Preserve WV AmeriCorps Members
Learn more about our new class of Members (listed in alphabetical order) below and visit Preserve WV Stories to read about the service they are providing to revitalize our Mountain State.
candice helms
Hinton Historic Landmarks Commission
Hinton, Summers County
2018-2019 & 2019-2020 Terms
Hinton, Summers County
2018-2019 & 2019-2020 Terms
Candice Helms, may not be native to West Virginia, but upon moving here from Texas in 2015, she quickly found herself deeply in love with the mountains and a huge desire to do better by her community, Hinton. Her main mission was to be as close to the change and growth as she could, for her son’s future.
In May of 2019, she enthusiastically signed on as the Hinton Historic Landmarks AmeriCorps member. The City Manager felt she had been doing most of the work that would be required from her over the past 2 years, and knew she was the one for the job.
In May of 2019, she enthusiastically signed on as the Hinton Historic Landmarks AmeriCorps member. The City Manager felt she had been doing most of the work that would be required from her over the past 2 years, and knew she was the one for the job.
Her focus during this term and beyond, is to empower the locals, preserve Hinton’s history, and be an example of what little we can do to make a huge impact. All the while, taking in, and absorbing as much history as she can.
Claire Tryon
Berkeley County Roundhouse Authority
2019-2020 Service Term
2019-2020 Service Term
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Claire Tryon was raised in Martinsburg, West Virginia. She graduated with a BA in History from Shepherd University. She has an interest in women’s history and the digital humanities. Claire is hoping to pursue a master’s degree in gender and women’s history in the fall of 2021, with the goal of eventually being a professor.
Claire is currently an AmeriCorps member serving with the Berkeley County Roundhouse Authority at the Martinsburg Roundhouse. There she is helping to inventory their artifacts, give educational tours, organize community events and broaden their digital resources. Claire is excited to serve in the preservation of a location that is deeply engrained in the history of the Martinsburg. |
CONNIE eVANS
West Virginia & Regional History Center
2019-2020 & 2020-2021 Service Terms
Connie is originally from Savannah, Ga; as a “service brat,” where she moved a number of times during her youth to different states. Connie earned her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D., all in History, from Louisiana State University. In 1998, she took a post as an assistant professor history at Baldwin Wallace University, and took early retirement as a full professor in 2015 to pursue a library science degree at Kent State University, which she earned in August, 2016. She has been working as an independent research consultant/genealogist since that time, but sought opportunities to work in the field of public history.
At WV&RHC, under the supervision of Lori Hostuttler, Connie will review and correct the transcriptions of oral interviews done with Professor Emory Kemp, and will start assisting with his collection of materials associated with the Institute of the History of Technology and Industrial Archeology.
2019-2020 & 2020-2021 Service Terms
Connie is originally from Savannah, Ga; as a “service brat,” where she moved a number of times during her youth to different states. Connie earned her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D., all in History, from Louisiana State University. In 1998, she took a post as an assistant professor history at Baldwin Wallace University, and took early retirement as a full professor in 2015 to pursue a library science degree at Kent State University, which she earned in August, 2016. She has been working as an independent research consultant/genealogist since that time, but sought opportunities to work in the field of public history.
At WV&RHC, under the supervision of Lori Hostuttler, Connie will review and correct the transcriptions of oral interviews done with Professor Emory Kemp, and will start assisting with his collection of materials associated with the Institute of the History of Technology and Industrial Archeology.
EVAN Wenner
Cockayne Farmstead, Glen Dale (Marshall County)
2020-2021 Service Term
Evan Wenner grew up in Carey, OH and became interested in history after visiting the caverns that were used by Native Americans and located less than a mile from his house. He received his associate's degree at Hocking College and while there volunteered for AmeriCorps members in charge of cleaning up dumpsites in remote forest areas of Athens County, OH. Evan earned his bachelor's degree in history from the University of Findlay and completed an internship at the local history museum. He fell in love with the work of preserving history and hope to dedicate his life to learning and teaching others history. Evan graduated with a master's degree in history from Simmons University in Boston, MA and worked at some amazing institutions including the U.S.S. Constitution Museum and Old North Church. Evan says, "I am thrilled to be here in West Virginia and honored to be given the opportunity to make a positive impact at this fascinating historic site."
