Curriculum Vitae
Susan R. Asbury
23 Brookview Circle
Elizabethtown, PA 17022
Cell: (585) 732-0886
E-mail: asburys@etown.edu
Professional Experience
Associate Director, Residence Life: Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
(July 2010-present)
Manage the Student Directed Learning Communities (SDLCs) and Living Learning Communities
(LLCs); Connect with faculty in development and program of LLCs; SDLC residents Residence
Life liaison; Coordinate SDLC program; Develop AOD programming for the Residence Halls;
Manage programming and AOD budget for department; Supervise SDLC Community Fellow;
Devise and implement Resident Assistant training; Manage low-level conduct cases for Student
Rights and Responsibilities department; Serve as a Title IX investigator for sexual misconduct
cases; Serve on Student Conduct, Conduct Appeal, and Civic Engagement Advisory Boards;
Advisor for Get A.B.S.U.R.D (Get a Better Student Understanding of Responsible Drinking) club
Interim Director, Student Rights & Responsibilities: Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown,
Pennsylvania (February 2010-May 2010)
Served as college judicial officer; advised and counseled students on community standards
processes; investigated and adjudicated student conduct cases; recommended and imposed
interventions and sanctions that foster student learning and focus on restorative justice practices;
mediated discussions with disputing parties; served as staff advisor for the Peer Board, a student
judicial board; organized appeals and communicated with Appeal Board and Student Conduct
Board; worked with off-site drug and alcohol counselors in educating students about responsible
choices; represented college at the Susquehanna Valley Consortium meetings; and served on
Campus Wellness Network
Adjunct: Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania (Fall 2013)
Taught a first-year seminar course entitled: “Hula Hoops, Hotwheels, and Hopscotch: American
History and the Material Culture of Childhood,” served as the academic advisor for sixteen firstyear students in the class, developed both content based lectures as well as college adjustment
curriculum
Lecturer: The Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg, (Spring 2010-present)
Teach one workshop a semester in the American Studies Master degree program on issues in
curatorial and collections management practices, museum administration, exhibit development
and design, and museum education
Consultant: Strong National Museum of Play (formerly Strong Museum), Rochester, New York
(March 2010-June 2010)
Wrote a “how to” document related to conferences held at the museum
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Executive Assistant to the President & CEO; Associate Curator; and Assistant Editor, American
Journal of Play: The Strong (formerly Strong National Museum of Play & Strong Museum),
Rochester, New York (September 2003-July 2009)
Associate Curator duties: served on the National Toy Hall of Fame®, Rochester Business Hall of
Fame, Field of Play, United States of Play, and Time Lab (update) exhibit teams; served as the
exhibit team co-leader and chief interpreter for the Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden and the
Discovery Garden; served as chief curator on Celebrating America’s Favorite Doll (exhibit about
fifty years of Barbie); managed the museum’s post-1950s doll collection; acquired objects for the
collection; researched topics related to post-1950s dolls and play; wrote blog posts about dollrelated issues; proposed objects to be used in the on-line collections database
Executive Assistant duties: Assisted the President & CEO with special projects; served as the
chief administrative liaison with the Board of Trustees; served as main coordinator for scholarly
based conferences at the museum; organized materials for the museum’s subsequent accreditation
through the American Association of Museums; served as team leader for the Mixed Bagel team
(develops and coordinates quarterly staff development programs); represented the CEO in
community activities
Assistant Editor duties: managed communication to authors and reviewers; assisted with the
location of books to review and reviewers; tracked publication schedules
Curator: Oak Hill and the Martha Berry Museum, Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia
(June 2000-July 2003)
Managed the collection (approximately 10,000 objects); developed museum policies; trained and
evaluated student workers; implemented new interpretation; developed community outreach and
educational programs; worked with interns and Berry College students; researched Berry College
history; published articles about Berry College; wrote grants; researched and designed exhibits;
wrote brochures and museum catalogs for exhibitions; organized off-campus museum internships
for students in the history department; taught Freshman Seminar classes and public groups about
Berry’s history
Lecturer: Kennesaw State University, Marietta, Georgia
(January 2003-May 2003)
Taught a Museum Studies course for undergraduate students in the university’s history
department
Lecturer: History Department, Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia
(August 2001-April 2002)
Taught United States Survey (1865-present) courses for Berry College’s history department
Assistant Registrar: South Carolina State Museum, Columbia, South Carolina
(August 1998-May 2000)
Accessioned and catalogued incoming artifacts; inventoried and managed exhibit and storage
facilities; packaged and transported loaned artifacts; served on committee for clothing exhibit
Volunteer and Weekend Staff Docent: Historic Columbia Foundation, Columbia, South Carolina
(January 1998-February 2000)
Renumbered collection at one of the Foundation’s historic homes; researched artifacts in the
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Foundation’s collection; wrote a twentieth-century interpretation for Mann-Simons Cottage;
managed the gift shop and served as docent on selected weekends throughout the year
Project Consultant and Writer: Kiplin Hall, Richmond/Scorton, North Yorkshire, England
(May 1999-October 1999)
Researched and wrote a conservation plan for Kiplin Hall, a seventeenth-century English country
house, in order to comply with guidelines from funding received from English Heritage Lottery
Fund; assisted in developing an interpretive plan for the history house, landscape and
outbuildings
Exhibit Design Coordinator: McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina, Columbia
(August 1998-February 1999)
Created permanent exhibit for the Thomas Cooper Library; conducted research for text panels,
selected artifacts, developed storyline, and designed textual lay-out for exhibition; consulted on
the installation of the exhibit in February 1999
Project Assistant: Manuscripts Division, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina,
Columbia
(August 1997-May 1998)
Re-housed Antebellum and New South papers for NEH and NCPRC grant; preserved historical
documents; researched and wrote collection finding aids for researchers
Professional Affiliations
American Association of Museums
American Association for State and Local History
Pennsylvania Association of Museums
Phi Alpha Theta
Education
M.A., University of South Carolina, Columbia
May 2000
Fields: Museum Studies, American History: 1877-present
Certificate: McKissick Museum Certificate in Museum Management
B.A., Berry College, Mount Berry, GA
History major, Psychology minor
April 1997
Select Exhibits
Curated:
Collage (rotating, semester-long exhibit), Elizabethtown College Baughman Student Commons,
December 2010, May 2011, December 2011, August 2011, May 2012.
