The Atlanta Historical Society was founded in 1926 to preserve and study Atlanta history. In 1990, after decades of collecting, researching, and publishing information about Atlanta and the surrounding area, the organization officially became Atlanta History Center. What began as a small, archival-focused historical society grew over the decades to encompass 33 acres of curated Goizueta Gardens, four historic houses, varied programming, and a range of signature and temporary exhibitions housed in the Atlanta History Museum (completed 1993).
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Susana Braner
Vice President of Sales & Operations
Susana received her BA in Public Relations from Georgia State University and has worked in the field of event and wedding planning for more than two decades. Prior to joining the Atlanta History Center team, Susana spearheaded the community events team at Emory University’s Crawford Long Hospital. While at Emory, she discovered her passion for working with the public to design events to be remembered for years to come. Susana later lead the event production team at A Divine Event. There, she oversaw the planning and execution of many events hosted at Swan House. She says that, with all that time spent planning weddings at Swan House, joining the History Center’s team felt like a homecoming. She is a past VP of Programs for Les Dames d’Edcoffier.
Email | 404.814.4087
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Paul Carriere
Chief Operating Officer
Executive Vice President of Operations & LegalPaul Carriere has been with Atlanta History Center since 2015. He began his career as a practicing attorney, but found himself more interested in the daily operations of the businesses he represented, rather than the practice. This set him down a path in the nonprofit sector. Prior to joining the team at Atlanta History Center, Paul spent ten years at the American Cancer Society. As the COO, Paul is ultimately responsible for day-to-day operations, as well as the management of the HR, marketing and brand strategy, and private events teams. Among his other responsibilities as COO, Paul lead the strategic planning process back in 2016, as well as the updated process for 2021.
Email | 404.814.4165
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Paul Crater
Vice President of Collections & Research Services
Paul manages the Kenan Research Center. He is the author of three books on the history of Atlanta, including Baseball in Atlanta, World War II in Atlanta, and co-author of Lost Atlanta. He is the curator of Voices Across the Color Line, an award-winning exhibition of the Atlanta Student Movement that appeared at the Atlanta History Center in 2010. In 2014, he was awarded an Emmy for his contribution in the development of 37 Weeks: Sherman on the March, which aired on Georgia Public Broadcasting. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Georgia State University.
Email | 404.814.4049
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Shatavia Elder
Vice President of Education
Shatavia serves as the strategic lead for all of our educational initiatives, reflecting the importance of the Education Department in delivering our mission. Through her role in developing and coordinating AHC’s educational programs, Shatavia seeks to leverage the diverse resources of the institution with innovative education practices to create immersive, meaningful, and relevant experiences for children of all ages. Prior to joining the Atlanta History Center in 2019, Shatavia accrued over 15 years of experience in the public school system serving in multiple capacities. Most notably, Shatavia facilitated trainings locally, nationally and internationally to include: National Youth at Risk, First Generation at Yale University, International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Georgia Educational Technology Conference (GaETC), and Haiti Educational Council. Shatavia received her B.A. in Political Science from the University of West Georgia and her Master of Education from Nova Southeastern University. She was named Outstanding Georgia Citizen & District Wide Teacher of the Year (Dekalb County).
Email | 404.814.4146
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Ryan Nix Glenn
Vice President of Marketing & Brand Experience
Ryan is responsible for the strategic development and implementation of Atlanta History Center’s design and marketing initiatives. Prior to joining the team, Ryan worked as a designer for Son&Sons, the agency that executed the Atlanta History Center rebrand in 2016, creating brand identities, marketing campaigns, and strategic communications for nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies alike. Ryan holds a Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Savannah College of Art and Design and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Rhetoric Studies from Oglethorpe University.
Email | 404.814.4094
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Sheffield Hale
President & Chief Executive Officer
F. Sheffield Hale is President and CEO of the Atlanta History Center. Prior to joining the Atlanta History Center in 2012 he served as Chief Counsel of the American Cancer Society, Inc. and was a Partner practicing corporate law in the firm of Kilpatrick Townsend LLP. Mr. Hale serves as a Trustee of the Partners for Sacred Places, Midtown Alliance, the Buckhead Coalition, and the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. He is a member of the Advisory Board of both the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts and the Center for the Study of the American South. He is Trustee Emeritus of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and a Past Chair of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, the Atlanta History Center, St. Jude’s Recovery Center, Inc., and the State of Georgia’s Judicial Nominating Commission. He was the Chair of the City of Atlanta Cyclorama Task Force and the Co-Chair of the Advisory Committee on City of Atlanta Street Names and Monuments Associated with the Confederacy. Mr. Hale received his B.A. in History from the University of Georgia summa cum laude in 1982 and his J.D. in 1985 from the University of Virginia School of Law. He is a member of the American Law Institute.
