Celebrating the life of Dover’s Nena Todd
It is with heavy hearts that the staff of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs announce the passing on Jan. 6, 2024, of longtime colleague and passionate historian Nena Todd. She was 63 (or, as she would like to say, 39 and holding).
“She had a deep commitment to the whole story of Delaware history, to its entirety,” said Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs (HCA) Director Suzanne Savery. Todd was an integral part of the HCA team, who had a deep impact on the people she interacted with, Savery said, but was also deeply devoted to her own family and community.
“I think that she always looked for the positives; she thought almost anything was possible,” Savery said. “And she had this beautiful smile that was always there. You could sit down and have a serious conversation and important discussions and walk away with an understanding of each other.”
But she also had a fun side, said Savery and Todd’s longtime colleague and mentee Vertie Lee.
“She wanted to make sure she sparked curiosity in everybody,” Lee said, laughing about the times she’d pack her an extra ham sandwich or make her listen to the latest pop song on repeat. She was a generous soul in everything she did, said Lee. That included sharing her opinions and passion for embracing her indigenous history and the untold stories found in historically marginalized or underserved communities.
“She was a truth-teller,” said HCA Deputy Director Amy Golden-Shepherd, who said it was Todd’s passion that in part inspired her to join the HCA team as well. “We’re deeply committed to carrying on our racial equity work and the work that Nena was so dedicated to.”
Todd was first employed by HCA as a museum/historic site interpreter in summer 1990. She loved to engage the public and was an excellent storyteller. She later became the site supervisor of HCA’s Dover sites, which included the Old State House and the Johnson Victrola Museum while assisting other sites with her knowledge and unique skills, particularly through her passion for telling untold history.
“Her light is not extinguished,” said Lee. “She inspired so many other people to think about things differently.”
Todd’s parents were both Native Americans from the Sauk and Fox Indian Tribe of Kansas. Todd was proud of her native heritage, and held strong in her traditions and beliefs by dedicating much time and energy to the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware and the Nanticoke Indian Tribe of Delaware.
As a founding member of HCA’s Race & Equity Steering Committee, Todd embraced difficult conversations and was always willing to look injustice in the eye in order to find a way forward. Savery said Todd wanted to ensure that the Native American voice was heard in the telling of Delaware’s history, as was the African American voice and that all underrepresented voices of Delawareans were important.
“She respected everyone and everyone’s opinion so that there could always be a discussion and a fuller approach to problem solving,” Savery said, noting that Todd worked her way up through state jobs over her three-decade-plus career.
In addition, Todd served as a member of the University of Delaware’s Anti-Racism Initiative Indigenous Programming Committee, as secretary for the Underground Railroad Coalition of Delaware, as a member of the Dover Days Planning Committee, a member of the City of Dover’s Fourth of July Celebration committee, and as a September events coordinator for the First People of the First State Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware, among other accomplishments.
Working for HCA and championing native communities were just one part of Todd’s life story. According to her obituary, Todd was born in Atchison, Kansas, on Sept. 19, 1960, to Norman Leon and Delores (Boldridge) Todd. The family moved to Delaware in 1967 when Norman Todd accepted a position at the Dover Air Force Base.
Nena Todd graduated from Dover High School in 1979 and went on to attend Wesley College, Delaware Technical College, the University of Delaware and Delaware State University. While some of her passions were in history and archaeology, which ultimately brought her to working for HCA in 1990, she also traveled the world as an international model and worked as an X-ray technician and a concierge in New York.
She met the love of her life, Jim Hammond, in 2002 and they married in 2019. She is survived by her husband Jim Hammond, her brother Norman, his wife Michele, and two nephews Blair and Zachery. While she leaves her beloved family, friends and colleagues behind to carry on her passion and legacy, the extraordinary acts of this ordinary woman will live on in the impact she had on her communities.
“My goal is to make history fun and available to everyone so people can make better choices for the future,” she once said. “We all have the ability to do extraordinary things and make history; we should strive to make good history.”
And that’s what she did: Build bridges between communities and their continued, shared histories.
To see Nena Todd pass along the information and stories of underrepresented people, please view the following videos: