BOARD OF TRUSTEES |
Elizabeth Stone, President
Elizabeth Stone is a contemporary figurative artist who works at her home studio in Florence, Massachusetts. She began painting in the late 1990’s when she inherited her grandfather’s set of pastels. In May 2014, she curated the exhibit: Nightingale Uncaged: Jenny Lind in Northampton and was subsequently chosen to serve on the steering committee for Contemporary Art at Historic Northampton. She served as Vice-President from October 2018 through September 2019. She was elected President of the Board in September 2019.
Amanda Herman, Vice-President
Amanda Herman was elected to the board of trustees for a term beginning October 2016. She received a BS in Photography and Education from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and an MFA in Social Practice from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. She is founder and producer of Live Art Magazine in Northampton, 2013-2016, director of programs at Laurel Park Arts in Northampton from 2013-2014 and curriculum designer, Fostering Art & A Home Within in San Francisco, 2013-2015.
Kim Graham, Treasurer
Kim Graham joined the board of trustees in 2015 as a representative of the Parsons Family Association. Kim became chair of the Grounds Committee and by early spring initiated an extensive clean-up of the grounds. In spring 2016, Kim was elected treasurer. She works as an accountant at the Mullins Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Sara Lennox, Clerk
Sara Lennox received her B.A. from DePauw University and her doctorate in Comparative Literature from the University of Wisconsin. For thirty-eight years she taught in the German program at the University of Massachusetts, where she also directed the Social Thought and Political Economy Program, an interdisciplinary social justice program for undergraduates. Since her retirement in 2012 she’s increasingly been able to focus on what is turning out to be her true love, U.S. history. She is a committee member of the David Ruggles Center for Early Florence History and Underground Railroad Studies and a member of the shape note singing community. Originally from Indiana, Sara has lived in Northampton since 1974, and only a few years ago she was amazed to discover that a number of her ancestors were among Northampton’s earliest settlers. Sara functions as board liaison to Meadow City Historians and serves on the programming committee.
Kent Alexander
Kent Alexander has worked as a consultant for the NYC-based public school systems, arts groups, and labor unions. After moving to the Pioneer Valley, he was employed for nine years as the Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Elms College where he also co-taught cultural competency, as well as at local institutions that include Holyoke Health Center and Springfield Technical Community College. Since retiring in 2015, Alexander has been an active member of the Cooley Dickinson Patient Family Access Committee (PFAC) as well as a member of Cooley Dickinson’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. He also facilitates social justice focused-workshops for various local organizations including Girls’ Inc. of Holyoke, HapHousing, Montague Catholic Social Ministry, and Franklin Regional Council of Governments. He also serves on the advisory board for the local chapter of Standing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ).
Barbara B. Blumenthal
Barbara B. Blumenthal has lived in Northampton since 1971, when she first arrived at Smith College. She graduated in 1975 with a degree in American Studies, also having studied typography and calligraphy. As an undergraduate, she apprenticed with master bookbinder Arno Werner in Pittsfield, MA. Barbara has been a professional bookbinder since 1976 and has published five works under her own Catawba Press imprint. She edited and co-wrote Paradise Printed & Bound: Book Arts in Northampton & Beyond, published in 2004 for the 350th anniversary of the founding of Northampton. She was the rare book specialist in the Smith College Mortimer Rare Book Room for 35 years and occasionally teaches classes in bookbinding, book arts, and book history. Her passion for local history and artifacts led her to be volunteer, docent, and hearth cook at Historic Northampton for nearly twenty years in the 1970s, '80s and '90s. Barbara first served on the Board of Trustees in the mid-1990s; she rejoined the Board in 2014.
Cassandra Holden
Cassandra Holden is an artist, designer, and Creative Director of Laudable Productions. In addition to producing events, she consults with Way Finders, the largest non-profit affordable housing developer in Massachusetts, incorporating public art into their properties and creating residency opportunities for visual and performing artists. She has taught at the Care Center, an alternative educational program for pregnant and parenting teens, creating large scale collaborative sculpture with students.
