Anthropology Museum’s Book on WCU’s Sesquicentennial Is Published
When West Chester University celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2021-2022, one of the central highlights was the WCU Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology’s WCU150: History and Heritage exhibition.
Now, WCU150: History and Heritage, the official book on the exhibition, has been published.
“This represents the first time one of our books from the museum was co-edited by a student, Aaron Stoyack, and he did a really spectacular job!” says Dr. Michael Di Giovine, museum director and professor of anthropology, who has published 11 books.
Stoyack graduated in 2022 with his bachelor’s degree in history and has authored more than a dozen articles for scholarly, professional, and popular audiences. He notes that, “This book is the realization of four years of work chronicling the history of WCU. It follows the museum’s Sesquicentennial Exhibition from planning to completion.”
Stoyack was one of the student co-curators for the museum exhibition. Other student co-curators also contributed to the content of the book, as did current and former University faculty and staff. “Contributors share their original research in student life, academics, and race and ethnicity, while also detailing the creation of an exhibition and the ways it has been preserved,” he says.
“Although the book serves as the official catalog of the exhibition, it goes well beyond that,” Dr. Di Giovine continues. “It presents original research, hundreds of photos of artifacts, and first-hand accounts of WCU experiences from alumni and faculty who lived through the important events of the time. It also includes visitor studies research, a chapter on how we innovated our virtual exhibitions, and a discussion of mounting an exhibition during a pandemic, which is a contribution to the historical record in and of itself.”
Dr. Di Giovine and the students in his museum studies course conducted their research and collaborated on developing and installing the exhibition in FHG Library during the COVID pandemic, a unique challenge.
Stoyack, who is currently a park ranger at Pamplin Historical Park in Petersburg, VA, was a transfer student when WCU was operating remotely during the pandemic. “I knew I had limited time to make my mark at my new home,” he says. “This book is the product of countless stakeholders undertaking various projects to bring WCU's storied history to life. This is a publication not only about that history, but about how so many members of the community dedicated ourselves to the University we love.”
WCU150: History and Heritage is available through Kendall Hunt Publishing. It’s the fourth catalog published by the museum. Proceeds from sales will support the ongoing work by student co-curators at the museum as well as publishing opportunities for those students.
A 3D virtual experience, a curated tour of the exhibition, complements this volume.
The museum’s book and the related video experience supplement the official sesquicentennial history book, We Serve: West Chester University 1871-2021, that was written by Anne Krulikowki, WCU history professor, and released in 2022 in a limited printing. Only a few copies are still available for sale at the campus store.
Revisit the University’s 150th anniversary here.
Visit the WCU Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology.
