Angelina “Angie” Seamster, displaying a book of sheet music, is joined by Katelynn Telford (left), music and arts librarian, and Amanda “Mandi” Shepp, coordinator of Special Collections & Archives.
Angelina “Angie” Seamster, a senior majoring in Music and History, is the Honors Student of the Month for November.
She was nominated for this honor by Katelynn Telford and Amanda “Mandi” Shepp.
In her nomination letter, Ms. Telford, who serves as Seamster’s work supervisor in Reed Library's Music Collection, writes that, “Angie has an unrivaled work ethic that helps her succeed in everything she does. Whether a task is assigned or self-chosen, she approaches everything with enthusiasm and an open mind. She is also flexible and can adapt to change easily.”
She is a quintessential Fredonia music student — engaged with her studies, dedicated to her craft and a consummate professional with a great attitude and incredible work ethic that will carry her far wherever she chooses to go in life.” - Amanda Shepp
Moreover, Telford continued, “Angie’s passion for archival materials, along with that of her student colleagues in Special Collections and Archives, has led to the creation of the Cooking Up History Club, of which Angie serves as vice president. This club teaches students about the joy and methods of cooking throughout history and utilizes cookbooks from the Chautauqua County Cookbook Collection in Reed Library's local history archives.
“Angie's passion for local history shines at these club meetings, where in addition to selecting historical recipes and shopping for ingredients, Angie also creates slideshow presentations of historical images and advertisements of relevant foods for that meeting's recipes,” Telford added.
Mx. Shepp, who has supervised Seamster’s work in Reed Library's Special Collections and Archives since 2024-2025, similarly remarked, “[Angie’s] eagerness and genuine enthusiasm to work with historical materials in long-term projects bring a level of joy and brightness to the archives' workspaces, and her excitement is contagious among her student worker colleagues when they are in the workroom together.
“Angie celebrates the history and musicality of Fredonia wherever she is, through her intense scholarly practice and rigorous academic research, through her dedicated instrument performance and practice and through her genuine joy in learning about the history of music, especially the music department and subsequent School of Music at Fredonia.
“Angie is a delight to work with and mentor in archival practices, and I am proud to have her as both a representative of Reed Library's student staff and the Reed Library Archives and Special Collections student staff. She is a quintessential Fredonia music student — engaged with her studies, dedicated to her craft and a consummate professional with a great attitude and incredible work ethic that will carry her far wherever she chooses to go in life.”
Of particular note in the nominations is Seamster’s devotion to preserving the musical history of SUNY Fredonia through her work in Special Collections and Archives. She has processed and created finding aids for several music faculty collections, including the papers of Professor Emeritus Louis Richardson, as well as the School of Music Vinyl Records collection.
A keen interest in musicology has also made Seamster, whose two Music concentrations are History & Literature and String, invaluable in processing the Historical Popular Sheet Music (HPSM) collection, a longstanding, large and complex collection of chromolithographed sheet music and popular song folios spanning over a century of music history. Seamster also has a minor in Museum Studies.
Seamster’s work with this collection has involved inventorying, archival housing, preservation initiatives and exhibit coordination, along with managing a very detailed spreadsheet that tracks each piece of this collection of over 5,000 items.
Seamster’s talent for history has been on display locally through a capstone project, which involved research in the library's HPSM collection. The exhibit explored the history of advertising in sheet music folios through World War II.
In addition to the exhibit, which was housed in Reed Library, Seamster presented her research with the HPSM collection at the SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference and Fredonia's OSCAR Expo.
Seamster’s talent has also earned her a prestigious summer internship at the Manassas Museum in Virginia, where she was a programs and education intern, this year. She was also a lecturer at SUNY Fredonia’s Summer Music Festival, where she taught the popular music elective course to high school students.
Indeed, as Shepp noted, “Angie is well on the path to becoming a heavy hitter in the academic community, and her desire to learn and make connections within historical materials will serve her well in both the GLAMS (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums and Special Collections) field and the academic profession.”
Despite not being from the local area or New York State, Seamster, who is from Manassas, and is a graduate of Charles J. Colgan Senior High School, has thrown herself headfirst into Fredonia's community and culture and has ingrained herself within the fabric of Chautauqua County's vibrant music and arts community.
In addition to her role as vice president and co-founder (with close friend Rebekah Gerace) of Cooking Up History! and her considerable work in Reed Library, Seamster is working on her capstone research project for her history major, which is on historical representations of cowboys in early 20th century popular music.
Seamster has also been actively involved in the Honors Program, noting that her favorite aspect of the program is “the wide variety of classes available to the students! I love that the Honors courses always involve a variety of areas of study, so you can really expand your knowledge.”
In particular, she notes that her favorite moment from an Honors class was “watching the 2024 Presidential Debate in HONR 303: Election of 2024 course. We held a get-together outside of class to watch it — it felt very affirming to watch it in a room of like-minded people and be able to discuss it academically.”
This enthusiasm extends to SUNY Fredonia more generally as well. Seamster appreciates “all of the opportunities that are available to students [work, research, degree programs, etc.]. I don't think anything that you could want to do here is out of reach and the faculty/staff are always looking to try and help students get there!”
Understandably then, her advice for other students is “to try out as much as you can while in college. Join clubs, play in musical ensembles, take random classes, attend workshops/seminars and anything else that sparks your interest!”
For her part, Seamster is planning her next steps that include applying for a M.A. program in Musicology and Library Science, with a focus on archives. She also credits “Mandi Shepp and Katelynn Telford, my bosses at the library, in addition to my degree advisors [Drs.] James Davis and David Kinkela” for being “essential is helping me achieve my goals and I certainly would not have the experience I have now without them!”
The Honors Student of the Month Program is a collaboration between the Honors Program and Honors House, which is part of the Office of Residence Life. The student selected by the committee as the Honors Student of the Month receives a gift card to the bookstore and a certificate. In addition, the student’s name will be engraved on a plaque that hangs in the Office of Residence Life.
