I came to museum work through the “back door.” After graduating from the University of Virginia with a doctorate in History, I taught for several years at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. Ultimately I left GVSU and, when getting another academic job proved elusive, I took my historical research and teaching tools to the world of museums. Once there, I found that it blended my historical interest and my long time fascination with material culture.
I’ve served as Director of Research and Interpretation at the Staten Island Historical Society/Historic Richmondtown, and Manager of Education and Interpretation at Roanoke Island Festival Park, a North Carolina State Historic Site. I’ve also done work for Historic Bethlehem in Pennsylvania, the Thomas Wolfe State Historic Site in Asheville, North Carolina and the Fredericksburg Area Museum in Virginia. Although most of my experience has been in history museums, I have an interest in all types of museums, and have spent the last four years as Education Curator for the El Paso Museum of Art.
In addition to active museum work, I taught Museum Studies for three years at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and am currently doing so again at the University of Texas at El Paso. I look forward to continuing to expand my experience and my portfolio over the coming months and years. I would love to help your museum face the future.
You can contact me at eliswsommer@aol.com or you can leave a comment on this blog.
The Museum Doctor 