Celebrating America’s Favorite Doll, Strong National Museum of Play, June 2009.
Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden, Strong National Museum of Play, July 2006-present.
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Discovery Garden, Strong National Museum of Play, July 2006-present.
“You Can Whittle and Carve:” The Art of Amanda Watkins Hellum, The Martha Berry Museum,
June-September 2003.
The Viking Tradition: 100 Years of Sports at Berry College, The Martha Berry Museum, JanuaryMay 2003.
“Simple Colonial Furniture:” The Craftsmanship of Franklin H. Gottshall, The Martha Berry
Museum, May-September 2002.
Remembering Berry: Student Trinkets and Souvenirs of Berry’s Past, The Martha Berry Museum,
January-May 2002.
Oak Hill Garden Outdoor Exhibit Panels, Oak Hill and The Martha Berry Museum, June 2002present.
Consider the Lilies of the Field: The Photography and Art of Honey Glover, August-December
2001.
Fit and Fashionable: Health and Beauty During Martha Berry’s Lifetime, The Martha Berry
Museum, September 2000-January 2001.
Co-Curated:
The United States of Play, Strong National Museum of Play, April 2007-present.
The National Toy Hall of Fame, Strong National Museum of Play, July 2006-present.
The Field of Play, Strong National Museum of Play, July 2006-present.
The Weaving Room: The History of Weaving at Berry College, The Martha Berry Museum,
October 2002-January 2003.
Ukiyo-e: Pictures of the Floating World, Japanese Woodblock Prints from Berry’s Collections,
The Martha Berry Museum, January-May 2002.
Reflections: The Art of Portraiture, The Martha Berry Museum, December 2000-March 2001.
Special Projects and Publications
“Children’s Museums,” entries for Encyclopedia of Youth Cultures in America. Simon Bronner,
Cindy Dell Clark, and Mary Napoli, editors. NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., forthcoming.
Chair of the Library Committee for the Winters Heritage House Museum, Elizabethtown, PA,
September 2011-present.
Serve as judge for The Hershey Story museum’s annual history essay contest, Hershey, PA,
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February 2010-present.
Book review of Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Doll and the Woman
Who Created Her, by Robin Gerber. New York: Collins Business, 2009, American Journal of
Play, (Volume 2, No. 3, Winter 2010).
Reviewer for Nomenclature 3.0 for Museum Cataloging, 3rd Edition, Paul Bourcier, Ruby Rogers,
and the Nomenclature Committee, eds. Lanham, MD: Altamira Press, 2010.
Served on Host and Program Committees for the 2008 American Association for State and Local
History Conference.
Co-coordinator for the Middle Atlantic American Studies Association Conference, April 4-5,
2008.
Co-coordinator for the Upstate History Alliance/NYSCA New York State Children’s Museum
meeting, November 13, 2007.
Program Coordinator for International Play Association (IPA)/ The Association for the Study of
Play (TASP) conference, April 2007.
Researched and wrote labels for Classic Toys from the National Toy Hall of Fame , NY: Running
Press, 2009.
Researched, wrote, and edited script for the Discovery Garden, an outdoor play area, at Strong
National Museum of Play, Winter 2006.
Researched and wrote scripts for exhibit and introductory videos for the Dancing Wings Butterfly
Garden, Strong National Museum of Play, Winter 2004.
“Simple Colonial Furniture: Franklin H. Gottshall’s Influence on Interior Design at Berry
College”, with Laura Caldwell Anderson, in Georgia Inside & Out: Architecture, Landscape, and
Decorative Arts. Athens: Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, 2003.
