hours
Mon-Fri, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
Closed weekends, except for special programming
Staff Bios
Marilyn C. Solvay - Director
Marilyn C. Solvay
Marilyn has been in the museum field for nearly three decades—and has worked in science, children’s, history, maritime, art and battlefield museums. She received her academic training at the University of Arizona (M.A. in Museum Studies), George Washington University (M.A.T. in Museum Education), and at Lesley University (PhD in Educational Studies). Marilyn has held positions at the Bostonian Society, the USS Constitution Museum, the Children’s Museum of Maine, the Dyer Library Association, Old Sturbridge Village, the New Hampshire Farm Museum, and Strawbery Banke.
In addition, Dr. Solvay has also taught American Studies at Lesley University, Franklin Pierce College, New England University and Baypath College. Her favorite courses are “The History of Women & Work,” and “Introduction to American Society, Values & Beliefs.” She has served on national museum committees including The Education Committee of the American Association of Museums, the Standards Committee for the American Association of State and Local History, and as a grant reader for the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Recently she served for three years as a coordinator for a National Leadership Grant project on how families learn about history in small museums—testing out hands-on exhibit components, length of labels, types of images, and even how groups of visitors play games together!
Marilyn joined the staff at the Sullivan Museum & History Center in the spring of 2008 and is excited to be a member of the Norwich community! Her family includes three talented children—Roian, Alexa and Nathaniel—and assorted animals! She spends all her spare time outside—gardening, hiking, biking, walking, rollerblading, camping, and kayaking. Marilyn is an avid fan of NPR and enjoys her daily doses of laughter!
Erin Doane - Curator
Erin Doane joined the Sullivan Museum and History Center in the summer of 2009 from the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Elmira College with degrees in history and classics and a 2002 graduate of the Cooperstown Graduate Program (MA History Museum Studies).
The focus of her career in museums has been on collections care and management. She has previously worked at the Schenectady Museum and Suits-Bueche Planetarium as Collections Manager and at the Saratoga Springs History Museum as Assistant Director/Curator. She believes that objects are the lifeblood of museums and it is through the physical remains of the past that great stories are told.
