James Luce – Battle of Ridgefield Research Intern
James a rising senior at Hamilton College concentrating in history with a minor in public policy. He is the captain of the Hamilton
football team, treasurer of the college’s pre-law club, and a member of the Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society. After his 2026 graduation, James plans on attending law school.
With the guidance of Keith Jones author of The Battle of Ridgefield and former President of the Ridgefield Historical Society, James has been helping to identify the names, hometowns, and regiments of the soldiers present at the battle. “My involvement in the Battle of Ridgefield project further demonstrated to me that history is not merely about what happened in the past, but how future generations work to preserve it. The interest surrounding the Battle of Ridgefield and the potential for the battlesite to be listed as a National Historic Landmark is a direct product of the writings, research, and archival work of countless individuals passionate about Ridgefield history” says James.
Aidan Kelly – Architectural Archives Intern
Aiden is a sophomore at the Wenthworth Institute of Technology studying Archictecture. He is the Historical Society’s first Architectural Archive Intern working soley with our Warren Arthur Architectural Archive Collection and under the guidance of architect and Historical Society Board Member Sara Kaplan.
The Historical Society has been the custodians of the Warren Arthur Collection for some time, storing the precious plans in our temperature controlled vault. However, with a generous gift of a large scanner from Warren Arthur’s wife Mai Arthur, we have begun digitizing the collection. Aiden has been charged with cataloging the collection and has begun scanning in the architectural plans, preparing the Historical Society to showcase the collection on our website.
Anna Jones – Georgianne Kasuli Collections Intern
Anna graduated from Roger Williams University with a B.S. is Marine Biology and minor in History, her academic interests lie in Evolutionary History. According to Anna “In historical studies, finding patterns in human behavior, whether in politics, culture, or conflict, feels like solving a puzzle that helps understand not just the past but the present. The common phrase “history repeats itself” is one I always think about.” Anna has pursued her interest in history further by volunteering at the Ridgefield Historical Society two days a week for a year and half.
Anna’s internship focused on the Historical Society’s LGBTQIA+ Oral History Project. She transcribed, indexed, and uploaded LGBTQIA+ oral history interviews to two museum sites, the RHS PastPerfect Online and CT Digital Archives (CTDA). Most of her work in 2025 has been learning and uploading to CTDA, as it is a new program for the Ridgefield Historical Society. Anna says “I enjoyed learning the process of documenting oral histories. It is a very personal and invaluable method of preservation. In a quote by one of the interviewees of this project, Kinne Keitha, “the best history is the history that comes right from the people who are living it and who have lived it.”
Brady Manning – Oral History Project Intern
Brady is a rising Junior from Westport and plays lacrosse for Staples High School. His grandmother, Sue Manning lives in Ridgefield and is a former First Selectperson of Ridgefield.
Brady has been working on transcribing oral histories and he notes that the Mr. Tullipani’s story is quite notable as it describes how the town was a couple of big farms originally and that there was a real community within the
immigrants working at each of the properties. An interesting suprise for Brady has been hearing his grandmother mentioned in some of the oral histories. “In one of them it describes how her (Sue Manning) house in Ridgefield was built and the story behind it. This is really interesting
because it was also my fathers childhood home and she still owns it. Unexpectedly hearing the history of my fathers childhood home has been super cool.”
David Rosebaum – Civil War Research Intern
David, a recent graduate from Quinnipiac University with a Bachelors in History, would like to pursue his Masters and PHD in Russian and Eastern Eurpean Studies. A self professed “history nerd”, David would like to teach history at the college level and conduct research.
David’s internship with the Historical Society has focused on researching Civil War heros from Ridgefield. He used tools like Fold3, Ancestry.com, Find A Grave and Family Search to gather as much informaiton on these veterans as possible. Most noteable has been Elipahlet Brown, who was a photographer for Commodore Perry’s expedition to Japan. Eliphant died in Ridgefield after serving in the Navy for 30 years.
Chris Sullivan – Marketing/Social Media Intern
Chris will be graduating from Xavier University in Spring 2026. He is a History major with goals of teaching High School History. Chris comes to the Historical Society as one of our two Marketing/Social Media Interns. He runs a very successful youtube channel of his own.
Chris has taken on filming many of the Historical Society’s events including the archaeological dig taking place throughout Ridgefield. He filmed the archaeologist as they found musket balls, knee buckles, an Indianhead penny and some old nails from 1700’s. Speaking of his work with the Historical Society, Chris says “The work is so interesting because I didn’t know the exact locations of battles and forts in town. It’s so interesting to learn the history and stories behind the roads we drive on everyday and what they used to be.”