Foreword to Miracle in the Mountains by Harnett T. Kane with Inez Henry. Garden City, New
York: Double Day and Co., 1956, Fall 2002.
Preface to The Weaving Room: The History of Weaving at Berry College. Catalog for the exhibit
held at The Martha Berry Museum, October 2002-January 2003. Mt. Berry, GA: Berry College,
2002.
Book Review of A Bluestocking in Charleston: The Life and Career of Laura Bragg, by Louise
Anderson Allen. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2001, Georgia Historical
Quarterly, (Winter 2002).
“Oak Hill” Section of Berry Trails: an Historic and Contemporary Guide to Berry College.
Mount Berry, GA: Berry College, 2001.
Georgia Council for Humanities/Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries M.U.S.E.
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Program Consultant, Roselawn Museum, Cartersville, GA, December 2000.
“Kiplin Hall Conservation Plan,” October 1999.
Conference Presentations and Lectures
“Singing about Armageddon: The Music Industry’s Perpetuation of the Cold War,” presented to
the Liberal Arts Residence Living Learning Community, Elizabethtown College, PA, March 21,
2014
“Mansions, Happy Old Age, and Mysticism: Symbolic Representations of Nineteenth- Century
Religious and Philosophical Movements as Found in Board Games,” presented at the MidAtlantic American Academy of Religion regional conference, Newburgh, NY, March 7-9, 2014
“What Toys Can Tell Us About History,” presented to the Liberal Arts Residence Living
Learning Community, Elizabethtown College, PA, December 2, 2011
“Strong National Museum of Play,” presented to the Sasha Doll Club meeting, Rochester, NY,
June 26, 2009
Television interviews about the opening of the Celebrating America’s Favorite Doll exhibit, June
24-26, 2009
“Robes, Tiaras, and Slippers: Looking at Princess Play,” and “The National Toy Hall of Fame –
Count My Toy In!” American International Toy Fair, New York, NY, February 16-18, 2009
“‘Where Is My Glass Slipper?’: Playing Princess with Strong’s Collection,” presented at the
Mid-Atlantic American Studies Association conference, Rochester, NY, April 4-5, 2008
“Doll Fads of the 1950s and 1960s”, presented at St. John’s Meadows community group,
Rochester, NY, March 27, 2007
National Toy Hall of Fame interview on the induction of the Easy-Bake Oven, Channel 10, NBC
News, Rochester, NY, November 9, 2006
Dancing Wing Butterfly Garden exhibit television interview, Channel 10, NBC News, Rochester,
NY, July 13 and 14, 2006
Workshop participant, Theriault’s Dollmastery Seminar, Las Vegas, NV, April 28-29, 2005
“Strong Museum’s Mission and Expansion Plans,” presented to the Time Out for Women’s group
at the West Ridge Community Center, Greece, NY, February 9, 2005
“ ‘Simple Colonial Furniture’: Franklin H. Gottshall’s Influence on Interior Design at Berry
College,” presented at The Second Henry D. Green Symposium of the Decorative Arts,
University of Georgia, Athens, GA, January 29-31, 2004
“Demystifying the Past: Martha Berry’s Problematical Identity,” presented at the National
Council on Public History Conference, Houston, TX, April 24-27, 2003
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Roundtable Discussion on interpreting Appalachian Sites, Appalachian Studies Conference,
Unicoi, GA, March 15-17, 2002
“‘With Proper Instruction, Students are Able to Achieve Wonders’: The Philosophy of the Arts
and Crafts Movement Manifested Through Objects Made at the Berry Schools,” presented at the
Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA, February 28, 2002
Collections Ethics, lecture, Public History class, University of West Georgia, Carrollton,
February 4, 2002
“Homecoming and Dinner-on-the-Grounds: Revisiting Possum Trot,” presented at the One-Room
Schooling Conference, University of Northern Illinois, Dekalb, IL, June 2001
“Museum Management,” lecture, Public History class, Shorter College, Rome, GA, February
2001
“Mr. Ford’s Car and Miss Berry’s Buggy,” presented at Berry College’s annual Founder’s Day,
January 2001
“Myth and Reality in Historic House Museums,” lecture, graduate Public History class, State
University of West Georgia, Carrollton, September 2000, September 2001
“‘Far Up from the Hills of Georgia:’ Martha Berry’s Twentieth-Century Home,” presented at the
Georgia Women of Achievement Conference, Rome, GA, March 1999
Workshop Participant, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts/ University of North Carolina,
Greensboro Summer Program: The Southern Back Country, Museum of Early Southern
Decorative Arts, June-July 2000, Winston Salem, NC
Participant, Istituto per l’Arte e il Restauro (the Institute for Art and Restoration) Summer
Program, June-August 1998, Rome, Italy
Awards
National Council on Public History (NCPH) Student Project Award, 2000
Woodmen of the World, History Award, 1997
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