Eastern Grad Lands Job at Connecticut Historical Society

Katerina Mazzacane, who recently graduated from Eastern with a major in History, has just accepted a job as Coordinator of Youth and Family Programs at the Connecticut Historical Society (CHS). She started as a Youth and Family Programs intern during the summer of 2018 and then became a part-time Museum Educator in September. In March, she was promoted to Coordinator of Youth and Family Programs. She works closely with the education, collections, and exhibitions staff to create programs for children and families that relate to the exhibits and CHS collections.

Currently, the CHS is hosting a travelling exhibit from the New York Historical Society, Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow.” This exhibit highlights the ways in which black Americans resisted oppression, defined their own lives, and found strength within their communities in the 50 years since the Civil War. Learn more about the exhibit: http://chs.org/blackcitizenship

In order to make the subject matter in this exhibition more accessible to young children, the CHS decided to plan programs inspired by specific African Americans. In April, the CHS organized a program based on Charles Ethan Porter, a famous Hartford-born artist. Young children viewed one of Porter’s most famous still-life paintings and then created their own version. Over April vacation, the CHS also hosted a program inspired by Augustus Washington, a famous daguerreotypist from Connecticut. For this program, children and adults dressed up in period-inspired clothing, posed for a picture, and then decorated a case for their “daguerreotype”. On July 30 and August 1, the CHS will be hosting a family program about the Underground Railroad to focus on another important aspect of African American history that complements the current exhibition.

With this promotion and new position, Katerina feels she has already reached her career goal. According to Katerina, “When I started my internship, I thought to myself, ‘This is what I want to be doing for a living.’ Now, less than a year later, I have started my official career with the Connecticut Historical Society. I feel very fortunate to be part of this institution.”