Our Staff
From L-R Leah Lucey, Raney Bench, Lisa Murray, Jen Heindel, Sean Cox, and Patrick Callaway
RANEY BENCH
Executive Director
Raney Bench is passionate about the power of the past and how history impacts our daily lives. She has built a career in small museum work and loves to see people light up when they encounter an interesting or surprising object or artifact. Raney has worked in several small New England museums in education, exhibits, collections management, and as an Executive Director.
She and her husband fell in love with Mount Desert Island while here on vacation in 1998 and were fortunate to move here in 2007. Raney graduated with a BA in Native American Studies from Humboldt State University, and a MA in Museum Studies from the University of Nebraska. She and her husband are raising two active boys, plus care for a small menagerie of adopted furry critters.
Contact Raney about organizational information.
LISA TAPLIN MURRAY
Assistant Director
Lisa believes that dynamic public history programs contribute to a holistic understanding of the issues, traditions, and stories interwoven into our communities, fostering a deeper understanding of our present culture and options for the future.
Lisa joined the team at the Society in 2022, bringing a career in libraries to the role, having worked at the Southwest Harbor Public Library and served as director at the Bass Harbor Memorial Library.
Contact Lisa about donations and membership, marketing/PR, programs, and museum visitation and use.
LEAH LUCEY
Admin and Finance Manager
Leah has been a staff member of the MDI Historical Society since 2018 and has enjoyed being a part of the organization’s evolution.
Contact Leah about bookkeeping, accounts payable, gifts of securities, and wire transfers.
PATRICK CALLAWAY
Collections Manager
Dr. Patrick Callaway earned his Doctorate in History from the University of Maine in 2019. His research focuses on the economic connections between the United States and the British Empire in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He earned is MA in History from Montana State University in 2008, and his BS in Secondary Education from the University of Montana-Western in 2005.
Contact Patrick about research and collection items.
JEN HEINDEL
Collections Assistant
Jen Heindel processes incoming collections, sorting, digitizing, and entering them into our collections database. She also works behind the scenes to organize and make our other collections more accessible. During the summer months, she staffs our Somesville Museum.
Contact Jen about research and collection items.
SEAN COX
Managing Editor, Chebacco
Sean was raised on Mount Desert Island and worked as a Park Ranger in Acadia National Park through his high school and undergraduate summers. He recently completed his Ph.D. in History from the University of New Brunswick in Canada, curated the permanent exhibits for the Somesville museum sites, and currently serves as the Managing Editor of Chebacco. His research and teaching specialties include the histories of tourism in the 19th and 20th centuries, popular automobility, and the environment of the New England/Canadian Maritimes.
Contact Sean about exhibits and writing for Chebacco.