Donna
C. Parker
Associate
Professor, Exhibits
Curator, the Kentucky Museum, Department
of Library Special Collections
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Contact
Information:
Department
of Library Special Collections
304
Kentucky Building
Western
Kentucky University
1906 College Heights Blvd.
#11092
Bowling Green, Kentucky 42101-1092
Phone:
(270) 659-2592
FAX:
(270) 745-6264
Email:
donna.parker@wku.edu
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Education
Position
Description
Research
Public
Services
Web-based
Materials
Awards/Grants
Education
- M.S.
Textiles and Clothing (1987). Western Kentucky University, Bowling
Green
- B.F.A.
Art. (1977). Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green
Position
Description
Ms. Donna
Parker has been a member of the Department of Library Special Collections
faculty since 1981.
Research
- Articles
Parker, Donna. “Building for the Future: Rosenwald Schools
in Warren County.” Landmark Report 21 (April 2003): 6-8.
Parker, Donna. “Flax, use in America” – Encylopedia
USA (accepted for publication 2002)
_____. Kentucky Women Artists: 1850-2000. The Kentucky Museum and
The Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, 2001. [Artists’ biographies
for 1850-1970 section].
Parker, Donna. “'Ho! for Drakes Creek': Warren County’s
Shakers" Landmark Report 17
(June 1998): 6-8.
Parker, Donna and Jeffrey, Jonathan. A Thread of Evidence: Shaker
Textile Industries at South Union, Kentucky. South Union, Kentucky:
Shaker Museum at South Union, 1996.
Parker, Donna and Jeffrey, Jonathan. "A Thread of Evidence:
Shaker Textiles at South Union, Kentucky." The Register of
the Kentucky Historical Society 94 (Winter 1996): 33-58.
Parker, Donna and Jeffrey, Jonathan. "'We Have Raffeled for
the Elephant & Won!': The Wool Industry at South Union Kentucky
1814-1868.” The Kentucky Review 13 (Winter 1997): 58-74.
Parker, Donna. " 'Ho! for Drakes Creek': Something Ventured,
Nothing Gained" Communal Societies 14 (1994): 113-122.
Parker, Donna. "Made to Fit a Woman: Riding Uniforms of the
Frontier Nursing Service." Dress 20 (1993): 53-64.
Parker, Donna and Jeffrey, Jonathan. "Sericulture, Silk and
South Union Shakers." The Shaker Messenger 15 (May 1993): 5-9,
30.
Parker, Donna. "Dating Historic Costume. " Midwest Open-Air
Museums Magazine 13 (Summer/Fall 1992): 30-35.
Parker, Donna and Jeffrey, Jonathan. "Flax Production at South
Union, Kentucky." The Shaker Messenger 14 (April 1992): 7-9,
23.
- Papers
Presented
-
2003 “Museum
Exhibit Design,” Kentucky Association of Museums Annual
Meeting, Bowling Green.
1998-00 “Exhibit
Design for the Beginning Professional,” Kentucky Intensive
Museum Management Seminar, Owensboro, Kentucky and Danville, Kentucky.
1998 "'Ho!
for Drakes Creek:' Something Ventured, Nothing Gained," -
Berkshire Seminar, South Union, Kentucky
1997-8 Western
Kentucky University Bicentennial Speakers Bureau
1997 “Exhibit
Design for the Beginning Professional,” Kentucky Intensive
Museum Management Seminar, Bowling Green, Kentucky.
1997 “Protecting
and Preserving Textiles: Saving Grandma’s Old Quilt,”
Museum of the Barrens, Glasgow, Kentucky.
1995 "'Ho!
for Drakes Creek:' Something Ventured, Nothing Gained," -
South Union Seminar, South Union, Kentucky.
1994 "Wool
Manufacturing at South Union, 1814-1868," - South Union Seminar,
South Union, Kentucky.
1993 "The
Felts Log House: Strategies for Interpreting and Furnishing an
Historic Log House" - Southeastern Museums Conference, Norfolk,
Virginia.
1993 "Made
to Fit a Woman: Riding Uniforms of the Frontier Nursing Service"
- Costume Society of America Region VI Symposium, Pleasant Hill,
Kentucky.
1993 "Flax
Production at South Union, Kentucky" - Berkshire Seminar,
South Union, Kentucky.
1993 "Sericulture,
Silk and the South Union Shakers" - South Union Seminar,
South Union, Kentucky.
