NPP Welcomes Park Curator, Julia Aleszczyk
by Sidney McCarty, Americorps VISTA, National Park Partners
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park recently welcomed a new park curator into its ranks, Julia Aleszczyk. An inventive curator with a fascinating and diverse history of curation and preservation, Julia is an excellent addition to the already well-rounded and dedicated team at CCNMP.
In order to celebrate and learn more about her work, National Park Partners sat down with Julia to hear more about her history, her current work, and what drew her to Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park after working across the country and completing an education abroad.
For those less familiar with the term “curation,” Aleszczyk defines it as a process of preserving material history. While objects often seem mundane and ordinary in the everyday, in their historical context, they can illuminate the lives of those who came before us in a personal, intimate way. As a curator, it is her goal to make these materials as accessible as possible through exhibits and collaboration with park interpreters. Clearly passionate about this work, Aleszczyk’s journey to park curation at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park has shaped and informed these beliefs, as she has pursued a breadth of sensitive, complex experience.
Julia Aleszczyk began her journey towards curation by pursuing a Bachelor’s degree at the University of West Florida. Initially unsure of what path to pursue, she became interested in curation and preservation when encouraged to look into the school’s shipwreck archeology program. Eventually, she became a terrestrial archeologist with a particular interest in human remains analysis. This drove her towards work at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and shortly thereafter she was recruited by the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office to work with materials related to the tragic events of September 11, 2001.
Absorbed by the sensitive, careful process of working with such sites, she pursued more experience in Human Osteology, by pursuing graduate education at Durham University in Durham, England, before returning to work with the New York City Medical Examiner's Office. Not wanting to stay permanently in the city, she left New York, moving back to Florida and taking a position with the Southeast Archeological Center. This work, and that at the Medical Examiner’s Office, prepared her for interaction with complex, sensitive, community driven materials. Therefore, when a position opened up at Kalaupapa National Historical Park in Hawaii, she was well prepared for the job at hand.
Kalaupapa National Historical Park in Hawaii is a historic site wherein individuals with Hansen’s disease (leprosy) in Hawaii were quarantined beginning in 1886. Formerly equated to a prison, it now continues to house patients who have chosen to live the remainder of their lives within the community. Kalaupapa is home to a reflective and living history, one which must be carefully protected and, in Aleszczyk's case, curated. According to her, the peninsula is incredibly remote, requiring those within to rely on the deep connections made with one another. Travel is carefully restricted to the site in order to protect the privacy of patients, and so any preservation and curation going on is crafted with the beliefs, needs, and desires of the community at its heart. The complexity and beauty of the culture and history at Kalaupapa fundamentally shaped Aleszczyk’s work and interests going forward, and prepared her for the often sensitive and personal nature of the curation done at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.
Aleszczyk’s work at CCNMP, like her previous work, is focused on curation that is collaborative, communicative, and community minded. She seeks to tell as many stories from as many perspectives as possible, and that goal is evident in her current exhibition at Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center on the Women’s Army Corps.
Aleszczyk’s current exhibit is an intimate and extremely effective dip into a lesser known past of Chickamauaga Battlefield. Featuring a variety of personal effects and historical promotional materials, the visitor is drawn into the year 1943, when Fort Oglethorpe and Chickamauaga Battlefield served as a training field for the Women’s Army Corps. Julia has collaborated with collections across the state in order to make available to the public an in-depth look into the experience of a member of the Women’s Army Corps. Such personal items as a compact and lipstick combo often found in a WAC utility bag are presented alongside a WAC recruitment video and uniform. Diverse stories are told, as women from all backgrounds found themselves drawn into the program. Ultimately, the exhibit is a wonderful example of the excellent work Julia is bound to continue to introduce in her role as curator at CCNMP.
National Park Partners is ecstatic to welcome Julia to CCNMP. Given her impeccable attention to community, access, and storytelling, there is no doubt that her time at the park will be fruitful for all. Julia’s exhibit on the Women’s Army Corps will continue to be available to the public throughout the winter, and can be found in Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center. As that exhibit changes throughout the year, watch our social media for updates.