Student History Exhibit Lights up Museum

Ab0ve,  Brock Leindecker delivering keynote talk on Preservation Carpentry at Franklin Historical Museum event.

The fifth annual Dean College History Exhibit and Reception was held at the Franklin Historical Museum Tuesday evening. The event showcased recent history research projects, each with a summary poster, by 17 Dean students. Research topics ranged from an exploration of the hidden figure behind the discovery of the structure of DNA and the Assassination of James Garfield to the Haitian Revolution and Mary Queen of Scots.

The event was introduced by Mary Olsson, Chair of the Historical Commission and by David Dennis, Humanities Program Coordinator at Dean.

Brock Leindecker, a 2008 graduate of Dean who has long been active in historical preservation, delivered a key note explaining the field he currently inhabits, Preservation Carpentry. Leindecker, who serves as an associate member of the Franklin Historical Commission, now teaches Preservation Carpentry at the North Bennet Street School in Boston, the nation’s oldest vocational school. He explained the distinctions among different levels of preservation and restoration, highlighting the type of work he is often involved with; repairing and restoring using historically accurate materials, tools and methods. And he showed slides of some of the projects he has worked on in the region.

Linda Morse, President of the New England History Teachers Association was on hand and presented the Laska Award to two students, Scott Kirshy and Elena Mejorado. She also explained the significance of the award, named for the long-time Regis College history professor, whose own life of resistance to the Nazis in Europe, surviving a Nazi concentration camp, and eventually escaping and coming to America, is an example of lived history, she noted.

In addition to dozens of students, faculty, and staff from Dean, the event included Dean Chancellor Ed August, President Kenneth Elmore, and State Representative Jeff Roy.