CEPA Hires Emma Dailey as new Archive Associate Fellow

Emma Dailey

CEPA Hires Emma Dailey as new Archive Associate Fellow

CEPA is pleased to introduce Emma Dailey as its new Archive Associate Fellow. In her new role, Dailey will be spearheading the effort to digitize CEPA’s vast collection of historic photographs and making them accessible to the public.

Through various projects such as “Buffalo’s Photography Past” or “Portraits of Buffalo”, and through contributions from the community, CEPA has gathered and preserved historical images of Erie County since its inception. Through these efforts we have amassed an historically significant collection of faces, buildings, and localities. Up until now however, CEPA has not had the permanent infrastructure in place to allow the public to access this vast collection.

As previously announced, in conjunction with the Bicentennial Celebration of Erie County and through generous support from Jason Hurley, Erie County’s Director of Community Affairs, and sponsorship from The Baird Foundation, The M&T Charitable Foundation, The John R. Oishei Foundation, CEPA will now make this collection available to the public through digital exhibition and archiving.

In order to digitize this early photograph collection, CEPA partnered with The Buffalo History Museum and the Greg D. Tranter Collection of Buffalo Bills Memorabilia to hire Dailey in the shared position of Archive Associate Fellow to scan, catalog, and document the collection for publication on an ArcGIS virtual Story Map website that the community will be able to access.

A Buffalo native, Dailey holds a B.A. in History from Wells College, a M.A. in Museum Studies from George Washington University, and a M.S. in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Kentucky. She has previously worked as a Digital Preservation Specialist at Hudson Archival and has completed several internships across the country, including at the Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village in Amherst and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.

“I lived in the Hudson Valley for the past six years.” said Emma, “It is a nice part of the state, but I had a Buffalo-shaped hole in my heart! So, I am very excited to be back home in WNY and able to serve the Buffalo community in my new role here at CEPA and the Buffalo History Museum.”

Dailey has a passion for not only preserving the past, but making it accessible for the public, inspiring curiosity, and igniting a life-long love of learning in others.

Lauren Tent
lauren@cepagallery.org