By Heather Lusk
The SullivanMunce Cultural Center has a new director to develop and manage the museum’s exhibits and collections.
Dr. Kristina Huff initially planned to volunteer at the SullivanMunce one day a week.
“Within two weeks I was totally absorbed,” she said. She now volunteers several days a week in her role as museum director. “I love the range of different tasks,” she said.
Huff moved to Zionsville with her husband in November 2013.
“We moved here right before the ‘polar vortex’ winter,” she said.
The weather prevented them from exploring the area until spring when they finally took advantage of the shops and restaurants in the village as well as the walking tour at the museum.
Huff is thinking about displays to celebrate Indiana’s bicentennial anniversary as a state in 2016. Her other goal is to identify people and places in photographs in the museum’s collection along with stories that might be associated with the photos.
“To us the stories make the items more valuable,” she said.
Huff earned her PhD in English from the University of Delaware, presenting a dissertation about gift books, 19th century literary keepsakes often lavishly decorated.
While her husband was working in Iowa, she began volunteering and eventually working for the State Historical Society of Iowa Library. As a reference librarian she worked with genealogists for the first time.
“I’m certainly not an expert, but I had my baptism with fire,” she said. “You never knew what would come in the door.”
The visitors and volunteers at SullivanMunce have taught Huff even more about the Zionsville area and its history.
“Everyone has such a rich store of information and experiences,” Huff said.
“When we first came to visit, Zionsville felt homey to us,” she said, “but now I feel so much more connected to the community.”
