Nicole J. Milano
About
Nicole J. Milano is a doctoral researcher in the European Research Council-funded project "The Hidden Weapon. Blockade in the Era of the Two World Wars" (Synergy Grant #101166983) in the Department of Modern History and Society at NTNU.
Nicole completed an MA in History at the University of Florida and an Advanced Certificate in Archives at New York University. Nicole worked previously as a professional archivist primarily in New York City, conducting research and democratizing access to history in a variety of repositories and managing and coordinating use of archival records by researchers from many disciplines. In her role as head of the Medical Center Archives at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine she also established the repository’s first visiting research scholar program, coordinated the institution’s history of medicine lecture series, and served as a contributor to the online resource Snake Oil to Social Media: Drug Advertising and Your Health. In her role at the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs she chaired a committee for a free curriculum aligned with United States (US) Common Core and UNESCO Global Learning standards and endorsed by the US World War I Centennial Commission, which helped secondary school students analyze the history of World War I through the lens of volunteer service, both before and after the period of US American neutrality. Nicole co-curated a related exhibition on the same topic, which opened at the US National World War I Museum in 2016.
Nicole was selected as a member of the Archives Leadership Institute in 2018 and Weill Cornell Medicine's Leadership in Academic Medicine Program in 2022. She has been active in a variety of professional and educational organizations, including serving as a member of the Publications Board of the Society of American Archivist between 2012-2021, co-founder of the Archives in Context podcast for the Society of American Archivists, a peer reviewer for the National Endowment for the Humanities and National Historical Publications and Records Comission in 2018 and 2023, and as chair of the Publication Awards Committee for the Librarians, Archivists, and Museum Professionals in the History of the Health Sciences in 2022.
Research
Nicole J. Milano's current research explores the effect of the blockades on essential goods used in private households, as well as perceptions of the blockades on the home fronts in Italy and Norway directly before, during, and after World War II. She will examine wartime and immediate pre- and post-war data in Italy and Norway to isolate the effect of the blockades on availability of and access to essential household goods such as coal, clothing, soap, and food. Using personal papers and official records, the project will also investigate how the blockades disrupted and altered the lives and mentalities of women and children on the home front. Her project is anticipated to integrate historical disciplines, bringing cultural history into conversation with economic history and revealing complexity in the human impact of the blockades. Her research will contribute to the European Research Council-funded project "The Hidden Weapon. Blockade in the Era of the Two World Wars" (Synergy Grant #101166983.)
Research-Related Awards
Best Online Resource Award from the Librarians, Archivists, and Museum Professionals in the History of the Health Sciences for “Snake Oil to Social Media: Drug Advertising and Your Health,” 2022
C. Herbert Finch Online Publication Award from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference for The Volunteers: Americans Join World War I, 1914-1919 curriculum, 2016
Demakis-Gellar Families Conference Travel Grant from New York University, 2010
Paul. H. Mattingly Conference Travel Grant from New York University, 2009
Milbauer Conference Travel Grant from the University of Florida, 2008
Presentations
Garfunkel, Amanda, Chiyong Han, Nicole J. Milano. “Aspirational but Realistic: Reimagining Accessioning Workflows in a Medical Archive” Poster presentation at the Society of American Archivists annual conference, virtual, August 2025.
Milano, Nicole J. “Stories from the Medical Center Archives.” Presented to the Weill Cornell Medicine Department of Human Resources, New York, NY (USA), April 17, 2023. (Invited speaker)
Milano, Nicole J. “Lunch and Learn: The Medical Center Archives of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine.” Presented to the Weill Cornell Medicine Office of External Affairs, New York, NY (USA), February 7, 2023. (Invited speaker)
Milano, Nicole J. “The Medical Center Archives of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine.” Presented to the NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine Center Alumni Council, New York, NY (USA), June 23, 2022. (Invited speaker)
Milano, Nicole J. “Registration, Collections Management, and Archives.” Presented to the New York University Museum Studies Academic Conference, New York, NY (USA), April 30, 2021. (Invited speaker)
Delgado, Diana, Caroline Jedlicka, Dawne Lucas, Nicole J. Milano, Chaitra Powell. “Antiracism, Diversity, and Inclusion in Libraries and Archives.” Panel presentation at the Librarians, Archivists, and Museum Professionals in the History of the Health Sciences annual conference, virtual, May 5, 2021.
Milano, Nicole J. “The Medical Center Archives and COVID-19.” Presented to the Cornell University Brown Bag Series, Ithaca, NY (USA), June 11, 2020. (Invited speaker)
Huth, Geof, Ashley Levine, Colleen McFarland Rademaker, Nicole J. Milano, and Karen Trivette. “Giving Voice to Archivists: Why We Must Tell and Collect Our Stories.” Panel presentation at the New York Archives Conference, June 11, 2020. (Accepted panel, though canceled due to COVID-19)
Milano, Nicole J. “The Medical Center Archives of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine.” Presented to the Gotham Center for New York City History at the City University of New York, New York, NY (USA), May 19, 2020. (Invited speaker)
Burke, Kerri-Anne, Robert Clark, Nicole J. Milano, and Bonnie Marie Sauer. “‘Sing Out, Louise! Sing Out!’: The Archivist and Effective Communication.” Panel presentation at the Society of American Archivists Conference, Austin, TX (USA), August 4, 2019.
Milano, Nicole J. “Medical History in Your Backyard.” Paper presented at the New York Public Library’s Webster Library branch, New York, NY (USA), May 15, 2019. (Invited speaker)
Milano, Nicole J. “Outreach and Inreach at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine.” Paper presented at the Archivists and Librarians in the History of the Health Sciences Conference, Columbus, OH (USA), April 25, 2019.
