College of the Atlantic (COA) students learned archival practices through hands-on experience with the college’s archival collections in a new course offered during the winter of 2026. Two of their accomplishments are shared with the public and the college community through an online exhibit and timeline.
- See the Digital Exhibit and Digital Timeline, both created by students as final projects!
The course centered around the history of the COA Community Garden. It was co-taught by Suzanne Morse, faculty in botany and Rachel Carson Chair in Human Ecology, and Elliot Santavicca, college archivist.
Working with records maintained by Morse, the garden’s current manager, and other materials donated by influential figures throughout the garden’s history, students participated in developing and processing an archival collection.
Skye Sweeney reviewing materials in the classroom. (photo by Eamonn Tearno)
In addition to creating a collection and finding aid, students conducted oral history interviews, digitized select materials from the collection, and produced outreach materials. Their work culminated in a physical exhibit in the Thorndike Library at the end of the term.
While the physical exhibit in the library can only be displayed temporarily, all of the work produced by the course will remain digitally accessible in COA’s online archives! Access the full contents of the “Archiving COA, Winter 2026: The Community Garden Collection” here, including student projects and digitized materials from the collection.
Future iterations of this course will focus on other aspects of COA’s history. These courses will not only help us further develop COA’s archival collections, but also offer students the rare opportunity of processing original archival materials as undergraduates.
