from the University of Oregon while simultaneously preparing a co-authored paper for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
During this time, she discovered her passion for special collections and archives which led her to Los Angeles after graduation to work at the University of Southern California’s East Asian Library and an archiving company specializing in film collections. This is where she started to see the overlap and benefit to understanding archives, libraries, and museums not as separate and disparate entities, but rather as collections that have more stories to tell together than they do apart.
Eventually, Lindsay found her way to Washington, DC and to federal institutions where she soon also discovered HAI. She was intrigued by HAI’s ability to combine historical research, archiving, and museum collections for clients as it seemed to match her ideals, too. And as they say, the rest is history. Lindsay excitedly joined the team at HAI in 2022, where she will be focusing on Archival and Collections Project Management.