Meet the Team
Julie Rockwell
EBT Archivist
Julie Rockwell is the Archivist for the East Broad Top Railroad Archives and Special Collections. She is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University Advanced Academic Programs earning a Master’s in Museum Studies and a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Digital Curation. Her studies included an internship at the Smithsonian Institution Archives studying born-digital collections access strategies. She also holds a Master’s in Theatre History, Theory, and Criticism from Indiana University, Bloomington.
With career experience in higher education, Julie was a project coordinator for the Community-based Studies Program and a lecturer in American History at the Pennsylvania State University, Altoona Campus. She became drawn to Pennsylvania Railroad and Pennsylvania Main Line Canal histories, and curated three exhibitions featuring the William H. Rau Pennsylvania Railroad Photograph Collection at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art-Altoona.
Julie maintains professional memberships with the Society of American Archivists (SAA), the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC), the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), PA Museums, and various national railroad organizations. She recently was appointed to the Central PA Alliance for Response Steering Committee, and elected to the Board of Trustees for the Huntingdon County Historical Society. Julie lives in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.
Sammy Bellin
Archives Technician
Sammy Bellin is the Archives Technician for the East Broad Top Railroad Archives and Special Collections. He rejoined the archives as part-time staff after spending the summer of 2021 as the archives’ first intern representing Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA, where he learned under the tutelage of Julie Rockwell. Together, they started to build the program from scratch and created a spot inventory to determine the scope of the inestimable amount of materials and records found in the collections. Sammy graduated from Juniata College in May of 2022 with a Program of Emphasis in History. Sammy also works part-time for the EBT as both a tour guide and as a ticket agent. Originally from Pittsburgh, Sammy is a huge fan of the Chelsea Football Club. He currently resides in Huntingdon.
Lee Rainey
EBT Curator
Lee Rainey is an original member and the immediate past president of the Friends of the EBT. He currently serves on the FEBT Board of Directors and is a long-time volunteer at Rockhill, both as a tour guide and as part of the FEBT’s volunteer work sessions. He is the author of numerous publications and presentations about EBT history. Dr. Rainey is retired from a career in technology marketing;
ScarletT Wirt
FEBT Archives Custodian
Scarlett Wirt is the Collections Custodian for the Friends of the East Broad Top, and serves as an advisor to the East Broad Top Railroad Archives and Special Collections. Scarlett has been active in rail preservation since 2007, serving as Program Director and past President of the National Railway Historical Society’s Washington DC Chapter, where she also volunteers as a chef and steward on the Pullman car Dover Harbor.
A former National Park Service museum curator and archivist, Scarlett holds certificates from the Western Archives Institute at UC Davis and the US Department of Interior’s Managing Museum Property program. with a B.A. from Maryville College and M.S. from the University of Maryland. Scarlett lives in Laurel, MD where she is a historian with the Center for Cryptologic History.
East Broad Top Archives and Special Collections
- Internship Program -
Brian Standfest
Juniata College - 2022 Summer Intern
Brian Standfest worked an 8-week internship with the Archives focused on the National Railway Historical Society Heritage Grant award project, “Preservation of East Broad Top Railroad Architectural and Engineering Maps and Drawings.” Brian successfully inventoried over 2,000 maps and drawings such as EBT Right of Way and Profile Evaluation maps, Rockhill Iron and Coal Company maps and drawings, and many EBT rolling stock parts and building drawings. Part of the inventory work included Brian creating a Data Dictionary to notate what each inventory data field would include, and the proper notation format and creating an inventory standard operating procedure. Brian also learned how to prepare maps and scanning and cataloging, especially how to clean drawings that had been stored in less-than-optimal conditions for decades.
An integral part of educational outreach, Brian participated in various railroad events and tours that showcased archival materials. He published an article about his internship experience in the Friends of the East Broad Top, Inc. (FEBT) monthly newsletter titled, “Working as a Summer 2022 Intern for the East Broad Top Railroad Archives and Special Collections.”
Brian graduated from Juniata College in May 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in Museum Studies and a minor in History. He was the recipient of the 2022 Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Employers (PennACE Joanne Day Student of the Year Award highlighting his internship with the Archives. Brian is currently employed as an Archival Data Specialist with the QualX Corporation for the Army National Heritage Center in Carlisle, PA.
Congratulations, Brian!
Connor Green
Juniata College - 2023 Summer Intern
Connor Green is currently a senior at Juniata College majoring in Secondary Education/Social Studies and is completing a 12-week internship in the Archives. His passion for history and research led him to apply for the Archives’ summer internship to continue work on the NRHS Heritage Grant Maps and Drawings project. Not only has Connor continued to inventory maps and drawings but has been responsible for physically processing/preserving the inventoried materials, which includes cleaning, mylar encapsulation, polyester tubing, and boxing for permanent housing and storage.
Connor has been instrumental in supporting the scanning of large drawings using a wide format scanner with archives technician Sammy Bellin. He has also learned how to edit catalog entries in the collection management system, PastPerfect. To complete his internship, Connor will document his maps and drawings physical processing workflow for future use and write an article about his internship experience for the FEBT Newsletter to be featured in the September 2023 issue.