UNK History M.A. alumna named visiting fellow at Harvard’s historical Houghton Library

Being awarded a visiting fellowship with Harvard University is like finding a needle in a haystack. 
  
Fortunately, Christy Gordon Baty, a 2023 University of Nebraska at Kearney History M.A. alumna and professional needlework historian, knows a thing or two about needles.  
  
Since finding that needle in the haystack, Baty and her business partner Erin Harvey Moody were awarded a visiting fellowship to Harvard’s historical Houghton Library, home of Harvard’s rare books and manuscripts. 
  
Beyond “fellow fellows” as Baty likes to joke, the two are long-time friends and co-owners of the successful business Relics in Situ, where they research and share their expansive knowledge of historical embroidery and textiles through in-person and online lectures and workshops. 
  
Though she is “very happy to brag” about this once in a lifetime opportunity now, when she first received the news of the fellowship, she was not so quick to share. 
  
“I was in complete shock, like utter and complete shock when we got the letter. So much so that I didn't tell anybody. I just couldn’t process it,” she said.
  
The pair traveled more than 3,000 miles from their homes in Albany, California to Boston, Massachusetts in October of 2023, and again in January of 2024 to spend nearly four weeks researching century-old books with embroidered bindings. 
  
“We've decided to focus on embroidered book bindings because it really combines economy, status, religion, women's lives, book printing, trade, and literacy all into one,” she said. 
  
Embroidered book bindings typically cover bibles and other devotional books, which were frequently gifted among wealthy European families from the mid 1500’s to the mid 1600’s, making them incredibly rare. 
  
The fellowship allowed them to “participate in Harvard’s academic and intellectual life.” 
  
“What does that mean?” asked Baty with a laugh. “I felt like I should have been walking around with a pipe, but I don’t think that’s what it meant.” 
  
Rather, the two toured Harvard’s massive libraries and conservatory labs, where specialists restore damaged books; indulged in powerful discussions with Harvard’s brightest faculty and librarians; wrote an article for Harvard magazine; created an exhibit of embroidered book bindings to be featured in the Houghton Library; and of course, researched the library’s vast embroidered book binding collections. 

The fellowship also allowed them to work closely with Harvard’s cataloger. These conversations provided the pair with abundant insights on a reference book they are writing for librarians to better understand and catalog ancient books with embroidered bindings.  
  
“Those were really good conversations to have with people who would be our audience,” she said.

Baty’s niche expertise has propelled her to many far and famous libraries and universities such as Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C., Cambridge University Library in the United Kingdom, and the British Library in London. 
  
Yet the place she began the writing process for their book was at a university she never stepped foot on: UNK. 
  
“UNK was on the top of my list because they really did focus on what the student needs in terms of a program and more importantly, the course offerings were right up with what I wanted,” she said. 
  
UNK’s online History M.A. has a thesis and non-thesis option. Baty opted to complete the thesis in hopes of later using it as their book's foundation.  
  
Her education, many years of research, and now her recent Harvard fellowship, have made her feel like she is “part of a team that can contribute to the greater knowledge of humanity, or at least a little bit of information in a catalog.”