Hello everyone! My name is Karen, and I am writing from the United States, more specifically the state of Ohio.
I was born and raised here in the Buckeye State. I earned my Bachelors Degree in History and a Masters Degree in Public History from The Ohio State University. I’ve stuck around in Ohio’s wonderful capital city of Columbus, where I work as a Curator of Manuscripts at the Ohio History Connection.
At the moment, I am working on plans to commemorate the upcoming 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave many American women the right to vote (although it is important to remember that even after 1920, many women had to continue to fight for the right to vote, because of unrelenting racial discrimination at the ballot box). This means I get to spend 2020 celebrating Ohio women’s activism, from the early 1800s through present day!
When I’m not working in the archives, I love running, reading, writing, board games, and of course Netflix. Recently I’ve been expanding my board gaming skills by getting into some Dungeons and Dragons. Right now I am playing a gnome by the name of Orrlynn who above all things believes in the goodness of those around him. I love being so nice, but Orrlynn is not the best at combat!
I’m at the beginning of my career, which can be a confusing and weird place to be. But as my life grows and changes, I am guided by a wonderful quote from Theodore Roosevelt (and Leslie Knope): “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” I don’t know where life will take me, but as long as I’m working hard at work worth doing, I know it will all be okay.
My favorite museum is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. My fascination with this museum as a teenager pushed me to pursue museums as a career. I grew up listening to “classic rock,” and my understanding of this music provided an inlet to history for me. One of my favorite parts of visiting was always seeing items from Janis Joplin.
Girls today face a myriad of challenges, shaped not only by their gender but their country of origin, race, sexuality, gender expression, and physical ability. From my own point of view, I can see that my friends and I grew up in a culture that told us we could be anything, but didn’t give us the tools to do so. We had limited opportunities and learned to take on the “double burden.” We learned to be successful from within the typical traits of femininity, even though these traits are rarely associated with successful people. I do not want girls today to go through these same frustrating experiences.
I hope that my work here at Girl Museum can help future girls be whatever they want to be- no questions asked. Now that, I think, is work worth doing.
-Karen Robertson
Junior Girl
Girl Museum Inc.