Vice president for programs at Morris Museum to assume post
By: Jake Uitti
Erin Dougherty, vice president for programs at the Morris Museum in Morristown, will assume directorship of the Historical Society of Princeton. She will begin her new position on Feb. 20.
In order to fill the position, members of the society created a committee and conducted several interviews.
"There was a search committee formed consisting of board members and participating staff," said Eileen Morales, curator for the Historical Society of Princeton. "We interviewed several candidates by phone and in person."
In the end, Ms. Morales said, Ms. Dougherty was the prime candidate for the position.
"Erin came forward as the best person for the job," Ms. Morales said. "Her skill set will help move the Historical Society forward."
Ms. Morales said the biggest project for the coming year would be the plans to move into the Updyke Farmstead, a 6-acre property that is located at 354 Quaker Road in Princeton Township.
The society purchased the property in 2004 for $1.25 million to rehabilitate the building for a future headquarters. It will house administrative offices once the renovation work is completed.
Once the society refurbishes the property, the farmstead as well as the Bainbridge House on Nassau Street, will serve as its two locations.
"We’ll maintain two sites," said Ms. Morales.
Ms. Morales noted that Ms. Dougherty will be able to handle the transition well given her experience at the Morris Museum.
"Erin has been working on an $8 million project at Morris to build a new wing," Ms. Morales said. "And being vice president for programs entails her involvement with public programming, exhibitions and all the other important things we do here at the Historical Society."
Ms. Dougherty will have some time to adjust to her new position, given that the next exhibition the Historical Society is planning is opening in September an exhibition of Princeton in the 1930s. In addition, the third annual Princeton Fine Arts and Antique show will be held during the last weekend in September.
"I am excited and grateful for the opportunity to be part of the Historical Society of Princeton during a time of such growth and expansion," said Ms. Dougherty in a statement. "Thanks to the forward thinking of the board, staff and the former executive director, HSP has positioned itself as a scholarly, inclusive institution in the New Jersey history community. I look forward to being part of future efforts to serve the people of Princeton and beyond through dynamic programming and groundbreaking exhibitions."
Ms. Dougherty graduated from University of Michigan and received a master’s degree in education from the College of William and Mary. In 1993, she became the education coordinator at the Staten Island Children’s Museum, developing programs. She went on to work as the curator of education at the New Jersey Historical Society and at the Jersey City Museum. In 1998, she began work at the Morris Museum as the director of education before being promoted to vice president for programs in 2000.
Ms. Dougherty will be filling the shoes of former Executive Director Gail F. Stern, who died in March at her home in Hopewell Township after being diagnosed six weeks prior with pancreatic cancer. Ms. Stern was 55 years old.
Ms. Stern became the Historical Society director in 1993 after 14 years as curator and then museum director at the former Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies in Philadelphia.
Ms. Stern is credited with the acquisition of original furnishings from Albert Einstein’s house on Mercer Street in Princeton. In 2003, the Institute for Advanced Study gave 65 pieces of the collection to the society.
In addition, she won the Humanities Public Programming Award from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities in 1996, an Award of Recognition from the New Jersey Historical Commission in 1999, and the John Cotton Dana Award from the New Jersey Association of Museums in 2000.