Tom Navin
Tom Navin is Director of Development at Community Legal Aid, which provides free legal services to low income and elderly residents of central and western Massachusetts. He has been in the field of nonprofit fundraising for over 25 years, having served as Vice President of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement at World Learning/ School for International Training, in Brattleboro, VT; preceded by his 18-year tenure at his alma mater, University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he was Director of Annual Giving. Tom earned a Bachelor’s in Business Administration, and a Master’s Degree in Education from UMass Amherst. Tom lives in Northampton with his husband and their lab/hound mix. He and his husband have long been fascinated by the history of Northampton, and are collectors of early Northampton imprints, maps, photographs, ephemera, and early material history of Northampton.
Mike Ryan
W. Michael Ryan is a fourth generation Northamptonite. His father's family settled in Florence in the 1850s; his mother's French- Canadian grandparent's emigrated by foot to Northampton in the 1880s. An Army veteran, he graduated from the University of Massachusetts and Western New England School of Law. He practiced law in Northampton for twenty years, is a retired Massachusetts District Court Judge was twice elected District Attorney of Hampshire & Franklin Counties in 1982 and 1986. He has been studying, writing, and lecturing on local history topics for over forty years.
Richard S. West
Richard West was elected to the board of trustees for a term beginning October 2016. He is the owner of Periodyssey, a business that deals in old American paper including magazines, historical prints, illustrated broadsides, cartoons and caricatures. West is an authority on American political cartooning and American humor magazines. He is the author of five books on American political cartooning and the editor of four collections of political cartoons. He is the founder and editor of the three publications devoted to political cartooning and the cartoon arts. He has curated five cartoon exhibitions at venues in Washington, DC, New York City, San Francisco and Columbus, Ohio. He is a fellow of the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, MA. Born in Washington, DC, he graduated from Kenyon College in Ohio with a BA in political science and has lived in Northampton since 1995. He previously served as president of the board of the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence.
Elizabeth Stone is a contemporary figurative artist who works at her home studio in Florence, Massachusetts. She began painting in the late 1990’s when she inherited her grandfather’s set of pastels. In May 2014, she curated the exhibit: Nightingale Uncaged: Jenny Lind in Northampton and was subsequently chosen to serve on the steering committee for Contemporary Art at Historic Northampton. She served as Vice-President from October 2018 through September 2019. She was elected President of the Board in September 2019.
Amanda Herman, Vice-President
Amanda Herman was elected to the board of trustees for a term beginning October 2016. She received a BS in Photography and Education from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and an MFA in Social Practice from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. She is founder and producer of Live Art Magazine in Northampton, 2013-2016, director of programs at Laurel Park Arts in Northampton from 2013-2014 and curriculum designer, Fostering Art & A Home Within in San Francisco, 2013-2015.
Kim Graham, Treasurer
Kim Graham joined the board of trustees in 2015 as a representative of the Parsons Family Association. Kim became chair of the Grounds Committee and by early spring initiated an extensive clean-up of the grounds. In spring 2016, Kim was elected treasurer. She works as an accountant at the Mullins Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Sara Lennox, Clerk
Sara Lennox received her B.A. from DePauw University and her doctorate in Comparative Literature from the University of Wisconsin. For thirty-eight years she taught in the German program at the University of Massachusetts, where she also directed the Social Thought and Political Economy Program, an interdisciplinary social justice program for undergraduates. Since her retirement in 2012 she’s increasingly been able to focus on what is turning out to be her true love, U.S. history. She is a committee member of the David Ruggles Center for Early Florence History and Underground Railroad Studies and a member of the shape note singing community. Originally from Indiana, Sara has lived in Northampton since 1974, and only a few years ago she was amazed to discover that a number of her ancestors were among Northampton’s earliest settlers. Sara functions as board liaison to Meadow City Historians and serves on the programming committee.