1992 "Fossilized
Dress of the Shakers," Shaker Topic Series, South Union,
Kentucky.
1992 "Flax
Production at South Union, Kentucky" - South Union Seminar,
South Union, Kentucky.
1990 "Beyond
Mere Apparel: Using Costume to Interpret Women's History"
- Women’s Studies Conference, Western Kentucky University,
Bowling Green, Kentucky.
1989 “Collecting
Kentucky: Dating a Costume” - Kentucky Association of Museums
Annual Conference, Maysville, Kentucky.
- Major
Exhibits
-
2003 “The
Wright Approach: Wilbur and Orville and Their Flying Machine”
2003
“Young at Heart: Children’s Book Illustraitons”
2002
“Bill Whitey Sanders: Comic Opera”
2002
“New York: A City Searching for Hope”
2001
“Kentucky Women Artists: 1850-1970”
2001
“Ninety Miles of Dixie: 31W Today”
2000
“Joe Dudley Downing 2000
2000
“Ninety Miles of Dixie: Highway 31W Today”
2000
“Contemporary Coverage: Not Your Grandmother’s Quilt
Anymore!”
1999
“A Kind of Nobility: The Kentucky Orphan Brigade”
1998
“Cover Stories: Warren County Quilts and Quilters”
1997
“Roads, Rails and Rivers: Warren County Then and Now”
1997
“Come to the Church in the Wildwood: Warren County’s
Historic Rural Churches
1996
“Look What I See: Art and the Child’s Point of View”
1995
"Remember Me When I Am Gone: Kentucky Friendship and Memory
Quilts"
1994
"Hard Times and High Hopes: Fashion of the Thirties"
1994
"The Little Colonel: Memory, Imagination and Kentucky"
1993
"Contemporary Traditions: Works of Kentucky Craftspeople"
1993
"Joe Downing: Recent Works"
1992
"The Felts Log House"
1990
"A Change of Style: Works of Kentucky Craftspeople"
1990
"Piece by Piece: A Sampling of Logan County Quilts"
1989
"The Kentucky Building: Continuing the Dream"
1988
"Joe Downing: The Art of an International Kentuckian"
1988
"Sh-Boom: An Explosion of Fifties Fashion"
- Consultantships
-
1997-1999
Task Force/Faculty - Kentucky Intensive Museum Management Seminar,
Historical Confederation of Kentucky and Kentucky Association
of Museums
1991-93 Soil Conservation Service, Warren County. Exhibit consultant,
"Where the Rainwater Flows" traveling exhibit.
1991-1992 Kentucky Humanities Council. Costume consultant, "Kentucky
Chautauqua" portrayal, by Dr. Carol Crowe-Carraco, of Mary
Breckinridge, Frontier Nursing Service.
1991 Kentucky Humanities Council. Exhibit consultant/technical
advisor, "Beyond the Borders: Shaker Philosophy through Textiles,"
Shakertown at South Union.
1990 Kentucky Folklife Program. Exhibit consultant/technical advisor
and artist conceptualization, "The Ties that Bind: Folklife
Along the Kentucky River" traveling exhibit. Funded by National
Endowment for the Arts.
Public
Services
- Professional
- Affiliation
- Costume
Society of America
-
Kentucky Association of Museums (1994-present newsletter editor)
- Midwest
Open-Air Museums Coordinating Council
- National
Association For Museum Exhibition (1991- 1994 Kentucky State
Coordinator)
- Southeastern
Museum Conference
For WKU
- Member,
Web Site Team
- Task
Force on Planning for the Virtual Kentucky Library & Museum
Web-based
Materials
I have
written or compiled the following materials, available on the World
Wide Web:
Awards/Grants
- 2003
Grant – “Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey
to Emancipation.” American Library Association
- 1996
Historical Confederation of Kentucky Outstanding Publication Award
for A Thread of Evidence: Shaker Textile Industries at South Union,
Kentucky
- 1995
Historical Confederation of Kentucky 1st Place Museum Exhibits Award--
"Remember Me When I Am Gone" exhibit
- 1995
Western Kentucky University Faculty Research Grant-- "Fulling
Around: The Shaker Textile Finishing Industry at South Union, Kentucky"
- 1991
Historical Confederation of Kentucky Public Programs Certificate of
Merit--"A Change of Style" exhibit
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