We are happy to announce that at Connecticut Humanities’ Annual Meeting at Mystic Seaport on June 21, 2018, our board voted to approve the following new board members:

Becky Beaulieu

Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme named Rebekah (Becky) Beaulieu as its new executive director February 19, 2018. Beaulieu was born in New Hampshire and raised in Milwaukee. Beaulieu was associate director of Bowdoin College Museum of Art in Brunswick, Maine. She also was the first executive director of Winchester Historical Society in Massachusetts.

Beaulieu holds a bachelor’s degree in American studies from George Washington University, a master’s in art history and museum studies from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a master’s in arts administration from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in American and New England studies from Boston University.

Becky has said she became interested in the FloGris in 2016, when a New England Museum Association conference was held in Mystic. Her husband works for Mystic Seaport and Museum.

Stephanie Fielding

Mohegan Linguist Stephanie Fielding was in residence at Yale throughout the Fall 2017 semester, teaching two classes, including one on Mohegan. Stephanie was awarded the Yale Presidential Visiting Fellowship for the 2017–2018 academic year.

Apart from the Algonquian-speaking communities of eastern North America, Mohegan was spoken across the region until its last fluent speaker Fidelia Fielding passed away, Stephanie’s great-great-great aunt. Fidelia and a group of peers learned the language secretly from her grandmother. After Fidelia’s death, her notes on Mohegan, the last descriptive records of the language, were destroyed in a fire.

After receiving a graduate degree in Linguistics from MIT and with support from the Mohegan Nation, Stephanie is working on recovering the grammar and vocabulary of the language despite the destruction of Fidelia’s notes.

In 2006, she published A Modern Mohegan Dictionary and subsequently launched a website with learning materials called the Mohegan Language Project.

Elaine McDonald

Elaine McDonald was an executive with more than 30 years of experience in the domestic and international insurance business. During her 28 years at Aetna, she held a number of management and executive positions throughout the company. Until her retirement, she was President and CEO of an Aetna International subsidiary.

Since her retirement, Ms. McDonald has been engaged in management consulting to non-profit organizations. For seven years she led the Central Connecticut region of The National Executive Service Corp., a consulting group specializing in the non-profit sector. Also Ms. McDonald formed and leads an independent consulting practice focused on strategy development and implementation, as well as governance in non-profit organizations.

Ms. McDonald has served in volunteer, board and board leadership roles within business, community service, and humanities organizations. Ms. McDonald is a past board member of the Connecticut Humanities Council, where she was Chair of the Governance Committee. She is also a past board member and Chairperson of the Children’s Museum in West Hartford, CT.

Ms. McDonald is a graduate of Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, CT with a BA in History. She has a certificate in French language studies from CLE in Tours, France. Born and raised in Massachusetts, Ms. McDonald spent her working career living between New York City and Connecticut. She is married and lives in Middletown, CT.

Myron Stachiw

Myron Stachiw received a BA in Anthropology (historical archaeology) from Brown University and an MA from Boston University in American and New England Studies (social history, archaeology, architectural history). Since the early 1970s he has worked in museums and historical agencies such as Old Sturbridge Village, Colonial Williamsburg, Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities as a curator, historian, and archaeologist; as a consultant to numerous state and local preservation agencies and museums; and as an adjunct and associate professor of history, architectural history, and historic preservation in universities in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Most recently he served as director of the Fulbright Program in Ukraine (2006-2012).

Walter Woodward

Walter W. Woodward is an Associate Professor of History at UConn and author of the award-winning Prospero’s America: John Winthrop, Jr., Alchemy, and the Creation of New England Culture, 1606-1676 and co-author, with Alan Marcus and Jeremy Stoddard, of Teaching History with Museums: Strategies for K-12 Social Studies, just released in a new and expanded second edition. Professor Woodward is also Connecticut’s fifth State Historian, having served since 2004. The State Historian, appointed by the trustees of the University of Connecticut, is assigned by the state legislature to serve on a number of boards and commissions that promote, preserve, and/or research Connecticut history. In addition, the Office of the State Historian provides information on historical matters to the media, public, and legislature. Professor Woodward also maintains active programs of historical research and public outreach, conducting lectures, programs, and teacher education seminars throughout the state.