Callie Regnery – Oral History Project Intern
Callie will be entering her senior year at Sacred Heart Greenwich. She is involved in music, film, theater, chess club, wellness, golf, and humanities at my school.
As one of our Oral History Project interns Callie enjoys hearing about how different the subject’s childhood was compared to her own Ridgefield childhood. From talking about the effects of World War II whether from rationing or enlisting, or the way Mamanasco Lake was adored year-round, to Saint Mary’s Church continuing to hold a important place in our community even today. Things are so different, yet so similar. “This town has always been the small, beloved New England town with qualities that make it truly timeless.”
Joseph Morales – Collections Intern
Joseph is a Junior in high school who has always been taken with abandoned buildings. He says abandoned buildings would always spark some curiosity of what it was like when it was once actively used. Who used it? What was it for? What happened? He plans to study architecture and thought the Historical Society was a perfect place to intern and learn more. Joseph has worked on a “Before and After” project where he compares old photo’s of Ridgefield with current photos of the same spot.
One of Joseph’s favorite stories was from a Ridgefield newspaper published right after the Great Blizzard of 1888. “It was of child who’d run away from home during the blizzard. Their parents frantically searched for them, eventually finding the child trudging through the deep snow – they were practically almost frozen. When the parents asked why they’d ran away, the child said they were heading to the schoolhouse so they wouldn’t be marked absent by their teacher.”
Jane Prusko – Oral History Project Intern
Jane is a familiar face to the Historical Society. She interned her junior and senior years in high school at the Scott House working on our large collection of negatives primarily from the 1950s. Jane is a sophomore at Mount Holyoke, double majoring in History and English with the ultimate goal of a career in public history.
Jane has been working on the Oral History transcription project this summer. She notes a particularly interesting interview with Helen Cummings and enjoyed hearing about the teen shenanigans of her younger days in Ridgefield. “Helen’s best friends father owned a funeral parlor and they snuck in at night to look at the bodies.”
Owen Christensen – Civil War Research Intern
During his free time, Owen likes to work in his own blacksmiths shop! His interest in black smithing was sparked from his time as a machinist at Henry Abbott Vocational School, as well as his time in 19th and 18th century living history spaces. Apart from trades, Owen likes to find time to play guitar after school. After high school Owen plans on going into mortuary science with a local college.
Owen had been involved in two projects with the Ridgefield Historical Society. One of which is helping to transcribe interviews which are on cassette tapes and the other is creating a database of civil war veterans. “It has helped my understanding of just how broad our history is and how many lives and stories we haven’t yet discovered.”
Hannah Collura – Goldstone Family Social Media Intern
Hannah was one of the Historical Society’s social media interns this summer. She is a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University studying Communications and minoring in Social Media Marketing.
During her internship with the Ridgefield Historical Society, Hannah has documented events like the Spring Soirée, Garden Tour, and Rochambeau Presentation Night. She also worked on social media marketing pieces for the organization to use for upcoming events. “These experiences helped me engage with Ridgefield’s history hands-on-creating content and sharing stories. They’ve shaped my understanding by showing how history can be made relevant and exciting for modern audiences.”
Dakota Kirby – Oral History Project Intern
Dakota is a rising senior who enjoys being involved in her school and volunteering in her community. She is in DECA and mock trial at school and volunteers at her library, all while working.
Through Dakota’s work with the oral history project she has developed an appreciation for the richness and depth of Ridgefield’s local history in a whole new way. She has also grown to appreciate the importance of oral accounts in preserving a towns hiostory. “The most interesting thing I learned during this internship is how much personal stories and oral histories reveal about a community’s true character. Hearing firsthand accounts from residents
showed me that history isn’t just dates and facts—it’s about real people’s experiences, emotions, and perspectives. It was eye-opening to see how these stories connect to larger events and changes in Ridgefield over time. This experience helped me appreciate the importance of preserving these voices for future generations.”
Ryan Amanzi – Oral History Project Intern
Ryan is one of our high school interns who plans to continue his involvment in his school’s Geography Club, Model UN, and National Social Studies Honor Society. After high school Ryan is undecided, he is considering both college and the military.
Ever since he was a child, Ryan liked history. He enjoys reading about history and watching history videos, he has watched Indy Neidell’s 10 year-coverage of both WWI and WWII. Ryan has been part of the Ridgefield Historical Society’s team working on updating our Oral History collection. Many interviews remain on cassette tape and are being transcribed, interns have been comparing the transcription to the text and ensuring the transcription is accurate. “I’ve learned that much of Ridgefield and its historical significance still remains undiscovered, and that there’s still much to do. Something of which I’m really interested in.”
