MEDIA CONTACT: Angie Lowrie Director of Sales & Marketing
216-721-5722, ext. 297
FALCONE-HALL APPOINTED VICE PRESIDENT OF HALE
FARM & VILLAGE
CLEVELAND, OH – Dr. Gainor B. Davis, President and CEO of
the Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS), recently appointed Kelly Falcone-Hall
as Vice President for Hale Farm & Village. “After a long, national search,
we realized that the best person to lead Hale Farm into the future was already
on our staff,” says Dr. Davis. The transition will take effect January
2009.
Falcone-Hall joined WRHS in 1995 after earning a master’s degree
in American History from Cleveland State University with a special focus on
Western Reserve social history. She worked in the Archives Library
as a manuscript processor and reference assistant, and then joined the staff of
Hale Farm & Village in 1997 where she worked as the site Historian and Director
of Interpretation until 2001. During that time, Falcone-Hall researched
and wrote extensively about the activities and lifestyles of people who lived in
northeast Ohio before the Civil War, and contributed to the development of the
new living history programming for the museum.
Under her
direction, a number of new programs were developed, including the still popular
Holiday Lantern Tours, Farmhouse Suppers, and Fugitive’s Path: Escape on the
Underground Railroad, historical role-playing programs that engage audiences in
historical moments in time. During this time, her research deepened the
museum’s interpretation of the museum’s Early American Craft and Trades Program
and architectural history. In 2001, Falcone-Hall left Hale Farm to work as
the WRHS Director of Public Programming and began participating in
fundraising activities to benefit the entire organization. She worked as
the Director of Foundation and Government Grants and then as Vice President of
Institutional Advancement where she directed all fundraising, earned income, and
marketing efforts for the entire Western Reserve Historical Society, including
Hale Farm & Village.
During her tenure as a development officer,
Falcone-Hall dedicated half of her time to fundraising for Hale Farm & Village
educational programming and special projects, including the preservation project
in progress now at the museum with the support of several major foundations,
corporations, and individuals.
“Hale Farm & Village has been a very
special place for me since I was a child," says Kelly Falcone-Hall, Vice
President of Hale Farm & Village. “I discovered American history for the
first time at Hale with my family in 1976, the year of our nation’s
bicentennial. As a historian I appreciate Hale Farm’s unique ability to
teach children today about their history – about the people, lifestyles,
architecture, family farms, and trades of early America. I’m proud to be
involved with this local treasure, and look forward to working with our staff,
the community, and museum partners to keep Hale Farm & Village a healthy and
vibrant destination for schoolchildren and families.”
The Western
Reserve Historical Society is a not-for-profit education institution that
preserves and uses its collections, historic sites, and museums to inspire
people to explore the history and culture of Northeastern Ohio and place that
regional experience within the larger context of state, national, and global
history.
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