Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller received his MA in Public History in December 2022 and began working at the West Virginia State Archives in 2023, where he has since been promoted to Photo Archivist. In September, Matthew received the Rising Star Award from the Council of State Archivists (CoSA) at their annual conference in Salt Lake City.

While completing his degree, Matthew served with AmeriCorps Brownfields, where he worked on project inventory of brownfield properties, records management, community histories, and historic preservation resources and toolkits for outreach. Brownfields promotes economic development along with environmental and public health protections through the redevelopment of contaminated sites.

Q&A with Matthew

• Why did you choose to earn your MA in Public History?
• I chose to earn my MA in Public History because it is a versatile field where I could use my knowledge and passion for history in many professional settings, including archives and library work, historic preservation, museums, and historic administration.
• What do you like most about your current position?
• The thing I love most about my current position is being able to preserve primary resources that help patrons visually connect to the historical past by providing information or connecting to their memories.
• Is there anything specific from the program that helped prepare you for your career?
• The Public History program and WVU's history department helped me prepare for my career by providing a diverse array of courses, refining my knowledge of professional standards, and giving me a great supportive network of professors and classmates to learn from and work with.