Abby joined the National Museum of Mental Health Project in 2024. She has an MA in Museum Education from Tufts University, where she taught courses in history through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Abby’s eclectic professional background includes library services, graphic and web designer, church office manager, National Park Service ranger, and research database management at Waters Corporation. Abby’s historical publications have appeared on the Personal Historians Northeast Network website; Museums Now, the quarterly magazine of the New England Museum Association; Mainly Museums blog; the Coalition of Master’s Scholars on Material Culture online journal; and the National Park Service website; along with her own blog, Abby Epplett, Historian. Besides her work with NMMHP, Abby volunteers with Blackstone Heritage Corridor (BHC), where she was Volunteer of the Year in 2022. Abby currently lives in historic mill housing located in Whitinsville, Massachusetts.

 

Why did you decide to join the National Museum of Mental Health Project?

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This position combines my advocacy for providing the public with better information on mental health and wellness with my expertise in New England history. Presenting lost histories of instrumental contributors to modern psychology, neurology, culturally informed therapy, and other subsets of mental health knowledge will illuminate the careers of deserving professionals, along with allowing museum visitors from diverse backgrounds to appreciate and identify with the professionals in these fields. Better understanding of our culture’s collective mental health past will allow us to make strides towards a healthier and more equitable future.

 

​​​Contact:

aaepplett@gmail.com

https://abbyeppletthistorian.blogspot.com/

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