Teaching with Slides: The History of the Visual Resources Collection at Yale

Mary Miller

Mary Miller working on the Bonampak Restoration Project in 1996. 

Mary Miller received both her M.A. and PhD. from Yale, and is a scholar of Mesoamerican art. When she began her studies, most non-Western art was considered to be only of ethnographic interest, and not really suited for an art museum. Miller was instrumental in changing that perception. 

In the VRC, she was a vocal advocate for moving from the analog world of slides to the digital world that was fast taking over everywhere but the slide and photo collection. As an early adopter, she endured poor image quality, lost digital images, and resistance to new ways of doing things. She pushed hard for improvement. Staff always knew how Miller felt about the state of the digital collection. It was not an easy time, as the VRC felt its way toward appropriate tools and workflows. Neither Helen Chillman nor many of the faculty were ready to change the way they did things, and it took Miller's advocacy to make it happen.