October 23, 2025 – The Essex National Heritage Commission (Essex Heritage), a non-profit that manages and provides numerous programs preserving and enhancing Essex County’s historic, natural and cultural places, welcomed business and community leaders from around Essex County to its Annual Fall Meeting on Thursday, October 16 at the Lynch Park Carriage House in Beverly. Welcomes and remarks were given by Mayor Mike Cahill, State Senator Joan Lovely, State Representative Hannah Bowen, and Katie Morfill on behalf of Senator Edward Markey. A welcome to the site was given by Bruce Doig of the Beverly Parks and Recreation Department. The program portion of the session focused on Educating and Engaging across the Essex National Heritage Area, highlighting the impactful work being done in Beverly. The Commission also announced its newly elected Trustees, voted in new and renewing Commissioners, and presented its 2025 Essex Heritage Pioneer in Partnership Awards and a Special Recognition Award.
New Essex Heritage Trustees
- Susan Lippman: Former Essex Heritage Chief Financial Officer
- Kenneth (Ken) Turino: Senior Search Consultant with Museum Search & Reference and formerly of Historic New England
New Commissioners Elected
Essex Heritage is governed by a 16-member Board of Trustees and supported by over 100 Commissioners who live and/or work within Essex County. These Essex Heritage Commissioners serve as representatives of community organizations, educational institutions, and historic, cultural and natural resources of the region. “Our Commissioners are made up of strong partners and ambassadors within the Heritage Area,” said Annie C. Harris, CEO. “Essex Heritage appreciates the support and commitment that these representatives give to promoting the region.”
The following individuals were elected to serve the Essex National Heritage Commission:
New Commissioners, 2025-2028
- Bethany Groff Dorau: Executive Director of the Museum of Old Newbury
- Sandra Schwarzkopf: Co-Founder of GamePossible Learning and former Park for Every Classroom educator
- Sheila Spalding: Site Manager for Historic New England
- Matthew Swindell: Director of the Manchester-by-the-Sea Museum
- Ella Weber: Visitor Services Manager at Parker River Wildlife Refuge
Special Recognition Award
As leaders of heritage organizations and supporters of the Essex National Heritage Area, Essex Heritage honors those who have made a professional or personal commitment to the heritage work in this region and thanks them for their service.
The following individual was identified as a 2025 Special Recognition Award Recipient:
Susan Goganian was recognized for her years of dedication to the history of Beverly and the promotion of the cultural resources of this region. Sue recently retired as director of Historic Beverly (formerly the Beverly Historical Society) after nearly 17 years. Under her leadership, the organization grew. Deeper and more comprehensive Beverly stories were told, and the organization worked to improve its historic properties to make them more accessible. Historic Beverly became an inviting and essential part of the community. Prior to her time in Beverly, she spent 15 years focusing on Boston history as president of the Boston Women’s’ Heritage Trail. She has also served as the Site Director for the Old State House, a member of the Boston Landmarks Commission and has served on multiple regional boards–including Essex Heritage. Sue become an Essex Heritage Trustee in 2015, where she served 3 consecutive terms. Her contributions to the Essex National Heritage Area through her role as a valued member of the Essex Heritage board and as a transformative director of Historic Beverly are remarkable.
Pioneer in Partnership Awards
Each year, Essex Heritage presents Pioneer in Partnership Awards to individuals and organizations who exemplify the commission’s spirit of collaboration. The award recognizes those who build partnerships and celebrate the nationally significant places that form the Essex National Heritage Area.
The following partners were identified as 2025 Pioneer in Partnership (PIP) Award Recipients:
PIP Award 1 – Beverly Public Schools and Park for Every Classroom Teachers for exceptional place-based, community projects in Beverly: Beverly Public Schools and the Beverly Park for Every Classroom teachers showed exceptional partnership with their community to create meaningful civic engagement projects that have had a significant and positive impact on their students and the environment. These included:
- Michelle March, a 4th grade teacher at Centerville School created a project centered on coastal ecology and the green infrastructure at their school where students researched and advocated for sustainable systems;
- Mary Bigus, a 9th grade teacher from Beverly High School, created a project where students partnered with Historic Beverly to design language for a walking tour about the history of enslavement and freedom in the city and relate these themes to contemporary issues studied in English class;
- Jeff Chruniak and Stacie Hall, 6th grade teachers in Beverly, created a project where students researched local historic sites and created videos highlighting exercise routines inspired by the sites’ histories, linking movement to the human body systems studied in science class;
- JoAnn Kibbe and Paulette Bakis, 8th grade teachers in Beverly, created a project offering local community-based seminars for students to explore science topics, including the impacts of sea level rise right here at Lynch Park;
- Rachel Emmons created a project with her 2nd graders helping them to identify and support native plants at Green’s Hill by Ayers Ryal Side School.
PIP Award 2 – Historic Beverly for their exceptional partnership with Essex Heritage and Beverly Public Schools:
Historic Beverly was not only a strong partner of our Park for Every Classroom teachers, but they partnered with Essex Heritage on multiple educational initiatives over the past year. These include our Education forum, Heritage Friend Event, Family programs, and Teaching Hidden Histories.
PIP Award 3 – The Coalition of 250th Anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill in Gloucester:
On June 21and 22, 2025, the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill was reenacted at Stage Fort Park, Gloucester. There were over 1,000 British and Patriot troops and 20,000 spectators. Essex Heritage was involved in helping with this event along with:
- Revolution 250
- City of Gloucester
- Discover Gloucester
- Maritime Gloucester
- Gloucester Volunteers
- Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce
- Bunker Hill Reenactment Committee
- North of Boston CVB
- Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism
- John Guilfoil Public Relations
- Lexington Minute Men
- Lexington Training Band
- Colone Bailey’s 2nd Massachusetts Regiment
- 10th Massachusetts Regiment
- His Majesty’s 52nd Regiment of Foot
