John Wilhide – Hi! I’m John Wilhide and I’m from Taneytown, Maryland. I am currently studying at Hood College, where I am pursuing a History Major. At Catoctin Furnace, I am slowly working on transcribing a number of letters between 1830-1850’s and serving as a docent in the Musuem of the Ironwork on weekends. I have also worked as an intern for Carroll Community College in a presentation on the history of the Women’s Suffrage Movement as well as an intern for the Carroll County Farm Museum, where I helped to write their spring/summer self-guided tour as well as research for the Alms House. Outside of academics I enjoy playing soccer and field hockey as well as playing the guitar. 

Kaylie Bergeson – Hi! I’m Kaylie Bergeson, and I grew up in Ellicott City, Maryland. I currently attend the University of Maryland, College Park where I am pursuing a major in history (with a concentration in the history of science & medicine) and a minor in archaeology. At Catoctin Furnace, I researched data about the African American population in Catoctin and northern Frederick county, utilizing the valuable resources of the Graceham Moravian church. I have also worked in archives and collections at the Howard County Historical Society and the Baltimore Museum of Industry with the intention of going into the museum industry. Outside of academics, I am the president of the Swing Dance Club at UMD, and enjoy dancing, reading, and music!

⇒  Presentation on Recovering Identity by Kaylie Bergeson

Kaycee Conover – Hello! I am Kaycee Conover and I am from Milford, Massachusetts. I am currently in my third year at Tufts University studying English and History. My interests lie in the daily life and culture of historical societies and how they are influenced and developed. At Catoctin, I am researching for and assisting in the development of a children’s mobile game to engage, educate, and entertain the younger visitors of the historical society. Aside from work and academics, I love to borrow and read books from the library, bike through the woods, and lay on the floor with my dog. 

Dana Gordon – Dana Gordon is from Illinois and is currently attending Loyola University Chicago as a Public History M.A. student.  She is primarily interested in 19th and 20th century cultural history.  At Catoctin Furnace, she is contributing lesson plans and materials to be used in classrooms and by field trip groups, drawing upon her experience as a Jr. High classroom teacher.  Her hobbies are watching Pre-Code films and completing an average of one crochet project per year.  

Maya Wasserman – Hi, my name is Maya Wasserman. I am from Massachusetts and currently a senior at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, majoring in Anthropology and minoring in Religious Studies. My main project at Catoctin Furnace has been developing new waysides for the Iron Trail, where I have gotten the opportunity to dive into many different topics and eras of the furnace’s past. When I’m not learning about public history, I love exploring Maine restaurants and finding cats and dogs to pet on the way!

Intern(s) 2020-2021

Hi, I’m Kate Clark. I grew up in the suburbs of New York and I am currently a senior at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. I am majoring in Theater and Performance Studies and minoring in Art History. Here at Catoctin, I am focusing on Social Media for my internship: creating content and boosting engagement. At school, I am the Associate Producer for my theater club and I like to act. I’m also a bit of a photographer — in New York, I have a golden lab named Mac who is a great model!

Keely Farrell is from Cresskill, located in northern New Jersey. She graduated from the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre and History. As an undergraduate, she studied abroad at Stockholm University where she returned a year later to intern at a museum about the cultural history of alcohol in Sweden. Her most recent jobs have been at the Whitney Museum and Fotografiska in Manhattan. She enjoys researching genealogy and family histories, as well as early U.S. history. At Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, projects include finding runaway slave advertisements and researching the outcome of the enslaved during the transition from one furnace owner to the next. She likes drawing and painting, going on hikes to come across bizarre looking mushrooms, and getting her niece into the Spice Girls. She is excited to be doing hands-on research for Catoctin Furnace and thanks everyone for making her feel welcome!

Hi! I’m Teddy Sandler. I grew up in New York City and moved to the Midwest to major in Art History and Anthropology at the University of Chicago. I am interested in story telling, child development, and cultural institutions, which I’ve combined while working at the American Philosophical Society, the American Museum of Natural History, and currently at Catoctin Furnace, researching children’s toys and clothes. When I’m not exploring material culture, information design, or on shift as a barista, I’m biking around Chicago and listening to podcasts. 

Emerging Professional(s)

Anne Comer graduated from Bard College in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Cultural Anthropology and Experimental Humanities. At Bard, she worked in the Media Corps and Digital History Lab. During her undergraduate years, Anne interned at US/ICOMOS and assisted with archaeological work for CFHS. She has been a volunteer at CFHS since 2013. After graduation from Bard College in May 2019, Anne was selected for a yearlong fellowship at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill, New York. Anne developed an American with Disabilities Act document with site-wide recommendations, a 360-degree tour, and worked on an educational game. Anne was also an Alumni Fellow at the Bard College Center for Experimental Humanities and has continued to develop projects related to her senior thesis, “Ward Manor: Care for the Elderly and Digital Memory,”. Anne’s research for CFHS is funded through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). She is developing digital interpretation materials, online events, navigational-touring plans, and videos and podcasts based on oral history interviews from the 1970’s and 80’s with a focus on footways in Catoctin Furnace. In her free time, she likes hanging out with her dog, Thucydides, and cats, Mandalay and Ilsa.