Heritage Commission of Delaware County - Who We Are

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Who We Are


CHAIRPERSON - Barbara Marinelli

Barbara has been a resident of Upper Darby Township since 1986 and has been involved with the Upper Darby Historical Society since 2006. She co-authored the Arcadia Publication “Images of America - Upper Darby” and has been with the Heritage Commission since 2013.


Vice ChairPERSON - KAREN MICKA

Karen Micka has been a lover of American and local history since grade school. In high school, history was a favorite subject. She went to the monthly World Affairs Council Meetings in Philadelphia when in high school. She has never lost her love of history which lead her to be a board member of the Delaware County Historical Society (Chair, co-Vice Chair, Lecture Chair), a board member for close to 20 years with the Friends of the Swedish Cabin, a longtime board member of the Aston Historical Society (President, Vice President, Treasurer and now Recording Sec.), founding member of DCHPN, co-founder of the Western Delaware County Historic Tour group, and a member of the Delaware County Heritage Commission. She loves visiting historical sites and finding out new information about history. “To me, history is very exciting!”

SECRETARY - Beth McCarrick

Beth McCarrick has been a resident of Delaware County all of her life and has lived in Bethel Township for over 30 years. She is currently the Chairman of the Bethel Township Preservation Society. She and her daughter Faith wrote "Images in America - Bethel Township, Delaware County," for Arcadia Publishing with the help of the Bethel Township Preservation Society. She has also been a presenter at Delaware County Community College's Elder Week focusing on history.

Judith Anastasi

Judy Anastasi grew up in southwest Philadelphia but has lived most of her life in Norwood Borough. She is the current President of the Norwood Historical Society and the Treasurer of the Friends of the Darby Methodist Meeting Cemetery. She is also on the board of the Lansdowne Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, as well as the previous treasurer of the Norwood Public Library. Judy has a great love of American history and was appointed to the Heritage Commission in 2016.



STEPHENIE SCHWARTZ BAILEY

Stephenie has been a resident of Nether Providence for 13 years and serves on the Board of the Nether Providence Historical Society and 1785 Thomas Leiper House and Estate in Wallingford. She is currently the Education Program Manager and Preservation Consultant at the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts, responsible for connecting cultural heritage professionals to engaging educational programs and preservation resources. Previously, she worked as an archival assistant at the Revs Institute for Automotive Research and Historical Study of Stanford University and at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection; as an assistant to the curator at the National Gallery of Art; and as a conservation intern at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Rockford Art Museum. She served as Adjunct Professor of Art History at Florida South Western State College. Stephenie received a MA in Art History from The George Washington University and a BA in Art History from Beloit College. In 2021, she will complete a certificate in Historic Preservation at Bucks County Community College. Stephenie is passionate about preserving our community’s historic architecture and the collections of artifacts stored and exhibited within.

Kelli Cave

Kelli was raised in the Germantown/Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia and moved to Yeadon in 2009. She is the Chair of the Yeadon Borough Historical Commission. Since childhood, she has enjoyed visiting historic neighborhoods. More recently, she spends her time enjoying historic lectures and taking courses in Historic Preservation at the University of Pennsylvania.

 


ALAN DERICKSON

Alan Derickson lives in Garnet Valley. He is professor emeritus of labor studies and history at Penn State.  Derickson taught American history for thirty years on the University Park campus. His research has focused on the intersection of work and health since the onset of industrialization. His most recent book is Dangerously Sleepy: Overworked Americans and the Cult of Manly Wakefulness (University of Pennsylvania Press). His articles have appeared in the Journal of American History, Journal of African American History, American Journal of Public Health, and Business History Review, among other outlets.  He served as a consultant to the National Park Service on its Labor National Historic Landmark Theme Study. He is currently a volunteer with the Kennett Underground Railroad Center.  He has a PhD from the University of California, San Francisco, in the history of health sciences.


Keith lockhart

A life-long Delco resident, Keith first became interested in local history while still in his teens. He began researching and collecting Delco History and now has one of the largest private collections. He did his first booklet in 1976 on Ridley Township and did numerous centennial histories of Chester Pike Boroughs. He did a history column for Towntalk and was voted most popular columnist several times. He has served on numerous groups and committees and his website, delawarecountyhistory.com, is used by the county as the official history website.

Joshua Phillips

Josh Phillips currently lives in Glen Mills and has been a Delaware County resident for 9 years. He is a Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Penn State Brandywine with a particular interest in researching cultural narratives: The stories that we tell and retell influence how we understand and shape our world. In 2016, he published his book “Homeless: Narratives from the Street” documenting the stories of the homeless. He has also been coaching wrestling at Strath Haven High School since 2015. He received his PhD from Southern Illinois University in 2014.

SAM PICKARD

Sam was appointed to the Heritage Commission in 2021. He was born and raised in the Lawrence Park section of Marple Township and serves on the board of the 1696 Thomas Massey House and the Steering Committee of the Young Friends of the Preservation Alliance. Since 2020, he has researched and authored a blog on Marple Township history. He is currently a historian in AECOM’s Cultural Resources group, where he works alongside archaeologists and architectural historians. Sam has BA in history from La Salle University, a certificate in historic preservation from Bucks County Community College, and is currently working toward an MS in city & regional planning from Temple University.

TWYLA SIMPKINS

Twyla ‘Ms. T’ Simpkins taught in the Chester Upland School District for 35 years before retiring in 2008 and becoming the Founding Director of the Yes We Can Achievement and Cultural Center (formerly the YWCA Chester), a Chester-based 501(c)3 organization dedicated to the elimination of racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity. She plays an active role in the Chester community, participating in many events as an archivistorian and storyteller. A graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, holding a BS in Secondary English Education, her hobby has become a passion. Nicknamed "Chester's modern-day historian", Ms. T brings to many projects the institutional memory as well as a profound understanding of both the local history of Chester and its place in the larger history of the region and country. She regularly contributes to the humanities-based, community revitalization efforts of Chester Made and the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, assisting with the delivery of local history programming for events as well as her on-going work with students from Widener University, Swarthmore College and other area educational institutions. She also continues to enjoy adding to her extensive black memorabilia collection and completing historical documentaries of 'Precious Places' in the Chester vicinity.

Contact Us

  •   201 West Front Street,
         Media, PA 19063
  •   8:30AM - 4:30PM
           Monday - Friday
  •   610-891-4000
  • webmaster@co.delaware.pa.us

About Delaware County

Delaware County, presently consisting of over 184 square miles divided into forty-nine municipalities is the oldest settled section of Pennsylvania.


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