Mikayla Klemp started conducting research in her sophomore year of college with the Purdue Archives & Special Collections department in the Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies. Since then, Mikayla has conducted projects with the Purdue Archives and the TIPPECANOE COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION with the Purdue University College of Liberal Arts.
During the 2023 Fall Expo, Mikayla won first place for the College of Liberal Arts posters and shared it was “one of my proudest undergraduate achievements.” Her research with the Scheuring Icon Collection's Orthodox iconographic paintings in the Purdue Galleries centered around filling in description gaps and working with an icon specialist in Washington. She re-analyzed 126 icon artworks to determine what countries they originated from and the years of their creation for pieces missing this information. As a researcher, Mikayla shared she “highly recommends participating in an OUR research conference to any aspiring researcher! It was a great introduction to presenting original research in a professional setting.”
Another project of Mikayla’s, about the changes to the Purdue curriculum to accommodate World War II efforts, is currently displayed as a mini exhibit in the Purdue Archives on the 4th floor of the Humanities, Social Science, and Education (HSSE) Library! It includes projects that developed recipes that didn’t require rationed food, created courses to train female engineers to replace the men in the workplace, and generated innovative airplane technology.
When asked about how she felt seeing her work on display in the Purdue Archives, Mikayla noted, “Seeing my exhibition on display in the Archives has given me an incredible sense of accomplishment and pride. It took nearly two years' worth of research, writing, and designing for everything to come together, but I’m so happy with how it turned out. I’m glad I pushed myself to take it on. I have so many favorite parts of this exhibition, but I really enjoyed researching the slice-of-life parts about the students. Despite the Second World War raging on and very directly affecting their academic, social, and personal lives, they were still just young adults with a lot of the same hobbies and aspirations as Purdue students on campus today.”
Mikayla is currently a student at Ball State University finishing up her Master’s degree in historic preservation. Her current research projects focus on stagecoach travel in Indiana in the mid- to late-19th century. Her work will culminate in developing interpretive materials for a stagecoach inn and tavern building built c. 1849 in Porter County, IN.