Email | 404.814.4020
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Claire Haley
Vice President of Public Relations and Programs
As Vice President of Public Relations and Programs, Claire leads the development and coordination of strategic communications and a variety of public events and programs at Atlanta History Center, including community days, author talks, dialogue series, and more. She joined Atlanta History Center in 2017 as a research and writing assistant. She then pursued opportunities to expand her expertise in communications and special projects, taking an active role in developing the institution’s new Strategic Plan and leading involvement in the national history and civics initiative Made By Us, among other projects. Claire graduated from the honors program at the University of Georgia with a B.A. in History and a B.A. in International Affairs, summa cum laude.
Email | 404.814.4129
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Jackson McQuigg
Vice President of Properties
Jackson handles capital projects, construction management, leases, and building-related contracts at the Atlanta History Center. A graduate of Wake Forest University, he most recently managed the move of the Battle of Atlanta Cyclorama painting to AHC. An avid transportation historian, he has authored or co-authored three books on railroad history, as well as numerous articles for Trains, Lines South, Canadian Rail and other railroad history publications. He has been with the Atlanta History Center since 1996. He maintains active memberships in the International Association of Museum Facility Administrators and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Email | 404.814.4064
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Erin O’Leary
Vice President of Development
Erin leads all aspects of fundraising at Atlanta History Center. Joining Atlanta History Center in 2021, Erin brings over 18 years of experience. Spending the majority of her career with organizations in New York City, Erin has worked with organizations in NY, FL and GA such as Carnegie Hall, The New York Public Library, Teach for America, the Foundation for Excellence in Education and Points of Light. She brings a vast range of fundraising experience including leading Capital Campaigns and other major fundraising initiatives. Erin received a BA from Southern Methodist University and a Master in Public Administration from NYU.
Emaill | 404.814.4056
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Sarah Roberts
Olga C. de Goizueta Vice President
Goizueta Gardens & Living CollectionsSarah provides the vision for Goizueta Gardens, serves as curator and garden designer, and leads the horticulture and agriculture staff. Together, this team creates immersive, meaningful, and ecologically beneficial gardens that represent Atlanta’s unique landscape history. Sarah’s 20+ year career in public gardens began with an internship in curation at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, where the importance of rich botanical diversity shared publicly in a beautiful way took root. She went on to become Curator of Herbaceous Plants and Outdoor Gardens at the New York Botanical Garden. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science honors degree in Horticulture from Berry College, and a Postgraduate diploma with distinction from Garden Design School in England. Sarah has written for numerous publications, been featured on Martha Stewart Radio, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, GardenSmart TV series, and the podcast Stuff You Missed in History Class.
Email | 404.814.4073
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Michael Rose
Chief Mission Officer
Executive Vice PresidentMichael has dedicated nearly four decades to the management and administration of historical collections and their preservation, interpretation, and presentation, as well as curatorial work in the fine and decorative arts. He is responsible for Atlanta History Center’s artifact and research content, including the Kenan Research Center, historic houses and gardens, exhibitions, as well as the library, archives, museum, and living collections. He is a Fellow of the Winterthur Museum Winter Institute and has served as a consultant to the American Alliance of Museums’ Museum Assessment Program. In 2015, he was a member of the History Center’s team that received an Emmy Award in Writing from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Southeast. He is the curator of nearly 20 exhibitions and the author of nine publications, including Atlanta Scenes; Atlanta: A Portrait of the Civil War; Atlanta: Then and Now; Historic Photos of Atlanta; and Lost Atlanta.
Email | 404.814.4043
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Jeff Rutledge
Vice President of Finance & Information Technology
Jeff has been at Atlanta History Center for more than thirteen years. He began his career at the History Center in accounting, which led him down the path to financial and information technology leadership. Prior to joining the team, Jeff worked for other non-profits across Atlanta. He has his BS in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
Email | 404.814.4156
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Kristian Weatherspoon
Vice President of Digital Storytelling
Kristian Weatherspoon is Vice President of Digital Storytelling. With nearly 10 years of digital journalism experience, she has worked with news, public policy and government organizations to effectively deliver content to a variety of audiences across digital and social media platforms. Her passion for amplifying untold stories has taken her across the Southeast from blueberry farms in South Georgia exploring issues surrounding immigration to coastal Louisiana documenting the devastating impact of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Deep Water Horizon oil spill on local communities. As much of her work has been traditional broadcast journalism, she’s also spent time building digital issue campaigns in efforts to shift policy to improve the lives of the underserved populations in Mississippi. Kristian has received awards from the Georgia Associated Press and the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists (AABJ) for her work. Kristian received her master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from Northwestern University’s renowned Medill School of Journalism and a Bachelor of Science from Jackson State University.
