Young alum markets value of archaeology, history interests

11/18/2025

Jessica Goon ’19 applies all she learned inside and out of the classroom at SUNY Cortland to her work of making the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill, N.Y. come alive for its numerous visitors and supporters.

Goon, the senior manager of events, marketing and visitor operations at the facility, constantly reaches out to those who may have only a general knowledge about history and archaeology and none about Cole, a transformational 19th century figure who founded the long-lived Hudson River School art movement in landscape painting.

“My position has really helped me to be able to tie together my love for history and archaeology and getting the word out there about these things,” said Goon, speaking on Nov. 10 in Moffett Center to members of SUNY Cortland’s Archaeology Club and others as their inaugural alumni guest speaker.

“In archaeology we dig up all the stuff from the ground, but then what happens with it?” said Goon, who earned a bachelor’s degree in archaeology with minors in history and Asian and Middle Eastern studies. Goon accepted the historic site appointment in 2021, shortly after earning a Master of Arts in Museology/Museum Studies at the Cooperstown Graduate Program. “And marketing, I think, is an important piece of getting the story out there in the world.

“At the end of my graduate experience, I was thinking about how I could bring in my love of history, bring in my love of building the sense of community and shared experience through exhibitions and learning and special events,” she said.

Artifacts like ceramic bits and pieces, nails and architecture-based items begin to tell a story not only of the working farm that encompassed Cole’s artist’s studio but also the lives of his inspired followers, she said.

“There’s so many stories that we could tell with this stuff and it’s really, really interesting to see what’s in there, like the artists who came in afterward and how they were influenced,” Goon said.

Students asked many questions, including whether the site was presently an archaeological dig.

“It’s not,” said Goon, explaining that the last archaeology that was on site was in 2006. “So those are the collections that I work with, but we’re still combing through the boxes and figuring out what stories we can tell with the things that they did find all those years ago.

“Then two years ago, the state turned over to us these two boxes (of new artifacts from the house), saying ‘We don’t want them anymore. You can have them.’ They were all art historians working here, so I said, ‘I’ll take them!’ So, I got them to work with.”

Rather than hands-on archaeology, Goon’s main duties at the Cole site are more in the areas of community relations and marketing. That includes museum events and fundraising, planning membership opportunities and managing the rental program for outside events at the site, which can seat 300 for a dinner.

A club member asked her what caused her to transfer her interest to museology.

“I was interested in Egyptology and mummies,” she said. “I really wanted to do forensics but very quickly realized I couldn’t deal with the squishy parts of forensics so that didn’t work out. I went into general archaeology, which I love.”

“Getting my hands dirty, I still love fieldwork,” said Goon.

She became fascinated with dinosaurs in the second grade, and her parents placed her in educational programs to feed that interest. Since age 12, and except for some two years, the Vestal, N.Y., native has helped with Binghamton University’s Public Archaeology Facility, a research center started in 1972 that involves community volunteers.

“The last few years we've been at the same site, but I've done so many different sites with them around just in the Binghamton area,” Goon said of her volunteer work.

Previously while at SUNY Cortland, Goon conducted research with History Professor Laura Gathagan on Medieval and European History for her Honors Program thesis, particularly relating to influential women like Queen Matilda of Flanders, queen of England and Duchess of Normandy. The experience had her toting around campus a ragged and sticky note-festooned 1,301-page paperback copy of the Domesday Book, earning curious glances and a feature story.

Goon’s international study plans were curtailed due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, but she eventually visited Great Britain for a two-week Medieval History class offered through International Programs.

At Cortland she also assisted Sharon Steadman, SUNY distinguished professor in the Sociology/Anthropology Department, with preparing exhibitions at the Brooks Museum in Moffett Center. Her independent study grew into a senior year internship in museum exhibition work. She helped with programs such as the annual Brooks Lecture Series.

“I was president of Colleges Against Cancer for two years, and a part of that club for four,” Goon added. The cause was close to her heart as her mother survived two bouts with cancer.

“That’s one of the things I did that gave me a lot of experience outside of academics and it made me have a better idea of the things I really enjoy doing,” she said.

“My career came about from trying to tie together all the things I love rather than one straight throughline,” she said.

“Think about what you enjoy and what makes you happy and follow that,” Goon said.

Students shouldn’t feel they must choose something and stick with it no matter what, she said.

“You should be open to opportunities.”

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