Amelia Blakely
| Public Historian | Journalist | Photographer |
WHY AMELIA BLAKELY IS A STORYTELLER
Amelia is a staunch believer in the power of history.
What happens in the street, the countryside, and the shadowy places in between make up the collective past that Amelia takes care to document, contextualize, and disperse as a public historian, journalist, and photographer.
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Her Roots
Blakely is from rural southern Illinois, where her family has lived for over 150 years. She graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in May 2020 with degrees in Journalism and Philosophy. In addition to her collegiate education, she spent three years immersing herself in the local journalism industry before turning to freelance journalism and public service.
Blakely's Journalism
While studying at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, she was the news editor and a reporter for SIUC’s independent and student-run newspaper, The Daily Egyptian. She also reported daily news and produced features in multiple mediums for WSIU Public Radio.
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In 2020, she received a Pulitzer Center Campus Consortium Fellowship to report on the contrasting treatments of communities living near brownfield sites in the Midwest. Her reporting and photography were published digitally by WBEZ.org.
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Blakely also is a contributor for the Gateway Journalism Review, the only journalism review for the midwest.
Blakely as a Public Historian
Amelia pivoted from journalism to public history in 2021. Although she still publishes the occasional news story, she is studying public history and cultural resource management at Middle Tennessee State University at the graduate level in the History department. Outside of the academy, Amelia volunteers in Southern Illinois by helping her neighbors preserve their local and personal history.