Email | 404.814.4096
Chris Orchard
Senior Director of Guest Experience
Email | 404.814.4044
Laurie Stevens
Guest Experience Coordinator at The Margaret Mitchell House
Email | 404.814.4054
Mary Wilson Joseph
Manager of Group Sales & Logistics
Email | 404.814.4110
Ariana Yandell
Membership & Donor Services Manager
Email | 404.814.4101
Raven Miller
Membership & Development Coordinator
Email | 404.814.4100
Staci Catron
Cherokee Garden Library Director
Email | 404.814.4046
Kate Daly
Visual Culture Archivist
Email | 404.814.2055
Erica Hague
Collections Manager
Email | 404.814.2068
Jena Jones
Manager of Reprographic Services
Email | 404.814.4067
Jennie Oldfield
Cherokee Garden Library Cataloger & Archivist
Email | 404.814.4124
Sue Verhoef
Director of Oral History & Genealogy
Email | 404.814.4042
Brett Bannor
Manager of Animal Collections
Email | 404.814.4148
Rosemary Bathurst
Senior Horticulturist for Native Plant Collections
Email | 404.814.4069
Laurie Carter
Horticulturist
Email | 404.814.4071
Travis Fisher
Senior Horticulturist & Plant Records Manager
Email | 404.814.4072
Tiffanny Jones
Director of Horticulture
Email | 404.814.4097
Emily Roberts
Director of Urban Agriculture
Email | 404.814.4068
Jayme Firestone
Manager of Volunteer and Intern Services
Email | 404.814.4053
The Atlanta History Center is a non-profit, public-benefit organization. The Board of Trustees of the Atlanta History Center serves in the public interest as it relates to the constituent parts of the Atlanta History Center and considers itself accountable to the public as well as the institution. The Board acts as the ultimate governing authority for the Atlanta History Center and is responsible for the formulation and maintenance of its general policies, standards, conditions, and procedures.
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Howard Palefsky
Chair
Mr. Howard D. Palefsky is a private investor, board member and advisor to healthcare companies.Mr. Palefsky served as the Managing Director, General Partner, and Managing Member from 2002 to 2015 and a Venture Partner from 1999 to 2002 at Montreux Equity Partners. From 1997 to 2002, he served as a Private Investor and Board member of healthcare companies. Over the past 40 years, Mr. Palefsky’s activities have included serving as a CEO, Board Chair and as a Director of numerous public and private companies; providing advice and guidance to companies, entrepreneurs, and managers with regard to industry trends and strategy, and making private investments. Prior to joining Montreux, he served as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the NeurogesX Inc. From 1978 -1997 Mr. Palefsky was the Chairman and CEO of Collagen Corporation, a pioneer in the aesthetic medicine area.
Mr. Palefsky holds an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 1971 and a B.S. from the City College of the City University of New York in 1967.Mr. Palefsky serves on the Board of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the 21st Century Foundation of the City College of New York.
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Bill Peard
Vice-Chair
Bill’s career in Big 4 public accounting spanned almost 40 years during which he held significant management and client service roles at Deloitte & Touche and Arthur Andersen. His final role before retirement was as Deloitte’s lead client service partner for United Parcel Service, Inc. Industries served over his career include transportation/logistics, manufacturing, restaurant/retail, technology, hospitality and real estate. He is a licensed CPA and qualified financial expert with knowledge and experience in initial and secondary public securities offerings, Securities and Exchange Commission matters and other issues surrounding corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, turnaround management and financial reporting for growing companies. Bill has noteworthy line management experience having held several managing partner roles where he led all aspects of the practice – profitability, people, quality and growth. In addition to management of Deloitte’s Atlanta based Audit and Enterprise Risk Services practice from 2003 until 2011, Bill’s other senior leadership roles include managing partner of Arthur Andersen’s North America and Southeast Region Assurance and Business Advisory Services. Bill also served on the nominating committee for the Andersen Global Board.
Bill has substantial experience with boards of directors of public and private companies particularly in working with Audit Committees. This includes presentations to boards, providing guidance on board and corporate governance issues and conducting private sessions with directors and audit committee chairs.
Bill has experience serving large public companies with operations in multiple countries and cultures. As lead client service partner on companies such as United Parcel Service, Doosan Infracore International (dba Bobcat), and AGCO, he directed teams in Europe, Asia and Latin America providing a consistent high level of service around the world.
