Project Director – Maggie Creech, Director of Education at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture
Maggie Creech holds a BA in History and Archaeology from The George Washington University and an MA in Archaeology from the University College of London. In her current position she oversees a talented staff focused on in-person and virtual learning experiences, community-based public programming, and teacher outreach. She comes with more than a decade of experience in public history, archaeology, and education and is passionate about the power of place and object-based learning to create past-present connections and build empathy. In addition, she has experience consulting on interpretive plans & frameworks for a variety of other cultural and historical institutions.
Education Specialist – Sam Florer, Manager of Public Programs at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture
Sam Florer will be helping implement teacher activities and lectures during these workshops. Sam holds a BA and MA in History from the College of William & Mary and has more than 10 years of experience working in museum settings, with a focus on education and public engagement. In his current role, Sam provides teacher professional development, assists students, and coordinates with statewide cultural institutions to implement the Virginia affiliate of National History Day, a nationwide historical research competition. He also manages a variety of public adult programs at the VMHC. In addition, he works as a historical researcher and writer, specializing in 18th and 19th century American history.
Dr. Max Edelson studies the history of British America and the Atlantic world. His research examines space, place, and culture in colonial North America and the Caribbean. He is currently researching and writing Ogilby's New World: Geography and Colonization in Restoration America. This book focuses on one of the most influential work of geography published in the second half of the seventeenth century: John Ogilby's America (London, 1671). It examines how European geographic knowledge--in text, maps, and other images--circulated among England's ambitious colonial founders as they settled and developed Jamaica, Carolina, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Dr. Sarah E. McCartney received her Ph.D. in American History and the Atlantic World from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She earned a B.A. and M.A. in History from William & Mary and is an alumnus of the College’s National Institute of American History & Democracy (NIAHD) Collegiate Program in Material Culture & Public History. Her research focuses on the colonial Virginia backcountry (now present-day West Virginia) and the role of kinship, commerce, and the material culture of the Atlantic World in this frontier region’s development. Sarah has worked extensively with NIAHD’s Pre-College Summer Program for more than a decade and teaches courses in NIAHD’s Collegiate Program.
Dr. Jon Kukla is the author of Patrick Henry, Mr. Jefferson’s Women, and A Wilderness So Immense: The Louisiana Purchase and the Destiny of America, as well as many scholarly articles and reviews. An authority on early American history, he has directed research and publishing at the Library of Virginia and served as executive director of the Historic New Orleans Collection and of Red Hill-The Patrick Henry National Memorial in Charlotte County, Virginia. He lives in Richmond, Virginia.