Kent Alexander
Kent Alexander has worked as a consultant for the NYC-based public school systems, arts groups, and labor unions. After moving to the Pioneer Valley, he was employed for nine years as the Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Elms College where he also co-taught cultural competency, as well as at local institutions that include Holyoke Health Center and Springfield Technical Community College. Since retiring in 2015, Alexander has been an active member of the Cooley Dickinson Patient Family Access Committee (PFAC) as well as a member of Cooley Dickinson’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. He also facilitates social justice focused-workshops for various local organizations including Girls’ Inc. of Holyoke, HapHousing, Montague Catholic Social Ministry, and Franklin Regional Council of Governments. He also serves on the advisory board for the local chapter of Standing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ).
Barbara B. Blumenthal
Barbara B. Blumenthal has lived in Northampton since 1971, when she first arrived at Smith College. She graduated in 1975 with a degree in American Studies, also having studied typography and calligraphy. As an undergraduate, she apprenticed with master bookbinder Arno Werner in Pittsfield, MA. Barbara has been a professional bookbinder since 1976 and has published five works under her own Catawba Press imprint. She edited and co-wrote Paradise Printed & Bound: Book Arts in Northampton & Beyond, published in 2004 for the 350th anniversary of the founding of Northampton. She was the rare book specialist in the Smith College Mortimer Rare Book Room for 35 years and occasionally teaches classes in bookbinding, book arts, and book history. Her passion for local history and artifacts led her to be volunteer, docent, and hearth cook at Historic Northampton for nearly twenty years in the 1970s, '80s and '90s. Barbara first served on the Board of Trustees in the mid-1990s; she rejoined the Board in 2014.
Cassandra Holden
Cassandra Holden is an artist, designer, and Creative Director of Laudable Productions. In addition to producing events, she consults with Way Finders, the largest non-profit affordable housing developer in Massachusetts, incorporating public art into their properties and creating residency opportunities for visual and performing artists. She has taught at the Care Center, an alternative educational program for pregnant and parenting teens, creating large scale collaborative sculpture with students.
Tom Navin
Tom Navin is Director of Development at Community Legal Aid, which provides free legal services to low income and elderly residents of central and western Massachusetts. He has been in the field of nonprofit fundraising for over 25 years, having served as Vice President of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement at World Learning/ School for International Training, in Brattleboro, VT; preceded by his 18-year tenure at his alma mater, University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he was Director of Annual Giving. Tom earned a Bachelor’s in Business Administration, and a Master’s Degree in Education from UMass Amherst. Tom lives in Northampton with his husband and their lab/hound mix. He and his husband have long been fascinated by the history of Northampton, and are collectors of early Northampton imprints, maps, photographs, ephemera, and early material history of Northampton.
Mike Ryan
W. Michael Ryan is a fourth generation Northamptonite. His father's family settled in Florence in the 1850s; his mother's French- Canadian grandparent's emigrated by foot to Northampton in the 1880s. An Army veteran, he graduated from the University of Massachusetts and Western New England School of Law. He practiced law in Northampton for twenty years, is a retired Massachusetts District Court Judge was twice elected District Attorney of Hampshire & Franklin Counties in 1982 and 1986. He has been studying, writing, and lecturing on local history topics for over forty years.
Richard S. West
Richard West was elected to the board of trustees for a term beginning October 2016. He is the owner of Periodyssey, a business that deals in old American paper including magazines, historical prints, illustrated broadsides, cartoons and caricatures. West is an authority on American political cartooning and American humor magazines. He is the author of five books on American political cartooning and the editor of four collections of political cartoons. He is the founder and editor of the three publications devoted to political cartooning and the cartoon arts. He has curated five cartoon exhibitions at venues in Washington, DC, New York City, San Francisco and Columbus, Ohio. He is a fellow of the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, MA. Born in Washington, DC, he graduated from Kenyon College in Ohio with a BA in political science and has lived in Northampton since 1995. He previously served as president of the board of the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence.
