University of Mary Washington - Index

University of Mary Washington - summer08 - Index

said, “that scrapbook could very easily have been
dismissed.”
Erbelding’s colleagues, too, credit her with recognizing
the value of the album. “She spotted the significance early,”
said Judith Cohen, the Holocaust museum’s director of
photographic archives. “She took the ball and ran with it.”
Cohen, who also has worked extensively on the album,
singled out Erbelding’s enthusiasm and diligence, noting
that her co-worker conducted much of the research when
she was “off the clock.”
Erbelding’s ambition was apparent at Mary Washington.
Focused since childhood on a museum career, she came to
UMW primarily because of its proximity to the proliferation
of museums in Washington.
“I loved the campus – and the climate,” said Erbelding,
who is from Churchville, N.Y., near Rochester. The clincher,
though, was that during her junior-in-high-school campus
visit, she got to meet with Porter Blakemore, who was then
chairman of the University’s history department. “How cool
was that for a 16-year-old?” she said.
Between her junior and senior years at Mary Washington,
Erbelding held a summer internship at the Holocaust
museum.
That turned into a full-time internship after she graduated.
Nine months later, she moved into a vacant archivist position.
It’s her dream job, she said. “I like researching. I like writing.
I like figuring things out. I feel incredibly blessed.”
Erbelding also likes school. Having earned her master’s
degree in history from George Mason
University, she is now pursuing her
doctorate.
Her days are packed. In addition to her fulltime
work at the Holocaust museum and her
part-time graduate studies, she spends spare
moments with her boyfriend, fellow history
major Corie Tarbet ’01, with whom she
became reacquainted in graduate school.
And, she has become the de facto
spokesperson for the Holocaust museum’s
latest acquisition. In every news account
of the album, she plays a key role. These
include an article in The New York Times
last summer, a feature story in The New
Yorker in March, a segment on NPR’s Talk
of the Nation, and most recently, a National
Geographic Channel documentary. In addition, Erbelding’s
calendar bulges with speaking engagements – in May, she
was the keynote speaker at a Holocaust commemoration at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
She takes all the publicity in stride, noting that she honed
her presentation skills at Mary Washington. It was during her
undergraduate years, too, that she perfected her passion for
archiving, evident since her middle-school diary days.
“Archivists are hot,” she said. What more exciting profession
could there be? “You never know what package you will open
on your desk the next day.”
While Erbelding has immersed
herself in history, she never has come
to grips with the Holocaust. The “how”
and “why” always have mystified
her, she said.
When she started working at the Holocaust museum,
she thought she finally could find answers. Instead, she has
encountered even more questions – and more demons.
She will say, though, that gazing each day into the faces of
smiling revelers who condoned brutal killings has taught her
a searing lesson: “You can’t pick evil out in a crowd.” d
Museum
Memorial Holocaust
Erbelding, who has made numerous
States
presentations about the Karl Hoecker photo
album, says she has become "the face" of this
Reid/United
project. Max
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