Rubuta ci gaba ga wannan sakin layi - An haifi Armstrong a Winchester, Massachusetts. Ta shiga Kwalejin Hampshire a Amherst, Massachusetts da nufin zama mai zane, amma ta canza zuwa tarihin zane-zane da nazarin al'adu, ta sami digiri na BA a Nazarin Amurka a 1974. Bayan kammala karatunta, ta yi aiki a matsayin mai ba da tallafi a Gidauniyar Ƙasa don Humanities (1976<unk>9) kafin ta shiga makarantar digiri na biyu a Jami'ar California Berkeley don samun digiri na biyu a Tarihin Art a 1982. Yayin da yake a Berkeley, ta yi aiki a matsayin mataimakiyar bincike ga Gidan Tarihi na Zamani na San Francisco kuma a matsayin mataimakiyar mai kula da Gidan Tarihi na Lowie, inda ta ba da gudummawa ga littafin 1983 <unk> The Anthropology of World Fairs: San Francisco's Panama Pacific International Exposition
na shekara ta 1915. " Wani labarin da ya danganci batun maganganun mashahuranta, "American Scene as Satire, Art of Paul Cadmus a cikin 1930s", ya bayyana a cikin "Magazin Arts" a watan Maris na 1982.