“Stunning.” “Stupendous.” “Spectacular.”

Those are just some of the words Alex Pezzati, an archivist for nearly 30 years at the Penn Museum, used to describe M. Louise Baker’s work. He had pulled a giant stack of the archaeological artist’s drawings and paintings, created in pen and ink, charcoal, and watercolor—often with three-dimensional quality—to showcase at the “Unearthed in the Archives” program on Friday, Feb. 10.

“She was one of the best archeological illustrators of her time,” Pezzati said. “It really looks like you can pull the pots she’s drawn out of the page.”

From 1908 to 1936, Baker worked part-time as the Penn Museum’s artist, creating illustrations for publications and exhibits. Traveling the world when few women did, she’s known for her careful paintings and drawings of the finest examples of Maya pottery, as well as her Nubian paintings and documentation of materials from the Museum’s world-famous Royal Tombs of Ur Mesopotamian excavations.

Her work proved even more remarkable to attendees at the event, as they learned she suffered lifelong eye troubles, requiring several surgeries. She eventually went completely blind in 1949. Pezzati read from her diary:

“I was given 12 years of which to do the best work of my life, despite my handicap.”

The Penn Museum houses more than 500 works by Baker, as well as a collection donated by her grand-nephew in 2011 of her diaries, sketches, commercial art, illustrated stories and poems for children’s publications, and scrapbooks.

Most recently, and surprisingly, the Museum was able to acquire her traveling valise. Pezzati excitedly planned to open it for the first time at the close of Friday’s gathering.

Interest to see what was inside drove dozens of people on the chilly day to the archives for the revelation, and even more viewed the unveiling live on the Museum’s Facebook page. The keys were inserted, but it appeared stuck. Luckily, it was nothing a screwdriver couldn’t solve.

Pezzati popped the suitcase open and unveiled the goods: a small, unused notebook; a travel magazine; a letter from 1932, clad with Baker’s miniature doodles; a newspaper clipping highlighting her work from 1927; and photograph negatives of unidentified people, whom Pezzati said he’ll try to identify with her scrapbooks.

After the unveiling, folks stuck around, taking a closer look at Baker’s beautiful work, as well as diving deeper into her interesting, and inspiring, life story.

The Museum’s archives are located in the old library, right off of the Mesoamerican Gallery. For about three years, Pezzati and archivist Eric Schnittke have been leading “Unearthed in the Archives” events, lasting an hour every Friday afternoon. Informal by design, the archives’ reading room becomes a display area for a variety of subjects and collections. Often, as was the case for Baker, there are strong visual materials.

“Anyone can enjoy this stuff, and we try to demystify it,” Pezzati said. “Whether you’re looking at artwork, photos, letters, or diaries, you’re able to be transported to a different time.”