Educators and Interpreters

The Educators and Interpreters Community

AASLH’s Educators & Interpreters Community addresses the needs of educators and interpreters in history museums and history organizations as they seek to increase appreciation of community history.

The Educators and Interpreters Community is committed to helping paid and unpaid history professionals create quality educational programming and experiences. By promoting best practices, sharing resources, and providing opportunities to network, the community creates a foundation upon which all professionals can build and grow as they explore museum and informal learning, educational theory, and interpretive techniques.

The Educators & Interpreters Committee primary goals are to:

  • Seek out and promote quality education and interpretation content for AASLH Annual Meetings, webinars, workshops, and resources.
  • Promote education and interpretation best practices by using AASLH resources, including publications, books, and Technical Leaflets.
  • Provide opportunities for networking and resource sharing through the use of social media and posts on the AASLH blog.

Educators and Interpreters Committee

Bethany Hrachovec, Chair (2022-2026)
Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, IN
[email protected]

Araceli Hernandez, Vice Chair (2024-2026)
Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln, NE
[email protected]

Selena Gonzalez, Secretary (2025-2027)
Champaign County Forest Preserves, Urbana, IL
[email protected]

Mike Adams (2025-2027)
Hagley Museum & Library, Wilmington, DE
[email protected]

Lloyd Black (2025-2027)
Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh, PA
[email protected]

Anthony Eley (2025-2027)
International Museum of the Horse, Lexington, KY
[email protected]

Mason Farr (2025-2027)
National Veterans Memorial and Museum, Columbus, OH
[email protected]

Amelia Gallo (2025-2027)
Institutional History Museum at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA
[email protected]

Karen Holzer (2025-2027)
West River History Conference, Spearfish, SD
[email protected]

Elizabeth Hosier (2025-2027)
Robert H. Jackson Center, Jamestown, NY
[email protected]

Evan Lewis, (2025-2027)
Cincinnati Museums Center, Cincinnati, OH
[email protected]

Michele Longo (2022-2026)
Office of Historic Alexandria, VA
[email protected]

William Lopez (2023-2025)
Brinton Museum, Bighorn, WY
[email protected]

Kevin Maijala (2024-2026)
Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, MN
[email protected]

Keith Nitka (2025-2027)
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Williamsburg, VA
[email protected]

Lisa Pettry (2025-2027)
Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, OH
[email protected]

Kristin Robinson (2025-2027)
Stage Naked, Bethel, CT
[email protected]

Leah Roggeman (2025-2027)
Conner Prairie, Fishers, IN
[email protected]

Alison Salutz (2025-2027)
Historic Denver, Denver, CO
[email protected]

Jeff Sellers (2024-2026)
Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN
[email protected]

Kelsey Unger (2025-2027)
Historic Mesquite, Mesquite, TX
[email protected]

Jennifer Van Haaften (2025-2027)
Wisconsin Veterans Museum, Madison, WI
[email protected]

AASLH Staff Contact
Aja Bain, Director of Professional Development and Publications
[email protected]
615-320-3203

Recent E&I publications from AASLH:

Learning from Museums (2nd ed.)
By John H. Falk and Lynn D. Dierking
2018

101 Museum Programs Under $100: Proven Programs that Work on a Shoestring Budget
By Lauren E. Hunley
2018

Performing History: How to Research, Write, Act, and Coach Historical Performances
By Ann E. Birney and Joyce M. Thierer
2018

The Museum Educator’s Manual: Educators Share Successful Techniques (2nd ed.)
By Anna Johnson, Kimberly A. Huber, Nancy Cutler, Melissa Bingmann, and Tim Grove
2017

Other education and interpretation resources:

@MuseumEdChat Twitter chat Thursdays, 8-9pm. Follow at #MuseumEdChat.

Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums

C3 Teachers Blog

DOCS Teach (National Archives)

Education Dive

Edutopia Integrated Studies

Excellence and Equity: Education and the Public Dimension of Museums

How History Class Divides Us by Stephen Sawchuk

iCivics teachers

Journal of Interpretation Research

Know Your Own Bone

Museum Education Roundtable

Smithsonian Institution’s For Educators

Stanford History Education Group

Teacher Twitter chats and hashtags: #sschat, #ssengchat, #histedchat, #historylearning, #edtech, #edtechchat

Learning for Justice

Theories of Childhood, Second Edition: An Introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson, Piaget and Vygotsky by Carol Garhart Mooney

TPS Teachers Network