Joseph Reidhead

I grew up around history. I distinctly remember the stale, earthy odor of archaeological digs in the rich soil of the Mississippi River basin and the gradual appearance of hewn timbers, roughly forged nails, and handmade points after hundreds of years of slumber. As a child, I preferred a playground with swings and slides, but digs offered free summer childcare.

Eventually, I traded the dusty dig sites for the well-worn, stone-lined halls of Benedictine monasteries. There, the concepts of legacy (what we leave behind) and heritage (what we inherit) began to take root in my mind—and their implications for how we understand our lives and works.

I loved to get lost in the book stacks of libraries, to find the oldest and least read volumes, and read their stories. Equally, I yearned to go into the field and see those places and people for myself—to verify with my eyes what the books said. I found a lost part of my family history in a rural Slovenian church, I rode the trains of North Africa’s Maghreb to understand human migration, and worked with water in the Bolivian Altiplano.

It was the monks, perhaps in their roles as keen observers, who set me on my professional journey. In 2010, provisioned with a box filled with a monk’s dusty typewritten letters, I embarked on a journey through the world of archives, books, and unpublished histories.

Since then, I have professionally written, edited, designed, and published numerous publications on a variety of subjects. I have also built custom archives to support the preservation of stories and artworks.

My work is a synthesis of the last 16 years of helping people write their books, archive their materials, and tell their stories. For every project, I identify what must be done to provide my clients with the best work possible.

– Joe Reidhead