Amelia Blakely
| Public Historian | Journalist | Photographer |
WHY AMELIA BLAKELY IS A STORYTELLER
Amelia is a staunch believer in the power of stories.
What happens in the street, the countryside, and the shadowy places in between makes up the collective past that she takes care to document, contextualize, and disperse as a public historian, journalist, and photographer.
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Her Roots
Amelia is from rural southern Illinois, where she has deep family roots. In May 2020, she graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with a dual bachelor's degree in Journalism and Philosophy. Between 2017 and 2020, she also immersed herself in the local journalism industry before turning to freelance journalism and public service.
Amelia's Journalism
While studying at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, she served as 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 formats 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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Amelia also contributed to the Gateway Journalism Review, the only journalism review for the Midwest.
Amelia as a Public Historian
In 2021, Amelia pivoted to public history. Since 2023, she has worked at the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University as a research assistant. In August 2026, she will graduate with a master's in History, specializing in cultural resource management.
Outside of the academy, Amelia volunteers in Southern Illinois by helping her neighbors preserve their local and personal history.
