About Us

Members pictured from left to right; Gail Krumpholz, Jeannie Williams, Marlena Willis, Blayne Whitfield, Beverly Bolden, and Colin Adams

SHS Board of Trustees

Marlena Willis - President: Chairperson of the Westside Neighborhood Resource Center, Inc.; treasurer of the Women of Color Giving Circle; board member of the Women's Fund of Western Massachusetts; member of the Pittsfield Garden Tour; holds a masters degree in integrated studies from Cambridge College; employed as an outreach program director at the Gladys Brigham Community Center. Trustee since 2009. Blayne Whitfield - Vice President: Great, great, grandson of Reverend Samuel Harrison; established and administers the Samuel Harrison Society's website; a graduate of Pittsfield High School and called the Samuel Harrison House home between 1978 and 1986; employed as an engineer in Connecticut. Trustee since 2004. Jeannie Williams - Trustee: Samuel Harrison Society program coordinator; holds a masters degree in nursing education; employed as a Nurse Educator and is Registered Nurse in Connecticut. Trustee since 2004. Gail Krumpholz - Trustee: Chairperson of the Morningside Neighborhood Initiative; employed at the Highland Restaurant and Samel's Deli and Catering. Trustee since 2004. Dr. Frances Jones-Sneed, Ph.D - Trustee: Professor of history at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts; co-director of the Upper Housatonic Valley African American Heritage Trail; former board member at MassHumanities; recent recipient of the Sarah A. Lewis Social Justice Award. Trustee since 2004. Sandy Hamilton - Trustee: A by-coast resident of Carson, CA and Pittsfield, MA; Human Relations Commissioner, Carson, CA since 2017; NAACP, Berkshire County Branch since 2018; Volunteer & Employment for Marilyn Hamilton’s Sports/Literacy Program, Pittsfield, MA from 2007 to 2018; employee as Supervising Children’s Social Worker for the County of Los Angeles, Department of Children and Family Services, since 1988; CSUDH, MSW-Critical Race Theory (CRT) foundation, Field Practicum Professor, since 2017; Zeta Phi Beta, Sorority, Inc., Alpha Psi Zeta, Chapter, 1981. Member since 2019, Trustee since 2023. Beverly Bolden - Trustee, Member since 2023. Roberta McCulloch-Dews - Trustee, Member since 2023. Colin Adams - Trustee, Member since 2023. Jocelyn Jones Arnold - Trustee, Member since 2024.

Retired Board Members

Churchill Cotton - Former President and TreasurerPatricia Cotton - TrusteeSheila Irwin - TrusteeIvan Newton - Former Vice PresidentLinda Tyer - 1st President

Board Members in Memoriam

Ruth Edmonds Hill - Honorary Member in memoriam: Great granddaughter of Samuel Harrison; donated the Samuel Harrison House to the Samuel Harrison Society; An oral historian at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study of Harvard University, and an historic preservation advocate.
Rev. John G. WightmanDon Quinn Kelley, Ph.DWilliam Irwin

Other sites of interest

Upper Housatonic Valley African American Heritage Trail W. E. B. Du Bois and Great Barrington The Ashley House Ventfort Hall Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area Connecticut Freedom Trail Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark Smithfield Community Association Western Reserve Academy Samuel Harrison Memorial Page at Find A Grave