Bill currently is Treasurer, Trustee, and former Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, a statewide organization preserving historic properties in Georgia. Bill also served four terms as Trustee of the Atlanta History Center, one of the nation’s preeminent history museums. He chaired the Audit Committee and served as Treasurer.Bill grew up in Atlanta. He graduated magna cum laude from Washington & Lee University (Lexington, Virginia) where he is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He also attended advanced management training at Columbia University (New York) and INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France). He and his wife, Carey, live in Atlanta and are the parents of two adult children.
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Jill Campbell
Treasurer
Jill Campbell is the executive vice president and chief people and operations officer for Cox Enterprises, a private, family-owned company based in Atlanta, Georgia, with nearly $20 billion in annual revenues and nearly 50,000 employees. In her role, she leads the people solutions, real estate, aviation, facilities, security and corporate affairs departments.
Previously, Campbell served as chief operations officer of Cox Communications. In this role, she oversaw the company’s day-to-day operations, ensuring companywide alignment with competitive strategies to enhance marketplace execution and grow the company’s 6.5 million residential and business customers.Campbell joined Cox in 1982 as director of communications in Oklahoma City, where she also served as customer service manager and acting general manager. She later served in several roles for Cox operations, including vice president and general manager for Cox’s Bakersfield, California, and Santa Barbara, California, operations; vice president of customer operations for Cox in Phoenix; and vice president and general manager for Cox’s Las Vegas operation. In 2001, she was promoted to senior vice president of operations for the Eastern Division, and in 2011, she expanded her role to oversee operations for the company’s entire field operations.
A graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Campbell also earned an MBA from Oklahoma City University. She is currently on the board of directors for the Atlanta History Center, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and Georgia Power, and is a member of the International Women’s Forum. Jill is a member of the International Coaching Federation and is also a certified master coach.
She previously served as a board member for several nonprofit organizations, including United Way, Boys & Girls Club of America, YMCA, Woodruff Arts Center, Girl Talk and the WICT Foundation. She also served on the boards of the California, Arizona and Nevada cable television associations.
In April 2017, Campbell was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame. In 2004, Campbell received the Atlanta Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) Woman of the Year Award, and in 2008, she was honored by WICT as its national Woman of the Year. She was ranked number two in Cablefax’s 2015 Most Powerful Women in Cable. In 2020, Campbell was honored with the Alumni of the Year Award from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. She is married with three children and two granddaughters.
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Trudy Kremer
Secretary
Trudy Kremer joined Jackson Spalding more than two decades ago with a focus on strategic communications coaching for senior executives. Her expertise grew out of her work with NBC national news. She has prepared hundreds of executives and experts for prime-time performances from organizations including The Coca-Cola Company, Chick-fil-A, Orkin, Delta Air Lines, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, L.L.Bean and Publix Super Markets.
She is a seasoned crisis strategist, guiding clients through complicated, high-profile issues. As a member of Jackson Spalding’s executive team, she contributes significantly to the agency’s growth and long-range planning.
Her broadcast career began at Barcelona’s 1992 Olympics with NBC Sports, followed by a move to NBC’s New York headquarters, working for Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Donahue. In 1993, Trudy joined NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. She was the lead researcher for Nightly News coverage of the 1996 Olympics, broadcasted and anchored live on-location in Atlanta. She remained in Atlanta as associate producer for the NBC News Atlanta Bureau, covering major news events, such as the school shootings in Littleton, Colorado, John Glenn’s return to space and JFK Jr.’s death for the TODAY show, NBC Nightly News, MSNBC and CNBC.Trudy is often tapped to speak to organizations on the topics of confidence in communications, crisis communications and workplace dynamics. She has also facilitated and participated in panels on a variety of topics.
Trudy holds a bachelor’s degree from Duke University with a major in Art History. She has one less goal on her “bucket list” now that she has successfully crossed the finish line at the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon, a feat that ranks her as “Super Mom” with her husband and two sons. She is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta’s class of 2020 and serves on the boards of the Rich Foundation, the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation and the Atlanta History Center.
Chloe Barzey
Rodney Bullard
Jill Campbell
Beverly M. DuBose III
Allison Dukes
Michael Golden
Trudy Kremer
Angie Mosier
Sandra Hall Mulrain
Allen Nance
Howard Palefsky
Bill Peard
Kathleen Rollins
Teya Ryan
Sachin Shailendra
John Shlesinger
Will Skeean
Support for the Atlanta History Center website has been generously provided by the Fraser-Parker Foundation, SunTrust Trusteed Foundations: Florence C. and Harry L. English Memorial Fund, The Imlay Foundation, Victoria and Howard Palefsky, and Mr. and Mrs. James C. Kennedy.
Learn. More.
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Strategic Plan
Atlanta History Center’s strategic plan.
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Digital Publications
Explore our biannual member publications online.
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Governance
Governance of Atlanta History Center.
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Careers
Explore career opportunities at Atlanta History Center.