This fall, Historic New England is delighted to welcome several researchers who will work on major institutional initiatives, including Recovering New England’s Voices (RNEV), our New England 250 commemorations, and an upcoming exhibition. Read on to learn more about them and the projects they will be working on this year.
Fellowships provide new professionals with the opportunity to pursue a projects in their areas of specialization to build upon and grow their skills after earning a graduate degree.
Eleanor Martinez-Proctor (she/her) is a Study Center Research Fellow working on laborers, workers, and businesses connected to the Lang and Burgess buildings in Haverhill, Massachusetts. She holds a masters degree in Public History from the University of Massachusetts Boston and has been a research fellow at Historic New England’s Study Center since 2021. Eleanor’s work often centers around the intersection of memory, community and power, particularly in displaced or otherwise disenfranchised populations. She has conducted research on the working communities at several sites and helped translate this research into programming that brings visibility to these untold stories.
Tim Hastings (he/him) is a Study Center Research Fellow working on laborers, workers, and domestic servants connected to Langdon House in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he completed fields in early American history, public history, and Atlantic World slavery and the African Diaspora. Tim’s dissertation examines the construction of African American community identity in northern New England during the long eighteenth century, research for which is supported by fellowships through Historic Deerfield, the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium.
Lydia Wood (she/her) is the Mellon Fellow, Objects Conservation, on the Collections Team. She is working in Historic New England’s conservation lab treating objects from our historic houses, preparing shoes for an upcoming exhibition and performing in-depth treatments on objects for the semisequicentennial exhibition, Myth and Memory. Other aspects of Lydia’s fellowship include working with members of the Collections Team to prepare the sites for opening in the spring and conduct ongoing analysis of environmental concerns at the sites. Lydia has a bachelor’s degree in Art History and Museum Studies, as well as a masters in Cultural Materials Conservation from the University of Melbourne in Australia.
Recovering New England’s Voices Research Scholars (RNEV) are experts in their fields who work with us for one year to conduct deep and complex research on communities typically overlooked or silenced by the historical record.
Dr. David J. Naumec (he/him) is supporting preparations for the New England 250 initiative by researching the stories of marginalized communities and individuals who participated in or were affected by the American Revolution. David teaches college and university courses and works as a museum consultant and as an archaeology field director. He earned his BA in Public History Administration at the University of Connecticut, holds an MA in History & Museum Studies from Tufts University, and completed his doctorate in Race & Ethnicity in Early America at Clark University. His research interests include Revolutionary War veterans of color, Native American and African American history, seventeenth-century New England, and race and ethnicity in early America.
Dr. John Starosta Galante (he/him) RNEV research focuses on the history and experience of immigrants in New England. John is an Associate Professor of History and Global Studies at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where is co-founder and co-director of the university’s Latin American and Caribbean Studies program. He is author of On the Other Shore: The Atlantic Worlds of Italians in South America during the Great War (Nebraska UP, 2022). His current project investigates meanings of “Latinness” in comparative historical perspective. He is also the creator and co-host of the podcast series Crossing Fronteras.
Proctorship Assistants are part of a work experience program funded through Brown University’s history department, which allows doctoral students to gain training and hands-on experience outside of academia. They are working on a variety of projects that directly support the Study Center’s research activities and staff.
Max Chervin Bridge (they/them) is a PhD Candidate in History at Brown University. Their dissertation, “Oceanic Listening,” focuses on the sensory and environmental history of whales and underwater sound over the past two hundred years. They are also interested in disability history, which they engage in their teaching, scholarship, and other work.
Cecilia Seilern und Aspang (she/her) is an Austrian historian working on the intersection of science, design, and nature through gemstones and gem imitations. Her background is a mix of practical design, having run her own fashion studio for a few years, as well as gemology, design theory, and history.
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