STAFF
Laurie Sanders, Co-Executive Director
lsanders@historicnorthampton.org
Laurie Sanders became co-executive director of Historic Northampton on May 1, 2016. Sanders is a naturalist, writer, and the former host of Field Notes, a weekly natural history series that aired on NEPR for a decade. In 2014 she completed an ecological assessment of all of Northampton’s city-owned conservation areas, which include more than 30 properties and over 2,500 acres. In fall 2015, she presented a six-part lecture series, Rediscovering Northampton: Local History Viewed Through An Ecological Lens. She first came to Northampton in 1983 as a Smith College student and in 1988 she discovered the only known hybrid cross between jack-in-the-pulpit and green dragon, found only in Northampton. She brings a wealth of fundraising and programming experience to the position, writing grants for her own work and as co-chair of the private capital campaign for the Westhampton Public Library.
Elizabeth Sharpe, Co-Executive Director
emsharpe@historicnorthampton.org
Elizabeth Sharpe became co-executive director of Historic Northampton on May 1, 2016. Sharpe is an historian, writer, educator and museum consultant. She is the author of In the Shadow of the Dam: The Aftermath of the Mill River Flood of 1874. She has family roots in this area which sparked her research on Connecticut Valley history, architecture, history of technology and material culture for her PhD in History from the University of Delaware. She is the former director of education at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Since she moved back to the Connecticut Valley, she has consulted for museums, written the history of the Mill River Flood, taught history and public history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and at Greenfield Community College in person and online. Most recently she has taught Social Responsibility in Museums at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She has been board president of the Amherst Historical Society and the Swift River Historical Society.
Marie Panik, Museum Manager
mpanik@historicnorthampton.org
Marie Panik joined the staff of Historic Northampton in June 1993, becoming a full-time staff member in May 1994. She compiled the booklet A Guide to Jonathan Edwards’ Northampton for visitors to Northampton seeking Jonathan Edwards-related sites and curated the exhibit, The Florence Brush Factory, an exhibit chronicling the history of the Florence Manufacturing Company, later known as the Pro-phy-lac-tic Brush Company. She is a committee member of the David Ruggles Center for Early Florence History and Underground Railroad Studies. She holds a degree in history from Smith College.
Kelsy Sinelnikov, Collections Manager
ksinelnikov@historicnorthampton.org
Kelsy Sinelnikov is part-time collections manager at Historic Northampton. Prior to coming to Historic Northampton, she was curator of the Museums of Oglebay Institute in Wheeling, West Virginia. She holds an MA in Public History from Duquesne University in Pennsylvania where she worked in many capacities at a variety of museums including the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, The Carnegie Science Center, and The Senator John Heinz History Center Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village.
Emma Winter Zeig, Research and Education Coordinator
Emma Winter Zeig has been researching exhibition content and developing family and field trip programs at Historic Northampton for the past year. In 2019, she earned an MA in History and a certificate in Public History from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she participated in local history projects at the Hadley Farm Museum, the Joseph Allen Skinner Museum, the Emily Dickinson Museum, and Historic Deerfield. She has interned at the New York Public Library and at the Smithsonian Institution's Archives and National Museum of American History.
Mary LaLiberte, Gallery Attendant
info@historicnorthampton.org
Mary LaLiberte joined Historic Northampton in September 1989 through the volunteer docent program, giving tours to museum visitors and school groups of the Parsons, Shepherd and Damon houses. Since 2002, she has been a familiar face to weekend museum visitors. In 1963, Mary was a silver medalist in humorous prose in the Massachusetts State Speech Festival representing Holyoke Catholic High School. She attended Elms College, where she was active in dramatic productions. In 1980, she was one of the founding members of the Sidewalk Theater Company, acting in outdoor performances in Pulaski Park and special bookings through 1984. She led the summer story hour of the Forbes Library in 1983 and was a storytelling volunteer in the Easthampton Public Schools for kindergarten through 4th grade classes.
