The Moore Archives Summer Students Return to School after a Productive Summer
EMMA CATHERS
Emma Cathers served as an intern in the Moore Archives for the summer. She has entered her
senior year at the University of Vermont majoring in Art History with a minor in Psychology. As an
intern she worked four full days per week entering data into our PastPerfect museum software.
She makes her home in Elverson and is a graduate of Owen J. Roberts High School. When asked
why her interest in art and history, Emma said her grandfather is a painter and collects art. Her
grandfather is Dan Cathers who has served on the Board of Directors at Historic Yellow Springs
including two terms as Board president. In addition, her Dad does work with history. So she has
been surrounded with this growing up and it fit for her. Plus she is an artist as well but also works as
a trained gardener and has a history of volunteer work.
Part of her internship was to complete an exhibition based on her work. Being an art history major,
as she entered data, she connected to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Country School
era of HYS history from 1916 to 1952. In these records, she found so much photo imagery of this
period as well as artifacts in the Moore collection. In addition, the animal imagery stood out to her.
Consequently, she focused her exhibition on this topic.
Emma also found that new technology combined with the Moore collection of “old” materials
allowed her to expand her research online. She was able to curate and produce an excellent
exhibition “Yellow Springs and the Avant Garde”. Artists and their animal sculptures were featured
and furnishings from the PAFA era added an artistic environmental aesthetic to the exhibition.
She expressed her thanks for this amazing opportunity to pursue her interests. This fall she is doing
another internship at the Hall Art Foundation in Vermont. Her goal is to work as a curator at a
museum and we wish her well as she moves forward to realizing this pursuit. Plus, we thank her so
much for all she accomplished in the Moore Archives this summer.
PARKER DEWEY
Parker Dewey has returned to Gettysburg College where he is a sophomore as an Anthropology
major with minors in both Public History and Spanish. He is interested in document archival work,
research, library and museum curation.
Parker is a lifelong resident of Chester Springs and attended the Downingtown Area School District
schools. When asked why he chose anthropology for a major, he exclaimed, “I was a dinosaur kid!”
He said he had all the dinosaur toys and games growing up so he wanted to continue his interest.
He volunteered over 50 hours and worked on a Jenny Lind collection that was gifted to the Moore
Archives by Frank and Marg Perina. Frank and Marg were part of the founding Yellow Springs
Association that worked to form Historic Yellow Springs and continued their support to HYS over the
years. He said he enjoyed exploring the objects in the collection especially the dinnerware
produced to honor Jenny Lind. Jenny is said to have visited Yellow Springs to take the waters during
her American tour in the early 1850s. Our Sulphur springs is named in her honor as is the Jenny Lind
House where she was said to reside while in the village.
Parker volunteered at the Henrietta Hankin Chester County Library while in high school and
currently is a volunteer citizen archivist for the National Parks Service.
We thank Parker and wish him well as he pursues his education. Parker told us he will be
participating in a dig this fall and is looking forward to this experience.