Archivist Vince Lee (left) and Chinwendu Rose Ejezie discuss the Toni Beauchamp Papers

Chinwendu Rose Ejezie recently joined our team here in Special Collections as our new Shuart Women’s Archive Graduate Assistant.  Earning her Bachelor of Arts in English and Literary Studies from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Ms. Ejezie began her graduate study in the fall of 2013, pursuing her Master of Science in Human Resource Development through the College of Technology here at the University of Houston.

Thanks in large part to the generous support of Mr. Jeff Beauchamp and the Friends of Women’s Studies, the Shuart Women’s Archive is able to apply the talents of Ms. Ejezie to the surveying, arrangement, and description of new and unprocessed collections with particular regional and national research potential.  Ms. Ejezie began her work here in Special Collections in mid-February 2014 and has hit the ground running, working with the recently acquired Toni Beauchamp Papers.

By her own account, Ms. Ejezie has been impressed with the depth and content of the character of the late Toni Beauchamp as she reviews her papers.  At first tentative and fighting back the feelings of invading one’s privacy that come with the territory of the archives, Rose has quickly discovered the passion Ms. Beauchamp had for the altruistic work being done and the people that made the work possible, noting that this dedication shines through in the collection, even as it is being processed.

Previous work in the Architecture and Art Library gave Ms. Ejezie an understanding of the amount of work going on behind the scenes to make research available to the general public, but now she has taken on a role in the vanguard as she prepares collections for future research.  Settling into this new role in Special Collections, Ms. Ejezie has been quick to point out the supportive environment provided by Vince Lee, Archivist for the Carey C. Shuart Women’s Archive & Research Collection, and others as she immerses herself in this new world of the archives.  She hopes the insight gleaned from working in this capacity will help translate to future work in human resources, the handling of sensitive documents, confidential information and the like.

Ms. Ejezie is slated to graduate in December 2015.  However, hailing from a family that embraces and values education, she is weighing her options of pursuing further studies or beginning a career track in human resources.  Until then, Special Collections is thrilled to have her talents and insights as we continue to grow our collections.