2020-2021 Service Term
Evan Wenner grew up in Carey, OH and became interested in history after visiting the caverns that were used by Native Americans and located less than a mile from his house. He received his associate's degree at Hocking College and while there volunteered for AmeriCorps members in charge of cleaning up dumpsites in remote forest areas of Athens County, OH. Evan earned his bachelor's degree in history from the University of Findlay and completed an internship at the local history museum. He fell in love with the work of preserving history and hope to dedicate his life to learning and teaching others history. Evan graduated with a master's degree in history from Simmons University in Boston, MA and worked at some amazing institutions including the U.S.S. Constitution Museum and Old North Church. Evan says, "I am thrilled to be here in West Virginia and honored to be given the opportunity to make a positive impact at this fascinating historic site."
Jessicah Hersom
Jessi Hersom is a West Virginia native, who graduated from West Virginia University in May 2019 with a B.A. in art history. During her time at West Virginia University, Jessi focused on early American world's fairs and completed her capstone project on the WV exhibit that was included in the 1933-34 Century of Progress Exhibition that took place in Chicago and was later moved and rehoused at the WV state 4-H camp, Jackson's Mill. This research, along with her previous experience at the site as a 4-H member in her youth, led her to the AmeriCorps position at Jackson's Mill.
At Jackson's Mill, Jessi inventories the site's archives and serves in the historic area, leading tours and demonstrations in the blacksmith shop and a 1790s historic grist mill. Jessi also tends to the historic area garden, which includes heirloom plants that would have been grown by settlers during the time of the mill's operation. During her time at Jackson’s Mill, Jessi will continue to enhance public knowledge of the site by helping its visitors learn about historic homesteads and early state history.
At Jackson's Mill, Jessi inventories the site's archives and serves in the historic area, leading tours and demonstrations in the blacksmith shop and a 1790s historic grist mill. Jessi also tends to the historic area garden, which includes heirloom plants that would have been grown by settlers during the time of the mill's operation. During her time at Jackson’s Mill, Jessi will continue to enhance public knowledge of the site by helping its visitors learn about historic homesteads and early state history.
Ksenia Bradner
Adaland Mansion, Philippi (Barbour County)
Northern Appalachian Coal Mining Heritage Association, Fairmont (Marion County)
2020-2021 Service Term
Northern Appalachian Coal Mining Heritage Association, Fairmont (Marion County)
2020-2021 Service Term
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Ksenia Bradner grew up in McLean, Virginia near Washington, D.C., and was adopted from St. Petersburg, Russia in 1993. She earned an Associate of Science magna cum laude, and holds a BA history degree from Goucher College. Ksenia's education was tailored to public history, which involves communicating history in an accessible way to the public. Her career goal is to work in the museum field in a position that pertains to public history, rather than archival work or preservation.
She has completed two excellent internships in the museum field - the Civil War Medical Museum in Frederick, Maryland and the National Park Service Museum Resource Center in Landover, Maryland. In 2018, Ksenia worked as a History Interpreter for George Washington’s Mount Vernon during the busy Student Highlights season where the estate greets over a half a million visitors of all ages and nationalities. |
Melissa Nichols
West Virginia Folklife Center at Fairmont State University
2019-2020 Service Term
2019-2020 Service Term
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Melissa Nichols is a native of Fairmont, WV who recently returned to college at Fairmont State University, receiving a BA in English with a minor in Folklore Studies. Both are fields she is very passionate about and is thrilled to continue utilizing in her project through Preserve WV AmeriCorps and working with the archives of Dr. Ruth Ann Musick.
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Moira Gasior
Sarah Insalaco
Sarah was born and raised near Knoxville, Tennessee. She earned her bachelor’s degree in History from Marymount Manhattan College in 2016. From May-November 2018, Sarah served with Northern Bedrock Historic Preservation Corps based out of Duluth, Minnesota. During that service term, she would travel with a team around the state of Minnesota and do various historic preservation projects, which included cemetery and window restoration, chinking and daubing, scraping and painting, replacing siding on old buildings, and community outreach- they laid floors for a Habitat for Humanity House. Sarah is so excited to be on this adventure with AmeriCorps.
