The Historic St. Mary’s City Commission announced the appointment of John L. Seidel, Ph.D, as the new Executive Director of the museum, effective January 3, 2024. Dr. Seidel succeeds Travis Parno, Ph.D., who has served as the Acting Executive Director for the past nine months and will return to his role as Director of Research and Collections.
Dr. Seidel brings a wealth of experience from his diverse background in archaeology, non-profits, and academia. His career highlights include teaching roles at Rutgers University, Drew University, University of Maryland College Park, and Washington College. Notably, at Washington College, Dr. Seidel established a new archaeology program and an Anthropology major, leading to the creation of a separate Department of Anthropology. He also served as the Interim and later full-time Director of the College’s Center for Environment Society (CES), where he oversaw significant growth in funding, public programming, and educational initiatives.
During his tenure at CES, Dr. Seidel was instrumental in developing extensive programming, ranging from environmental science to archaeology and K-12 STEM education. He also played a key role in increasing staff and volunteer numbers, as well as establishing three laboratories: the Public Archaeology Laboratory, the Watershed Innovation Lab, and a Geographic Information Systems Lab.
Dr. Seidel’s wife, Elizabeth Seidel, has also had a distinguished career in archaeology, including working at Washington College as Archaeology Lab Director and Senior Staff Archaeologist. Elizabeth began her career at the Baltimore Center for Urban Archaeology and has worked for various organizations, including the University of Maryland College Park and Historic Londontown.
Dr. Seidel expressed his excitement about joining Historic St. Mary’s City, noting the impressive team and community at the museum. He shared his enthusiasm for the new role, especially in light of the approaching 400th anniversary of the founding of St. Mary’s City.
Tim Heely, Commission Chair, welcomed Dr. Seidel, highlighting his experience, energy, and fresh perspective as invaluable assets for Historic Saint Mary’s City.
Historic St. Mary’s City, the site of the fourth permanent settlement in British North America and Maryland’s first settlement in 1634, served as the colonial capital for sixty-one years. Today, it operates as an outdoor museum, offering living history and archaeology to share the diverse stories of early Tidewater Maryland.
For more information about Historic St. Mary’s City, interested parties can contact the Visitor Center at 301-994-4370 or email info@stmaryscity.org.