Alumni Fund Goal: $35,000 Class Secretary: Sarah Jubitz, 230 Beacon Street, #9, Baston MA 02116-1311 e-mail: sarah.jubitz.l997@trincoll.edu Reunion Chair: Kearney Staniford
Claire Pingel '95 DEGREE: B.A., art history JOB TITLE: Chief Registrar and Associate Curator at the National fvtuseum of Jewish American !-lis tory (Nfv1JAI-I) FAVORITE TRINITY MEMORY: I really enjoyed working at WRTC, the campus radio station. I got to explore the record collection and share music with listeners. As a member of the board, /loved working with the other DJs-both fellow students and wonderful neighbors from the l-lartford community.
Alumni Fund Goal: $15,000 Class Secretary: Jessica Lockhart Vincent, 8 Arborlea Ave, Yardley, PA 19067-7406; e-mail: jessica.vincent.l998@ trincall.edu Class Agents: !;:rin Blakeley, Sean Brown, Michael Clapp, Ronalda Gonzalez, Jr., Levi Litman, David Messinger, Christina Palmese, Morgan Risse!
RI:PORTI:R: How did you get involved with the NMJAH?
Co ngratulations ro Dari Sylvester, who was recently tenured and promoted to the rank of associate professor after spending six years as an assistant professor of political science ar the Un iversity of the Pacific (Stockton, CA) . She reports, "Currently, I am authoring a chapter on service-learning for a book to be published by the Ameri can Political Science Association in early 2012. I keep in touch with several other Trinity graduates including Louise (Muscat) Sigismondi, Karen (vonl-lardenberg) Walsh, and Jenny (Cooper) Stewart. We're all spread our over the United States. But I'd love to hear from other Trinity folks who are in northern California. My e- mail is darisylvester@yahoo.com." Jeff Cross writes, "I worked on the Kevin James movie Here Comes The Boom and rhe Mark Walclberg movie Ted. For Boom I was a spectator on three different fights; I was originally supposed to be a deputy commissioner for whatever mixed martial arts governing body was sanctioning tl10se fights , bur things changed at the last minute. For Ted I was a nightclub attendee when Mark executes some compli cated dance move and ends up slamming Mila Kunis into the floor as a result." Thomas Back also shared some exciting news. He, Sarah 'oo, and Wilson welcomed Angus Hutchins Back into the world. He was born on May 19, 2011, ar 6:19p.m., weighing in ar 8lb. 15 oz. and was 20.5" lo ng. Fry and G us are well! Scott Macdonald and Mary Jane Frisbee 'os recently became engaged. The couple currently lives in the West Village in New York City They are looking forward to celebrating their wedding in June of 2012 in Cape Cod. Most recentl y, Scott and Mary attended the wedding of Adrian West '97 in Santa Monica, California, along with Chris Valentine '95, Jim Washburn '97, John O 'Hara ' 97, and Chris Comer '99. Thank you to those who answered my request for news. These submissions cannot happen without your help. Feel free to write me ar jessicalvincent@yahoo.com with information ar any rimethere's no need ro wait for a request. I hope all is well with you and yours. Take care!
PINGI:L: As a volunteer in 1996, I started to
assist the collections curator in converting artifact collection information from handwritten lag entries and card files into the museum's first electronic database. A few months later, I was hired as an assistant. divid ing my time between the curatorial and development departments. RI:PORTI:R: What are some of NMAJH's proRI:PORTI:R: What was your role in its found-
ing? PINGR: The museum was originally founded
by The Congregation Mikveh Israel in 1976. In the 1990s, I had the opportunity to attend some of the first planning meetings for our recent expansion. I later joined the team that was working on the core exhibition. This exhibition explores our care theme, the history of the Jewish people in America from 1654 to the present day. I worked as a member of the team that researched and selected artifacts and stories that are now on display in our galleries. I also worked on the exhibition's media components and hands-on activities. I oversaw the coordination of over 100 artifact loans to the exhibition, and the installation of nearly 1,000 artifacts in our show. I made sure that those artifacts would be displayed safely while on exhibit and oversaw the artifact collection's move from our old building into an off-site storage facility last summer. RI:PORTI:R: What does your current role at the museum entail? PINGI:L: I oversee the artifact collection's
management and development; I manage the care and upkeep of our large core exhibition; and I participate in planning temporary exhibitions.
grams that you are most proud of? PINGI:L: Before our expansion, we noticed that children were bored in many of our exhibitions, which were often more targeted to adult visitors. This is not an uncommon problem for history museums. For our new building, we worked hard to make sure that there were activities that would interest kids built into every gallery in our exhibition. We wanted kids to have memorable and educational experiences here and not leave feeling like they had wasted a day in a museum . Working on these activities was particularly satisfying to me. Judging by reactions we've gotten from kids and families, I think that we succeeded in engaging kids of many ages.
RI:PORTI:R: Was there any experience, professor, or course at Trinity that inspired you to do the work you 're doing now? PINGI:L: Working as a student library assistant in the Watkinson Library was a defining experience for me. I made enclosures for fragile materials, organized and wrote catalog cards for a collection of sheet music, and worked with patrons in the reading room. This was the first time I was entrusted with artifacts from the past that were being preserved for the education of present and future generations. It felt like I was participating in something important, and I feel the same way about what I'm doing now.
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