About the Team

Anne Bentley has been with the Massachusetts Historical Society since 1973, first as conservator of manuscripts, then as curator of the art collection. Since 1984, she has been responsible for the Society’s numismatic collection, consisting of coins, tokens, medals, badges, paper currency, and fiscal paper. Anne has authored papers on the 1776 Massachusetts pine tree copper penny and a copper Columbia-Washington medal given to the MHS in 1791 by Joseph Barrell, himself. With mentor and good friend, John W. Adams, she researched and wrote on the Comitia Americana medals and was honored to contribute a bit of historical background to John and Fernando Chao’s Medallic Portraits of Admiral Vernon.

Cassie Cloutier is the Assistant Director of Research at the MHS. In addition to producing and co-hosting The Object of History, she manages the seminar series and fellowship programs at the MHS and serves on the MHR editorial board. She earned a BA in History from Keene State College and an MA in World History from Northeastern University with a focus on twentieth century diplomatic history and digital humanities.

Peter Drummey is the Chief Historian & Stephen T. Riley Librarian at the MHS and is responsible for library outreach and exhibitions at the MHS. Over the course of 35 years, Drummey has assisted more than 50,000 researchers who have visited the MHS and a far larger number from a distance. He has prepared exhibitions, transcribed historical documents, and written manuscript collection guides and subject surveys, including Collecting History, a guide to landmark documents and artifacts in the Society’s collections. In addition, he has contributed book reviews and bibliographic essays to professional and historical journals. Drummey’s personal historical interests center on the era of the First World War, especially the social and technological impact of the war.

Sam Hurwitz is a fourth year PhD candidate in the History Department at Boston College who specializes in the LGBTQ+ communities of Boston in the mid-twentieth century and who has an interest in Digital Humanities scholarship.

Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai is a Civil War Historian and the author of Northern Character: College-Educated New Englanders, Honor, Nationalism, and Leadership in the Civil War Era. As the Director of Research at the MHS he oversees the Society's seminar series, fellowship programs, and serves on the MHR editorial board.

Past Team Members

Alyssa Machajewski is the former Podcast Producer for the MHS Research Department. She graduated with an MA in Public History from Northeastern University and a BA in Anthropology from Trinity University with specialities in museum studies and linguistics.

Katy Morris is the former Assistant Director of Research and co-host of the first season of The Object of History. She holds a BA from Smith College, an MA in Oral History from Columbia University, and her research interests include the history of women, gender, and sexuality, 20th century American history, and the American West.