Division welcomes new staff members
During the past month, the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs has welcomed four new members to its staff including a curator of collections management, a physical-plant maintenance supervisor and two physical-plant maintenance mechanics. Following are profiles of these newest members of the division family:
Curator of Collections Management Mari Carpenter’s responsibilities center on the research, cataloging, preservation and storage of the significant collection of historic materials owned by the state of Delaware including museum objects, archaeological artifacts, works of art and many others. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history and African-American studies from Indiana University, and a master’s degree in the same field from the University of Cincinnati. Carpenter’s extensive experience includes service in collections management at the National Civil Rights Museum, the Smithsonian Institution’s Traveling Exhibition Service, the Banneker-Douglass Museum, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and the Indiana Historical Society. A native of Indianapolis, Ind., she now lives in Dover where she is looking forward to working with the wide variety of objects in the state of Delaware’s collections spanning pre-history to the present day. In her free time, she is interested in visiting historic sites and learning about Delaware history, and pursuing her long-abiding love of jazz.
Preservation-maintenance professionals—there’s no job that can’t be done
With more than 120 years of combined experience in various trades, the members of the division’s Preservation-Maintenance Team can handle any challenge that comes their way in order to maintain, repair and preserve the nearly 90 structures administered by the division.
Physical-plant maintenance supervisor Ed Gillespie manages the work load for all of the preservation-maintenance team’s trades-people as well as coordinating services provided by contractors and vendors. The holder of a master’s license in heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration, he was recently promoted to the supervisory position after 10 years of service with the division as a physical-plant maintenance mechanic. Originally from Hagerstown, Md., Gillespie grew up in New Castle and later lived in north Wilmington for 25 years where he worked in residential maintenance-management. The son of a state-government trades professional, one of his first jobs was as a trades-helper in plumbing for the Delaware Department of State during the 1970s. Gillespie and his family now live in Clayton, Del.
Physical-plant maintenance mechanic Jeff Buttillo retired from the United States Air Force in 2011 after a 26-year career in which he served as a civil engineer and as a loadmaster for the C5 aircraft. Since then, he has worked in the maintenance departments for the Delaware Veterans Cemetery and the Department of Corrections before joining the division on April 7, 2014. Originally from Bethlehem, Pa., Buttillo and his family have lived in Dover since 1994. This year, he will be completing his studies in career and technical education at Wilmington University.
In May 2014, physical-plant maintenance mechanic James Scott will be receiving his journeyman’s certificate in heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration from the Polytech Adult Education program in Woodside, Del. A native of Dover, he has worked in apartment maintenance and landscaping in a variety of facilities in Delaware’s capital city capped off by an eight-year stint at Wesley College. Hailing from a long line of state government employees, Scott is excited about working for the division in helping to preserve the state’s historic properties. In his spare time, he coaches Pop Warner football in Camden, Del.
