JEREMY ROWE
From Today Painting is Dead – Early Photographic Invention and Innovation
Dr. Jeremy Rowe has collected, researched, and written about 19th and early 20th century photographs for over forty years. He serves on boards of the Daguerreian Society, The Ephemera Society of America, Daniel Nagrin Theatre Film & Dance Foundation Inc., and National Stereoscopic Association, and is a member of the Grolier Club. He was a Fulbright Specialist at the National Museum of Bosnia Herzegovina and now works with the Library of Congress on projects including the Nagrin and National Stereoscopic Research Collections and research Fellowships. Jeremy is an Emeritus Faculty member at Arizona State University and retired Senior Research Scientist at New York University.
MARY SEELHORST
Think it’s New? Think Again!
Mary Seelhorst is an independent exhibit developer, writer, researcher who works with museums across the country doing exhibit concept development, interpretive planning, research, and label writing. She specializes in the history of technology and popular culture. With degrees from Ohio University and UNC Chapel Hill, Mary worked at Old Salem, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, and The Henry Ford before going independent in 1997. She is on the boards of the Society of Automotive Historians and America’s Packard Museum, and serves on committees of the Association for Living History, Farm, and Agricultural Museums.
KATE LONG
Appealing to Audiences During the Birth Control Movement in the U.S.
Kate Long is the Research Services Archivist for Smith College Special Collections. Prior to joining Smith, she worked to connect the public to collection materials through exhibitions, instruction, public programs, and research services at the Folger Shakespeare Library and Special Collections and University Archives at the University of Maryland. Kate is a member of the Society of American Archivists, Rare Books and Manuscripts Section, and the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, & Publishing.
JENNIFER SOPKO
Thrills, Chills, and Titillations: Innovations in Amusement Park Rides
Jennifer Sopko is a Pittsburgh-based writer and historian with a love of local history, especially amusement parks. Since 2003, Jennifer has covered the Ligonier Valley, Westmoreland County, and Western Pennsylvania as a freelance writer and journalist for several regional publications, and serves on the boards of several area associations. She is the author of Idlewild: History and Memories of Pennsylvania’s Oldest Amusement Park and Ligonier Valley Vignettes: Tales From the Laurel Highlands. She is also a member of the American Coaster Enthusiasts Western Pennsylvania chapter, the National Carousel Association, the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, the Senator John Heinz History Center, and the McKeesport Regional History and Heritage Center.
DAVID MIHALY
Better Design Through Chemistry: Graphic Art from the Psychedelic Era
David Mihaly is the Jay T. Last Curator of Graphic Arts and Social History at the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. In addition to curating exhibitions at the Huntington, he has developed more than 30 major exhibitions for clients including the Amon-Carter Museum (TX), Art Center College of Design (CA), Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MA), Chrysler Museum of Glass (VA), Johns Hopkins University (MD), The National Parks Service (PA), Revolutionary Spaces / Boston (MA), The Smithsonian, and the Walters Art Gallery (MD).
SKYE LACERTE
Visual Revolution: The Transformation of Visual Culture and Commentary in the 1960s & 70
Skye Lacerte has been the Illustration Art Specialist at Swann since August, 2023. Prior to her time at Swann, Skye served as Curator of the Dowd Illustration Research Archive (DIRA) at Washington University in St. Louis, where she worked with original materials created by some of the 19th and 20th century’s best known illustrators and graphic artists.
BELLA SAVIGNANO
Visual Revolution: The Transformation of Visual Culture and Commentary in the 1960s & 70
Bella Savignano is the administrator of the Illustration, American, and 19th & 20th Century Art departments at Swann Galleries. Outside of Swann, she is a writer, archivist, and independent researcher. She has researched the underground rock music scene in 1970s New York City and collects ephemera related to early glam rock, the music press, anti-Vietnam War activism, and youth culture.
REBECCA PARMER
Documenting American Design: Ephemera at the Winterthur Library
Rebecca Parmer is the Director of the Winterthur Library, an independent research library for the study of American art, design, and culture, and an affiliated assistant professor in the University of Delaware’s Winterthur Program in American Material Culture. Her professional experience spans more than two decades in the academic and cultural heritage sectors, including leadership, library, teaching, and curatorial positions at Winterthur, the University of Connecticut, Connecticut College, and Northeastern University. She serves on the ESA board, the board of the Independent Research Libraries Association, the grants committee Delaware Library Association, and the advisory council McNeil Center for Early American Studies.
MARK SETTEDUCATI
Inventing Magic and Illusions
Mark Setteducati has been issued 19 US Patents, and more than 50 of his inventions have been marketed by companies worldwide, including “Magic Works” the all-time best-selling brand of magic tricks. He is the author of “The Magic Show,” an interactive book that performs magic for the reader. In 2014, the Academy of Magical Arts awarded him a Creative Fellowship and Honorary Lifetime Membership to The Magic Castle in Hollywood, CA.