Riley K. Sutherland

Riley sits in front of a white tiled wall, wearing a denim-style shirt, smiling warmly with natural expression.
rileysutherland@fas.harvard.edu

Riley Sutherland (she/her) is a Ph.D. candidate with interests in disability studies, archival and museum studies, and United States history. Her current research involves the historical relationship between public parks and psychiatric hospitals, in order to investigate changing notions of therapeutic landscapes and environmental carework.

Riley has experience in documentary editing, museum curation, educational programming, and the digital humanities. She completed an archival internship at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, worked as an assistant for the Pinckney Papers Project, curated exhibits for the Clay County (Missouri) Historical Society and Museum, and co-founded the Salus Populi Pension Project.

She entered Harvard’s History Ph.D. Program in Autumn 2023 after earning her B.A. in History and American Studies and M.A. in History at the University of South Carolina.

When she’s not reading or exploring museums, Riley loves to hike, curl up with a great novel, or explore Boston’s many used book stores.