Nominations for election of officers of the Society’s Board
Respectfully submitted by the nominating committee
Judy Hosmer, Chair,
Nancy Gale
Judy Gilliland
 
PRESIDENT: Jay Cantor
Jay Cantor is an historian of American art and architecture. He has served as an active board member of numerous museums and historical organizations including the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Worcester Art Museum, and Strawberry Banke as well as chapters of the Society of Architectural Historians and the Victorian Society in America. He has curated exhibitions and consulted for museums around the country. He ran the American Paintings Department at Christie’s for 20 years and was the founding president of the Georgia O’Keefe Museum in Santa Fe. In addition to extensive curatorial experience, he is the author of numerous books, catalogs and articles on many aspects of American art and culture and authored the history of Winterthur Museum in Delaware. He moved to Woodstock in 1974 to organize an exhibition at Old Sturbridge Village for the Bicentennial.
 
VICE PRESIDENT: Rob Rawcliffe
After leaving the UK in 1998, he studied Graphic Design at Central Connecticut State University. Shortly after graduation he was hired by The Rectory School in Pomfret to be their Technical support person. After being there a number of years and running the day to day maintenance and networks, he moved over to Marianapolis Prep, where he did a similar job function along with teaching and coaching. After a few years, he moved over to a website called Finalsite, who creates websites for Schools. This will be the 10th year at Finalsite and the 7th year helping the WHS with their technology needs. He is an avid WW1 history nerd and has spent time in France researching his relatives’ footsteps throughout the Somme region. He has lived in Woodstock since 2001 with his wife and two children.
 
SECRETARY: Christine French
Chris is a lifelong resident of Woodstock. Her parents, one grandmother were all born in Woodstock, and her grandmother’s parents were born in Putnam. She went through the Woodstock School System as did her grandmother, her parents, her siblings and her children. All of them, including her husband, are graduates of Woodstock Academy. After graduating from Ohio Wesleyan University, she returned to Woodstock and was a teacher’s assistant at the Woodstock Nursery School. She has worked for the Town of Woodstock since 1984. She has been the Assistant Town Clerk in Woodstock since 1995. She has been Secretary of the Woodstock Historical Society since 2013, and the secretary for the Woodstock Cemetery Association since 2018. Chris has very deep roots in Woodstock and the Putnam area.
 
TREASURER: Dorothy Durst
I am motivated to participate in the Woodstock Historical Society Board of Directors after a few years’ hiatus. I look forward to picking back up with WHS Board participation. The opportunity to engage many Woodstock residents, especially those newer to town, in the history of our community, upon which its current high status is based, offers a welcome opportunity. Many of the intriguing aspects of the people and events that built our community are unfamiliar to residents but easily accessible and promoted by a motivated Board. By pursuing the growth of name recognition through engaging, history-based events and activities, the position of the Woodstock Historical Society as the home for important artifacts and as a meaningful place for bequests, will be enhanced. After graduating with a double major in History/Social Studies, I taught fifth grade then joined my husband in running a full-service restaurant in Putnam for 19 years. I returned to teaching with the CT Department of Correction for 22 years. Now retired, I am currently Recording Secretary for Municipal Boards and Commissions in Woodstock and Thompson and a member of numerous community groups.