Board of Directors

Chuck Barr

Although I have had an avid interest in history since I can remember, I was trained to be a family doctor. I first became involved in living history ten years ago, starting as a volunteer, managing the kitchen garden at Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation.  The next year I joined our site’s Board and two years ago, upon retiring, I became Board President. My first experience with ALHFAM was at the MAAHLFAM conference in 2014 at Peter Wentz Farmstead.   I have attended the last two ALHFAM annual conferences virtually and presented on Seedsaving at the 2021 conference. 

ALHFAM has a lot to offer to its members. I believe that diversity and outreach are key issues for our group.  Going forward, we need to increase our efforts to include underrepresented groups and have them play a role in shaping our site’s interpretations to ensure that we practice effective public history.  We also need to encourage and help our sites practice excellent outreach and make it easier for them to use up to date methods of producing content including social media and virtual programming.  This type of programming can be an effective tool to bring the public to us to experience true living history.

Michelle Evans

I’ve worked in Interpretation my whole career, first in seasonal positions and now at Conner Prairie, where I’ve worked in Interpretation for more than 35 years.  I’m currently the Domestic Trades Manager, overseeing Foodways, Gardens and Textiles staff.

I began attending ALHFAM and MOMCC meetings not long after I started at Conner Prairie. I have presented sessions at each over the years and written articles for both the ALHFAM proceedings and the MOMCC magazine. I’ve served as a conference coordinator for MOMCC and am on the planning committee for the 2023 ALHFAM at Sauder Village. I consider my involvement with ALHFAM and MOMCC to have been vital to my professional growth. 

Covid has forced us, individually and as organizations, to connect to the world in ways we might not have considered. ALHFAM needs to continue to play a role in helping museums, large and small, negotiate this changing climate. Remote access has allowed us to attend conferences or visits sites that we might never visit in person. ALHFAM can help lead the way for sites as we work together to share knowledge and find best practices that we can carry forward, helping all of us grow stronger.

Jenna Riley

Jenna grew up in living history museums; as a child, she attended day camp at Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa every year, and still has the hearth broom and toolbox she made. Today, she owns Unusual Manner Museum Services and works as a living history interpreter at Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm just outside of Kansas City. She has an M.A. in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program and has worked in leadership roles at Missouri Town Living History Museum (Lee’s Summit, MO), the Arkell Museum (Canajoharie, NY), the Schenectady County Historical Society (Schenectady, NY), and has interned or worked seasonally at The Farmers’ Museum (Cooperstown, NY), Plimoth Plantation (Plymouth, MA), Mystic Seaport (Mystic, CT), and Living History Farms (Urbandale, IA).

Jenna attended her first ALHFAM conference in 2011 at Jackson’s Mill in West Virginia. Although school field trip season and small staff sizes made it difficult for her to attend many annual conferences in the subsequent decade, she’s attended several regional conferences, been an active participant in social media, and has submitted two articles for the Bulletin including an upcoming article on accessibility at Missouri Town Living History Museum. The Fall 2020 edition of the Bulletin even features her oldest daughter, Quinn, on the front cover.

Jennifer Frazee

Jennifer earned a BA in History and Masters in American Studies (specializing in Native studies and military culture). She serves as the Director of Fort Gibson Historic Site for the Oklahoma Historical Society. Jennifer has experience in living history, interpretation, research, program development, etc. She is also a professor of history at Connors State College, teaching Oklahoma History, U.S. History to 1865, and U.S. History Since 1865. 

History with ALHFAM: She has helped and learned from the organization since 2013. Jennifer was part of the conference committee that hosted the 2014 regional meeting and the 2016 annual meeting, and she’s been educated and enriched at every annual meeting she has attended.

ALHFAM’s most pressing issues and how they may be addressed: 

“I grew up understanding the concept of "medicine" as not only healing medically but also non-medically. ALHFAM does this with the preservation of skills and cultural practices. My medicine is the blessing and obligation of caring for history, including that of cultures and cultural practices nearly forgotten, erased, or maligned. The difficulty in interpreting some of this history is one of our most pressing issues. I believe we can address it by helping historians develop tools to interpret all history, including the hard bits, in ways that build and strengthen community. That’s powerful medicine. By teaching skills, crafts, trades, and the history of the cultures they come from, we not only engage public interest, we empower folks to take the care of their own history into their hands.”

Sarah Edwards

Sarah is the Interpretation Manager at Heritage Park Historical Village. Sarah first heard of ALHFAM in 2014 and listened to stories from coworkers who attended the conference hosted by Heritage Park in 2014, after which she immediately became a member. Sarah had the opportunity to attend her first conference at Genesee Country Village in 2017, and then to present at the 2019 conference at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons. Sarah is also a member of the PIE, FPI, and Historic Foodways PIGs.

ALHFAM’s most Pressing Issues and how they May be Addressed:

Although not the full ALHFAM experience that everyone loves, the 2020 and 2021 virtual conferences made it financially accessible for many people from an organization to participate in sessions and discussions, opening up the benefits of the conference to many more than usually attend. This was particularly true for frontline and seasonal interpreters, who were able to connect directly to each other and get the full benefit of conference panels and presentations. As travel becomes more expensive and budgets become tighter, it will become more difficult to maintain regular attendance at conferences for more than a few people from each site, and the resultant dissemination of best practices may become more irregular. Finding ways to foster and facilitate those connections across organizations and regions, particularly for new interpreters, and to increase virtual access to national and regional conferences will help lower the financial barrier and increase participation in ALHFAM to keep our organization strong.

Melissa Vickers

Melissa began at Old Sturbridge Village in 2016. There, she demonstrated early 1800s hearth cooking and taught culinary and domestic history of rural 19th century New England to visitors. Since 2018, she has been employed at Strawbery Banke Museum, where she successfully restructured and led the hearth cooking workshops, including training staff and planning menus. Melissa researched domestic and social content specific to the Puddle Dock area and has interpreted utilizing both 1st and 3rd person techniques.

Melissa joined ALHFAM in 2017. In 2020, she was elected New England Regional Representative, and co-chair of the Historic Foodways P.I.G. She served a two-year term in both positions, and in 2022 was re-elected as co-chair of the Foodways P.I.G. She has worked with its members on many projects, particularly through the Facebook page, to both engage and foster fellowship amongst current members and to also inspire non-members to be more involved in both Historic Foodways, and ALHFAM as a whole.

ALHFAM’s most pressing issues and how they may be addressed:

“As our senior historians begin to retire from their crafts, ALHFAM must document their skills and knowledge, and also facilitate the passing their knowledge to the next generation. In addition to the SKILLS Database, funding hands-on training classes, as well as virtual classes and lectures could aid in this.”