By Max van Balgooy, HLI Director

AASLH welcomes the Class of 2018 to the History Leadership Institute (HLI) next week in Indianapolis. HLI is a three-week residential program for mid-career history professionals working in museums, historical societies, historic sites, archives, and similar organizations who wish to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing the field, such as decolonization, sensitive topics, public tragedies, and sustainability, through cutting-edge techniques, including alignment, systems thinking, and adaptive leadership.

This year’s Associates are:

  • Stephanie Boyle, Dumbarton House (Washington, DC)
  • Cathy A. Burton, Great American Songbook Foundation (Carmel, IN)
  • Christina M. Claassen, Whatcom Museum (Bellingham, WA)
  • Elaine Heavey, Massachusetts Historical Society (Boston, MA)
  • Guinn Hinman, State Historical Society of North Dakota (Bismarck, ND)
  • Nicholas J. Hoffman, Missouri Historical Society (St. Louis, MO)
  • Kimberly F. Kelderhouse, Leelanau Historical Society (Traverse City, MI)
  • Heidi Kloempken, Minnesota Historical Society (St. Paul, MN)
  • Jennifer McElroy, Minnesota Historical Society (St. Paul, MN)
  • Patrick McGuire, Elkhart County Historical Museum (Mishawaka, IN)
  • Sarah E. Morin, Conner Prairie (Fishers, IN)
  • Trisha Nelson, History Nebraska (Lincoln, NE)
  • Casey Pfeiffer, Indiana Historical Bureau (Indianapolis, IN)
  • Jonathan Sebastian, Fischer Farm/Bensenville Park District (Bensenville, IL)
  • Daniel Shockley, Indiana Historical Society (Indianapolis, IN)
  • MaryMikel Stump, Washington State Historical Society (Tacoma, WA)
  • JaMarcus Underwood, Jack Hadley Black History Museum (Thomasville, GA)
  • Jennifer Van Haaften, Wisconsin Veterans Museum (Madison, WI)
  • Jessica R. VanLanduyt, Atlanta History Center (Atlanta, GA)

AASLH awarded the Denny O’Toole Scholarship to JaMarcus Underwood of the Jack Hadley Black History Museum and a Diversity Scholarship to Christina Claassen of the Whatcom Museum.

HLI graduates have been shaping the field since 1959, when Edward Alexander of Colonial Williamsburg established the program as the Seminar for Historical Administrators. It is now the foremost mid-career training program for history professionals in the United States and supported by some of the nation’s leading history organizations: Conner Prairie, History Nebraska, Indiana Historical Society, Missouri Historical Society, National Association for Interpretation, Georgia Historical Society, Massachusetts Historical Society, and Minnesota Historical Society. Graduates work in executive positions in a wide variety of organizations such as the Abbe Museum, Brucemore, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Strawbery Banke, President Lincoln’s Cottage, Senator John Heinz History Center, Preservation Society of Newport County, National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, and the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. To apply for the Class of 2019 or for more information, visit HistoryLeadership.org.