Suttles 'settles' in as assistant museum curator

[November 11, 2011]  Ann Suttles has many roles at the Lincoln Heritage Museum, and she is enjoying every one of them.

Originally from Greene County in the southwest corner of the state, her family moved to central Illinois and she graduated from Chatham Glenwood High School. Ann is a graduate of Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, with a major in history and minor in anthropology. She earned a master's in history, with an emphasis in public history, from the University of Illinois Springfield.

Ann got her passion for history and the people who made it from her family. Her parents, Dennis and Boni Suttles of Chatham, are history buffs, and she learned her passion for genealogy and history from them.

Ann's journey to Lincoln shows that she definitely has an enthusiasm for history. Most recently Ann partnered with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Horace Mann to conduct an institute that focused on Abraham Lincoln for teachers from across the country. She has also interned with the Illinois State Archives Depository at the University of Illinois at Springfield, and she worked with the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency in developing educational programs for children and adults for the agency's History Comes Alive.

Ann said she is thoroughly enjoying her time at the Lincoln Heritage Museum and really gets pleasure from giving visitors a personal tour of the museum and its artifacts. She laughed when she said she had spent a year studying archives in a basement on a previous job, and although the work was rewarding, there weren't many people to talk to.

Among other duties Ann does at the library are keeping notes of meetings, handling museum events, handling group tours, assisting with grant writing, helping with public education and helping curator Ron Keller and Taylor Studios plan the new museum that will be opened in the Lincoln Center sometime in late spring of 2013.

Ann has a real enthusiasm for her work, and the new museum is something that she and Keller can't wait to see come to fruition. Currently many documents and artifacts are in a vault due to the limited space in the current museum. With the new location, many more items will be on display for people to see and as Ann says, to "connect" with.

The new museum, once opened, will arguably be the most important Lincoln museum outside of Springfield and should become a significant tourist draw for Lincoln enthusiasts. But Ann says the museum is more than just about Lincoln. There are many people from that era, some connected to Lincoln, others who were not, who also are fascinating and from whom lessons can be learned. And there is the museum's collection of Civil War items, including letters and even pay stubs from that era. Ann said that local history in an area steeped in it like Logan County is, is a personal favorite of hers.

"The study of Abraham Lincoln has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember," Ann said, "but a personal favorite of mine is the study of local history."

The new museum also is seeking an affiliation with the Smithsonian that could bring significant Lincoln artifacts to Lincoln, Ill.

If the museum doesn't give Ann enough work, she is also helping the courthouse with conserving old documents and enjoys helping with genealogical research and archive management.

All are invited to visit the Lincoln Heritage Museum and to meet Ann. But be forewarned, if you start talking Lincoln history, you'd best have some time to spend with this enthusiastic young historian.

Now with 100 days on the job, Ann says she loves her job at the library. As she says it, studying history "never gets old."

The museum is open 9-4 Monday through Friday and 1-4 on Saturdays. Admission is free.

[By MIKE FAK]