Veteran museum professional Dan Marshall, of Salem, has been named the new executive director of the Marblehead Museum. He brings more than 25 years of experience in museums and public history to the role.
Marshall succeeds former executive director Lauren McCormack, whose leadership helped raise the museum’s profile over the last decade.
“This is a great opportunity to build on the successes,” Marshall told the Current.
He is especially excited about the recent opening of the museum’s Brick Kitchen exhibit, which highlights the lives of enslaved people in town.
“We’ve got the building, the space,” he said. “How do we continue to tell that story? We’ll be looking at developing educational programming and making sure that we have access to scholarship on the people who were enslaved in town.”
Marshall said he’s always been a history buff.
“I love spending time with my family, watching a lot of old movies and going to museums,” he added. “History has just always been a part of my life.”
Marshall began his museum career as a historical interpreter with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation before serving as manager of visitor services at the House of the Seven Gables in Salem and later as director of education for the Lexington History Museums.
Throughout his career, he has overseen interpretive planning, building operations, admissions, collections, exhibit development, budgeting and staff training.
Marblehead Museum President Patty Pederson said Marshall is known for creating collaborative workplaces and developing engaging, inclusive programming that connects communities with history.
Pederson said the museum’s devoted volunteers played a major role in choosing Marshall to take over.
“We have just the most amazing volunteers and docents who volunteer their time, which is so precious,” she said. “We have some docents and volunteers who have been with us for decades. What really stood out about Dan was his warm personality and, of course, his background with museums. He is a perfect fit to embrace the volunteers and docents.”
The museum relies on at least 35 volunteers and docents to help welcome visitors, lead tours and support programming throughout the year.
“I want to jump in,” Marshall said. “Let’s see how we can tell the rich story of Marblehead. There are so many ways, so many layers of history here.”