Milano, Nicole J. “Medical Center Archives at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine.” Paper presented at the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine meeting at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY (USA), January 24, 2019. (Invited speaker)
Milano, Nicole J. “World War I and Humanitarian Aid.” Paper presented to the Columbia University, Princeton University, Cornell University, and Wharton Business School alumni organizations of Washington, D.C. at the U.S. National Cathedral, Washington, DC (USA), November 7, 2018. (Invited speaker)
Milano, Nicole J. “AFS and Its Long Island Ties.” Paper presented at Old Westbury Gardens, Old Westbury, NY (USA), June 9, 2018.
Burke, Kerri-Anne, Robert Clark, Celia Hartmann, and Nicole J. Milano. “‘Sing Out, Louise! Sing Out!’: The Archivist and Effective Communication.” Panel presentation at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, Hershey, PA (USA), April 13, 2018.
Milano, Nicole J. “The American Field Service: 100+ Years of Volunteers!” Paper presented at the Coffee House Club, New York, NY (USA), February 7, 2018. (Invited speaker)
Milano, Nicole J. “The Volunteers: Americans Join World War I, 1914-1919 Curriculum.” Paper presented at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, Buffalo, NY (USA), October 28, 2017.
Milano, Nicole J. “The Volunteers: Americans Join World War I, 1914-1919 Curriculum.” Paper presented at the Society of American Archivists Conference, Portland, OR (USA), July 28, 2017.
Milano, Nicole J. “AFS and Princeton: 100+ Years of Volunteers and Global Citizens.” Paper presented at the Princeton University Alumni Weekend, Princeton, NJ (USA), June 2, 2017. (Invited speaker)
Milano, Nicole J. “The Volunteers: Americans Join World War I, 1914-1919 Curriculum.” Paper presented at the World History Association Conference, Ghent, Belgium, July 3, 2016.
Milano, Nicole J. “AFS Intercultural Programs.” Paper presented at the Council of Europe to a group of 300 students from 43 countries, Strasbourg, France, November 2, 2015. (Invited speaker)
Milano, Nicole J. “The First Archivist: Professionalizing a ‘New’ Archives.” Paper presented at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, Rochester, NY (USA), April 25, 2014.
Milano, Nicole J. “Case Study of Internal Advocacy and In-Reach: The AFS Archives.” Paper presented at the Society of American Archivists Conference, San Diego, CA (USA), August 9, 2012.
Milano, Nicole J. “Rediscovering an American Legacy of Service: The Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs.” Paper presented at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, Cape May, NJ (USA), April 13, 2012.
Milano, Nicole J. “Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs.” Paper presented at the New York Council for the Humanities Brown Bag Series, New York, NY (USA) August 2011. (Invited speaker)
Milano, Nicole J. Part of a panel discussion to graduate students in the New York University Archives and Public History Program about non-profit archives and job-seeking, New York, NY (USA), April 2011, May 2013, and May 2014. (Invited speaker)
Milano, Nicole J. “The Civil War and the Southernmost State: Highlights from the P.K. Yonge Florida History Collection.” Poster presentation at the Society of American Archivists Conference, Washington, DC (USA), August 12-13, 2010.
Milano, Nicole J. “The Civil War and the Southernmost State: Highlights from the P.K. Yonge Florida History Collection.” Poster presentation at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archivists Conference annual conference in Wilmington, DE (USA), April 30, 2010.
Milano, Nicole J. “Exporting Culture: Spanish Influence on Sixteenth-Century Rome.” Paper presented at the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Conference, Sarasota, FL (USA), March 7, 2008.
Milano, Nicole J. “Food in Sixteenth-Century Italy.” Paper presented at the Dante Society of Gainesville, FL (USA), 2008. (Invited speaker)
Publications
Books
Milano, Nicole J. and Christopher J. Prom, eds. Engagement in the Digital Era. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2020.
Articles
Anderson, Lynn C., Nicole J. Milano, and Tonya Muro. “AFS and International Education: Striving Toward Peace, One Person at a Time” in ‘Ain’t Gonna Study War No More’: The Lost Agenda in Education Abroad, Occasional Publications No. 4, eds. Anthony Gristwood and Michael Woolf. (CAPA: The Global Education Network, 2015), 78-85.
Garfunkel, Amanda, Chiyong Han, Nicole J. Milano. “Aspirational but Realistic: Reimagining Accessioning Workflows in a Medical Archive.” The American Archivist 88, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2025): 17-39.
Milano, Nicole J. “Rediscovering an American Legacy of Service through a Free Curriculum.” Journal of Archival Organization 15, no. 3-4 (2019): 100-120.
Book Chapters
Hickner, Andrew, Nicole J. Milano, Vanessa Puig, Judy Stribling, Drew Wright. “Adapting Instruction and Outreach at a Large Academic Health Sciences Library and Archive”. In Virtual Services in the Health Sciences Library. Medical Library Association and Rowman & Littlefield, 2021.
Casto, Michele, Jessica Lacher Feldman, and Nicole J. Milano. “Engaging Users with Archives: Programs that Get Results.” In Engagement in the Digital Era, edited by Nicole J. Milano and Christopher J. Prom, 45-106. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2020.
Teaching
Nicole J. Milano was a visiting assistant professor in the School of Information at the Pratt Institute in 2018 and an adjunct professor in the Department of History at New York University between 2018-2023, teaching a graduate-level archives course to students. Nicole also provided a lecture on history and archives as part of the Essential Principles of Medicine curriculum for medical students at Weill Cornell Medicine between 2019-2023. At the University of Florida, Nicole served as a teaching assistant for the History of the Holocaust course taught by Dr. Geoffrey Giles during the Spring 2008 semester, and as the full instructor of the Argumentative Writing course offered through the Department of English between 2008-2009.