Photo by Caroline Garrow.
Lina Rosenberg Foley has recently joined the Lawrence faculty as the University Archivist, taking over for Erin Dix who had left just at the end of the summer.
As such, she has only been with the university for a couple of weeks. However, she is still a familiar face around campus. In fact, Rosenberg Foley is actually a Lawrence graduate from the class of 2015 and is extremely happy to be back on campus.
Armed with a degree in environmental studies, she originally studied under the tutelage of Professor of Anthropology Peter Neal Peregrine, helping curate the university’s anthropology collections.
That quickly landed her a job in the Lawrence archives, at that time overseen by none other than Dix, who just so happened to be a Lawrence grad herself from the class of 2008.
After graduating, Rosenberg Foley moved to Colorado and was working in a natural history museum in Leadville. From there, she slowly moved her way to a more historical and archival focus until getting her master’s degree in library sciences with a concentration in archival work.
However, nothing can compete with knowing the collection you are working with, and Rosenberg Foley seemed totally at ease while taking us through the archives. Despite only being here a few weeks and having been gone for four years, her knowledge of the collection is still extensive.
During her time at Lawrence, Rosenberg Foley was heavily involved. She was on advisory committees to the dean and was a part of Gaming Club and president of Viking Chorale.
In fact, when she first came to Lawrence, Gaming House was a small living space by City Park.
When she left, they were up to over 20 members and able to fill a quad house, and her mark can still be felt today. The black and gray painted doors on gaming house were her personal doing.
The Lawrence school year, with its high academic requirements and involvement in what tends to amount to far too many extracurricular activities, often leaves students burnt out. Few are eager to stay on campus when classes get out in the spring and summer, much less when they graduate.
However, when asked why she came back, Rosenberg Foley said, “There is just something that draws you back here; you get this feeling of being home.” We hope that this year and a new student body will treat Rosenberg Foley well.
In addition to working at Lawrence, Rosenberg Foley describes herself as a huge nerd, loving board games, video games, Dungeons and Dragons and going on bike rides. She also hopes to get involved in some singing organizations in the Appleton community.