The Rowing History Project: A Case Study in Digitizing Collections
As museums dedicated to the history of rowing face closures around the country, members of Philadelphia’s Boathouse Row—which consists of fifteen historic boathouses housing rowing clubs and their racing shells—came together to create a new digital platform which would share the stories of their collections in the absence of a physical museum. CCAHA Digital Archives Specialist, Kaitlyn Pettengill, in conversation with members of the Rowing History Project Hannah Cerino, Christopher Doyle, and Rick Stehlik discusses how these non-traditional collecting institutions successfully worked together on this complex, interoperable project, which was only possible through the use of digital tools. This webinar is presented as part of the official launch of The Rowing History Project’s online platform.
This program addresses Focus Area #2: Sustainability of community-based archives of the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation’s Held In Trust Report on Digital Technology, Research and Practice.
About our speakers:
Hannah Cerino is an associate graduate intern at the Rowing History Project. She is currently an MSI student at Drexel University with a certificate in Archives and Curation, and obtained a BA in English Literature from Temple University in the spring of 2025. Hannah joined the Rowing History Project team in May of this year and has assisted with several archival inventories and metadata extractions. Hannah has also interned at D.B. Seret SRL in Rome, Italy, as their assistant research and archiving intern, where she worked with their clients, the Vatican Library and the European Space Agency. She also held a student archivist position at Temple’s Charles Library in their Office of Metadata and Digitization. She is very passionate about archiving as it intersects with her love for the humanities and public health. She currently resides in Philadelphia, PA, but grew up in a small town called Derry, New Hampshire, and will receive her MSI this Spring.
Chris Doyle has been active in the rowing community for many years. He is the Historian of the Pennsylvania Barge Club on Boathouse Row, and is keenly interested in everything related to rowing history. Before retiring in 2006, he was in charge of Systems Development for Mercedes-Benz USA. He grew up in the Chestnut Hill area of Philadelphia, and obtained a BA and MBA from Temple. He lived away from Philadelphia for many years, while working as a Management Consultant for Arthur Andersen & Co in Atlanta and Washington, DC, and as Vice-President of Materials Management at the headquarters of Marriott Hotels and Resorts in Washington, DC. He and his wife returned to Philadelphia in 2007, and reside in Conshohocken, PA
As CCAHA’s Digital Archives Specialist, Kaitlyn Pettengill conducts digital preservation assessments and assists with digitization planning for collecting organizations. She advises organizations in the ongoing development, implementation, and operation of their digital preservation programs as well as on recommendations for the development and implementation of digital preservation strategies, technologies, and procedures. Prior to joining the CCAHA staff in 2024, Kaitlyn worked as the Digital Projects Coordinator for the Atwater Kent Collection at Drexel University and as the Digital Services Archivist at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Kaitlyn earned an MLIS from San José State University, where she specialized in Digital Collections and Digital Asset Management. She also holds an MA degree in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London and a BA in Art History and English Literature from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA.
Rick Stehlik has lived in the Philadelphia area most of his life, attending Harriton High School in Lower Merion Township. While a student there he joined the crew team beginning a 65 year participation in the sport as a competitor and coach. He joined Malta Boat Club in Philadelphia in 1965, and raced for many years at the Elite level, being a member of the 1977 team and a coach of the 1978 US World Championships teams. He has won numerous events in various regattas mostly as a sculler. He is the historian for the Malta Boat Club and active in Club administration, and preservation of its building on Boathouse Row. For his working career he provided facilities and construction management services at several large commercial firms including his last 18 years before retirement at Vanguard Investments. He has a BS from Carnegie Mellon and an MS from University of Wisconsin in Environmental Design.