The Maria Mitchell Association will say goodbye to Executive Director Janet Schulte who recently resigned from her position.  Janet served in the position for eight years and her vision and dedication will surely be missed.  The MMA wishes her the best and thanks her for her dedicated service.  While a search to fill her position starts, the Board of Directors has asked Board President John Daniels to serve as the pro bono, interim Executive Director.

Mr. Daniels is an accomplished retired businessman with over 30 years of consulting experience in strategic planning, information technology, and corporate governance.  He and his wife also operate Nantucket's Sherburne Inn, an eight-room bed and breakfast.

His leadership will help to assure strong governance during the transition in leadership.  The search for a new Executive Director could take up to six months.

A longer and more intimate Mitchell House Junior Historian class is the Mitchell House Sampler which we offer once or twice a summer.  Relatively new to the repertoire of offerings at Mitchell House, this class lasts four hours and the students have a chance to spend more time at the Mitchell House with the intern and curator, learning about the time in which Maria Mitchell lived and eating their lunch in the backyard.  They work on different crafts that children and adults created in the nineteenth century, learn about Maria's and her family's role in astronomy and science, and learn a bit more about what a historic house museum is and what makes the Mitchell House so special.  Crafts and activities include nineteenth century games, fiber arts, cooking,  and creating their own scientific-related items from kaleidoscopes to telescopes.  The images seen here are of the recent class on July 28th, ably led by this year's Mitchell House intern, Claire Payne.  Since we had a group of young girls, Claire started the class off in yarn doll making which they took to with deft hands and keen eyes!

 JNLF

For more information on other Junior Historians programs or to pre-register, visit our website or call 508.228.9198 

Downtown birding is back!  Wednesdays at 6:30 AM, join us for a stroll through downtown, looking for and identifying birds along the way.  The walk is led by Ginger Andrews, a Nantucket native and naturalist who has been birding on the island for many years.  You will learn a lot about birds, as well as some of the local history of Nantucket.