lsanders@historicnorthampton.org
Laurie Sanders became co-executive director of Historic Northampton on May 1, 2016. Sanders is a naturalist, writer, and the former host of Field Notes, a weekly natural history series that aired on NEPR for a decade. In 2014 she completed an ecological assessment of all of Northampton’s city-owned conservation areas, which include more than 30 properties and over 2,500 acres. In fall 2015, she presented a six-part lecture series, Rediscovering Northampton: Local History Viewed Through An Ecological Lens. She first came to Northampton in 1983 as a Smith College student and in 1988 she discovered the only known hybrid cross between jack-in-the-pulpit and green dragon, found only in Northampton. She brings a wealth of fundraising and programming experience to the position, writing grants for her own work and as co-chair of the private capital campaign for the Westhampton Public Library.
Elizabeth Sharpe, Co-Executive Director
emsharpe@historicnorthampton.org
Elizabeth Sharpe became co-executive director of Historic Northampton on May 1, 2016. Sharpe is an historian, writer, educator and museum consultant. She is the author of In the Shadow of the Dam: The Aftermath of the Mill River Flood of 1874. She has family roots in this area which sparked her research on Connecticut Valley history, architecture, history of technology and material culture for her PhD in History from the University of Delaware. She is the former director of education at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Since she moved back to the Connecticut Valley, she has consulted for museums, written the history of the Mill River Flood, taught history and public history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and at Greenfield Community College in person and online. Most recently she has taught Social Responsibility in Museums at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She has been board president of the Amherst Historical Society and the Swift River Historical Society.
Marie Panik, Museum Manager
mpanik@historicnorthampton.org
Marie Panik joined the staff of Historic Northampton in June 1993, becoming a full-time staff member in May 1994. She compiled the booklet A Guide to Jonathan Edwards’ Northampton for visitors to Northampton seeking Jonathan Edwards-related sites and curated the exhibit, The Florence Brush Factory, an exhibit chronicling the history of the Florence Manufacturing Company, later known as the Pro-phy-lac-tic Brush Company. She is a committee member of the David Ruggles Center for Early Florence History and Underground Railroad Studies. She holds a degree in history from Smith College.
Kelsy Sinelnikov, Collections Manager
ksinelnikov@historicnorthampton.org
Kelsy Sinelnikov is part-time collections manager at Historic Northampton. Prior to coming to Historic Northampton, she was curator of the Museums of Oglebay Institute in Wheeling, West Virginia. She holds an MA in Public History from Duquesne University in Pennsylvania where she worked in many capacities at a variety of museums including the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, The Carnegie Science Center, and The Senator John Heinz History Center Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village.
Emma Winter Zeig, Research and Education Coordinator
Emma Winter Zeig has been researching exhibition content and developing family and field trip programs at Historic Northampton for the past year. In 2019, she earned an MA in History and a certificate in Public History from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she participated in local history projects at the Hadley Farm Museum, the Joseph Allen Skinner Museum, the Emily Dickinson Museum, and Historic Deerfield. She has interned at the New York Public Library and at the Smithsonian Institution's Archives and National Museum of American History.
Mary LaLiberte, Gallery Attendant
info@historicnorthampton.org
Mary LaLiberte joined Historic Northampton in September 1989 through the volunteer docent program, giving tours to museum visitors and school groups of the Parsons, Shepherd and Damon houses. Since 2002, she has been a familiar face to weekend museum visitors. In 1963, Mary was a silver medalist in humorous prose in the Massachusetts State Speech Festival representing Holyoke Catholic High School. She attended Elms College, where she was active in dramatic productions. In 1980, she was one of the founding members of the Sidewalk Theater Company, acting in outdoor performances in Pulaski Park and special bookings through 1984. She led the summer story hour of the Forbes Library in 1983 and was a storytelling volunteer in the Easthampton Public Schools for kindergarten through 4th grade classes.