Senior Director of Museum and Chief Curator, James Madison’s Montpelier

Elizabeth Chew, Ph.D. is Senior Director of Museum Programs and Chief Curator at James Madison’s Montpelier, where she oversees the Curatorial, Education, and Research departments. An art historian, she holds a B.A. from Yale, an M.A. from the Courtauld Institute of the University of London, and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has worked at museums and historic sites since 1985. At Montpelier she has overseen the excavation and reconstruction of six slave dwellings and work buildings, the creation of the exhibition The Mere Distinction of Colour, winner of six national awards, and the National Summit on Teaching Slavery.

As curator at Monticello for thirteen years, she was instrumental in expanding interpretation to include women, slavery, and domestic work. She curated the exhibition "'To Try All Things': Monticello as Experiment" in the David M. Rubenstein Visitor Center and was co-curator, with Rex Ellis of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, of the exhibition Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello: Paradox of Liberty. She has taught art history at the University of Virginia, James Madison University, Wake Forest University, and Davidson College and published and lectured widely on ways that architectural patronage and art collecting and relate to gender, race, and family politics.

Senior Director of Preservation & Education, Heritage Foundation of Williamson County, TN

Rachael Finch is the Senior Director of Preservation & Education for the Heritage Foundation of Williamson County, TN. Finch leads preservation, education, and advocacy initiatives, including interpretive planning and research for its museum and cultural institutions, Franklin Grove Estate & Gardens, and the History & Culture Center. Prior to her work at the Heritage Foundation, Finch served as the Executive Director of the Historic Franklin Masonic Hall Foundation, as well as the Research Historian for the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, and Civil War Projects Coordinator for the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University.

Finch holds an M.A. in Public History with emphases in Historic Preservation, Cultural Resource Management and Administration of Historical Organizations from Middle Tennessee State University, and a B.A. in History and Political Science from Metropolitan State University in Denver, Colorado. Finch appeared in several award-winning documentaries including The American South as We Know It, and Desperate Days: The Last Hope for the Confederacy, as well as the upcoming 2023 documentary, Duality: A Collection of Afro Indigenous Perspectives. Finch has taught public history seminars as a guest lecturer at the University of the South and Bowling Green State University. She has authored articles and presented on the Civil War & Reconstruction, African American history, history education, heritage tourism, preservation, architecture, and cultural landscapes, and the ethics of inclusivity of public history and museums.

Professor, Columbia State Community College

Dr. Thomas Flagel is an associate professor of History at Columbia State Community College in Tennessee. He holds degrees from Loras College (B.A. History), Kansas State University (M.A., European History), Creighton University (M.A., International Relations), Middle Tennessee State University (PhD., Public History) and has studied at the University of Vienna. Flagel has worked with multiple historic preservation groups, including the American Battlefield Trust and the National Park Service. A national speaker on war and memory, he also works in oral history, historic preservation, and museum studies, helping preserve the stories of those who are otherwise forgotten or erased from public discourse. Originally from Iowa, he currently resides in Franklin, Tennessee.

American Association of State and Local History

National Park Service Park Ranger and historian at the Civil War Defenses of Washington

Steve T. Phan is a Park Ranger and serves as the Chief of Interpretation at Camp Nelson National Monument. He recently served as the historian at the Civil War Defenses of Washington. He has also worked at Gettysburg National Military Park, Richmond National Battlefield Park, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, Stones River National Battlefield, Rock Creek Park, and Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument. A military history scholar of the Civil War era, Phan’s research focuses on military occupation, operational command, African American soldiers and refugees, and fortifications during the Civil War. He is the author of articles about Asians and Pacific Islanders in the Civil War and the Defenses of Washington for numerous publications. He was nominated for the National Park Service Tilden Award for Excellence in Interpretation in 2019 and 2020. He holds a master’s degree in American History from Middle Tennessee State University.