Meet the Board & Staff
- Shara Denson, President
Hannah E. Ray, Vice-President
Larry Snyder, Treasurer
Barbara B. Blumenthal, Clerk
Mary Beth Brooker
Sara Lennox
Tom Navin
Elaine Reall
Julie Starr
Board of Trustees
Shara Denson, President
Shara Denson is the former Human Resources Business Partner for Student Affairs & Campus Life, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Hannah E. Ray, Vice-President
Hannah E. Ray is co-owner of Workroom Design Studio in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Larry Snyder, Treasurer
Larry Snyder is Associate Vice President for Campus Services, Operations, and Maintenance at Smith College.
Barbara B. Blumenthal, Clerk
Barbara B. Blumenthal is an independent bookbinder and book studies historian. She was the rare book specialist in the Smith College Mortimer Rare Book Room for 35 years.
Mary Beth Brooker
Mary Beth Brooker is an artist, performer, and playwright, and a former teacher of children’s art and theater.
Sara Lennox
Sara Lennox taught in the German program at the University of Massachusetts, where she also directed the Social Thought and Political Economy Program. She is a founding member of the David Ruggles Center for History and Education.
Tom Navin
Tom Navin is Director of Development at Community Legal Aid, which provides free legal services to low income and elderly residents of central and western Massachusetts.
Elaine Reall
Elaine Reall is a lawyer who has served as both City Solicitor and long time Labor Counsel for the City of Northampton. She is a former Trustee of Forbes Library.
Julie Starr
Julie Starr is a real estate agent who has served on the board of the Hampshire Regional YMCA and Safe Passage.
Staff
Laurie Sanders, Co-Executive Director
Laurie Sanders became co-executive director of Historic Northampton in 2016. Sanders is a naturalist, writer, and the former host of Field Notes, a weekly natural history series that aired on NEPM (then WFCR) for a decade. She holds a B.A. from Smith College and a master’s from the Field Naturalist Program at the University of Vermont.
Elizabeth Sharpe, Co-Executive Director
Elizabeth Sharpe became co-executive director of Historic Northampton in 2016. Sharpe is an historian and the author of In the Shadow of the Dam: The Aftermath of the Mill River Flood of 1874 and the former director of education at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. She holds an M.A. from the Cooperstown graduate program in museum studies and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Delaware.
Emma Bresnan, Museum Educator & Programming Coordinator
Emma joined Historic Northampton in 2026. Previously, she worked as a tour guide manager at the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum in Arlington, Massachusetts. In addition to museum education, she has a background in living history and historic clothing-making. She holds a B.A. in history from the College of William & Mary and an M.A. in history museum studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program.
Pippa Comfort, Business Operations & Development Manager
Pippa Comfort joined the staff in 2026. She brings over 25 years of experience in development and advancement services, most recently serving at the Emily Dickinson Museum. Pippa holds a Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) from Simmons University and a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Margy Jessup, Collections Assistant
Margy Jessup joined the staff in 2021. For 25 years, she had been an archivist in Smith College Special Collections where she focused on digital preservation and access. She holds an MLS from Simmons College and a B.A. from UMass Amherst.
Kelsy Sinelnikov, Collections Manager
Prior to becoming collections manager, Kelsy Sinelnikov was curator of the Museums of Oglebay Institute in Wheeling, West Virginia. She holds an MA in Public History from Duquesne University in Pennsylvania.
Jules Levine, Gallery Assistant
Additional Contact Information
For general queries, or to schedule a research appointment, email us at info@historicnorthampton.org or call 413-584-6011