Stephanie Hess
The Northfield Historical Society is pleased to announce it has hired Stephanie Hess as museum collection assistant. The majority of her work will be to continue working with the NHS photograph collection and digitizing some of the files from the City of Northfield’s collection. Stephanie is filling the void left by Kristin Glomstad, who left her position with NHS to pursue her masters degree in museum studies.
Stephanie began her museum career by volunteering at NHS while she was a student at St. Olaf College. She graduated in 2006 with a double-major in history and ancient studies, and immediately sought further training in Washington, D.C. After earning her M.A. in museum studies from the George Washington University in 2008, she worked in the Exhibitions Department of the National Building Museum for five years. While there, she helped develop exhibitions on such varied topics as parking garages, world’s fairs, and toy building sets.
She returned to Minnesota two years ago, and is excited to once again explore Northfield’s history — especially through historic photographs.
A growing staff
Cathy Osterman
Hiring Stephanie comes three years after NHS hired Cathy Osterman, the society’s curator. Cathy has been working in the museum field for almost 17 years. Before working with NHS she spent eight years working in museums in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Since joining NHS Cathy has spearheaded the collection shelving project, conducting an inventory of our archives, and rehousing the collection. Her current projects include revising the society’s disaster plan.
NHS Executive Director Hayes Scriven, who has been with NHS for 10 years, is excited for what the future holds for the organization. “The past year and a half has been non-stop motion,” he says. “We have expanded our collections, our digital efforts, and our programming” by adding events like the annual Northfield History Month in June.
“I am very happy with the direction NHS is taking,” Scriven adds. “When I began as director I was one-half of a staff of two plus a volunteer bookkeeper. It is great to be apart of an organization that is growing and changing. Our goal is to become the best local history organization in the state, and I believe we are on course to accomplish that.”
The Northfield Historical Society is a 501 c3 organization that is dedicated to serving as the primary stewards of Northfield-area history by fostering an awareness of its meaning and relevance through discovery, documentation, preservation, and interpretation. It is located at 408 Division Street in historic downtown Northfield and northfieldhistory.org.