Westmoreland County Museum
Meet the staff
The Westmoreland County Museum employs a small staff. If you are interested in volunteering or setting up a non-paid internship with us, feel free to reach out to westmorelandcountymuseum@gmail.com. We have worked with interns on a variety of projects that not only benefit us, but provide experience in a museum and library setting helping students complete their educational goals.
Rosemary McKenney Mahan
Executive Director
Rosemary is a native and life-long resident of Westmoreland County. She has a B.S. in Communications from Old Dominion University and has worked for defense contractors in Dahlgren over the last 36 years as a Technical Writer/Editor, Project Manager, Sr. Program Analyst, and Program Manager. Genealogy has served as her personal passion over the last 20-25 years, and she achieved a Certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University in 2021. She joined the Westmoreland County Museum as genealogist and research librarian in 2023.
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Additionally, she has served on the Westmoreland County School Board (2008-2012) and the Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors (2012-2016). She is currently serving again on the Westmoreland County School Board, representing District 2. Rosemary is looking forward to using her organizational and management skills as well as her love of history and genealogy to lead the Museum in serving the Westmoreland County residents and tourists coming to our area.
Theresa Martin
Research Librarian
Theresa grew up in Mt. Holly, NC. She spent many summers and holidays as a child in the Northern Neck of Virginia visiting her grandparents and great aunts. Which ultimately led her to moving to Westmoreland County in March of 2024 to be closer to extended family.
She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Architecture from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2020. She started her career working in hospitality as a design project manager for an internal design team managing luxury boutique hotels and restaurants.
With a deep passion for continuous learning and exploration, Theresa describes herself as a curious and creative generalist with a passion for doing meaningful work well. She’s supporting Westmoreland County Museum in genealogical research, exhibit curation, and building design and management.
In her free time she loves planning trips abroad and growing in her garden.
Eileen Scholar
Decorations and Store Support
Eileen, a retired art teacher, first joined the museum as a volunteer in 2016. She then became the manager of our Westmoreland Mercantile General Store. She now works on decorations in the Wakefield Building, as well as helping with our rotating exhibit in 2022 on Colonial Beach. She still helps out in the general store. Mostly, she makes ideas come to life, like the life-sized gingerbread house (pictured here).
tim hinson
merchantile store manager
Keith M. Wise
research support
Keith M. Wise, proudly hailing from Kinsale, Virginia has had an extraordinary journey. After graduating from Washington and Lee High School in 1992, he served with distinction in the United States Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune, NC from 1993 to 1997. Post his military tenure, Keith pursued his passion for history, earning a B.A. in History from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and furthering his studies at the University of the West Indies in Barbados in 2000.
Devoted to shaping young minds, Keith has dedicated an impressive 16 years to education, leaving an indelible mark in Wilmington, North Carolina. Currently serving as a High School History Teacher at Westmoreland High School in Montross, VA, Keith inspires and educates students with unwavering commitment, fostering a brighter future through education.
Deborah newman
webmaster & marketing materials, board member
Deborah Newman is the owner of Petite Taway Inc, web design and social media marketing company specializing in working with small businesses and nonprofits. Deborah designs custom websites for a host of organizations and businesses throughout the United States and abroad. She also provides social media and web management training, designs marketing materials, and creates stategic fundraising plans.
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​Prior to creating her web design business, Deborah was in the restaurant and hospitality business in Northern Virginia for 25 years. She earned a BA from George Mason University in The Studies of the Americas and is a published editor for Resources for a Multicultural Classroom (The Multicultural Resource Series, V. 2) Editor - National Education Association (June 1, 2000).
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Deborah is a Board Member of the Colonial Beach Historical Society & Museum, the Fredericksburg-Este Association, JART, Inc and is the Marketing Director for FailSafe-ERA. Deborah is the founder of three networking groups which encourage collaboration and partnership and she presently works with clients all across the United States, Canada, the UK and Africa.
IN MEMORIAM
Brianna Morris
March 7, 1982 - March 13, 2024
Brianna had been with the Westmoreland County Museum for over a decade. She began on April Fools’ Day in 2013. From the beginning, she designed and implemented promotional materials for events, brochures for publicity, and press releases for media circulation. She created flyers, brochures, advertisements, and other publicity items for various museum fundraisers, including the annual holiday house tour, Artists’ Studio Tour, WCM Garden Tour, and the holiday church tour.
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During her tenure, Brianna led tours of the museum for school trips, local and traveling visitors, journalists, and even a Congressman. Beginning in 2014, Brianna started creating content and maintaining the museum’s website.
Brianna launched the WCM’s internship program and mentored summer interns from 2014- 2022. In 2014, Brianna created WCM’s Summer Kids Camp, and she organized and hosted the kids’ camp until 2018 before handing it off to another staffer. Brianna designed and executed the curriculum for all the museum’s educational programs and trained others to help facilitate. She also managed and supervised the museum’s volunteer program.
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Brianna discovered, booked, and coordinated with more than 60 local artists for the museum’s monthly Pop ‘n Art show (formerly called Art & Wine) and over 20 visiting lecturers. Some of these artists were showcased for the first time at the museum.
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Annually, Brianna assisted in the Montross Fall Festival planning and geared the WCM educational programs toward the chosen festival theme. She also developed WCM’s Christmas activities in partnership with the Montross Spirit Festival in December. These activities included a multi-table display of a model train exhibitor, a 300-piece nativity display, and the museum’s first-ever Gingerbread House Contest with business sponsorships. Starting in 2013, she planned, organized, and hosted the WCM annual Christmas Gala and Silent Auction with the assistance of WCM’s Community Involvement Committee. Brianna planned, organized and hosted the museum’s version of an “Antiques Roadshow” featuring 5 appraisers.
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Starting in 2016, Brianna created the Montross Soda Shoppe’s Crafternoon (crafting in the afternoon) series as a fundraiser for the museum. She went on to implement, plan, and host the event for many years. This series hosted 12 different artists over 3 years.
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Brianna served as the museum representative to the Westmoreland County public schools. During Covid, she produced a 5-minute video showcasing the museum and participated in a Zoom Q&A for parents and students. She also served as the liaison from the museum to the Virginia Association of Museums (VAM) and had represented the museum in more than 50 VAM webinars and meetings. Brianna formed partnerships with other historical sites in Westmoreland County and throughout the Northern Neck. Brianna served as the representative to the community when dealing with museum donations and when deliberating with the Exhibit & Collections committee on donated items. She worked with her coworkers on developing and setting up exhibitions during her 10-year employment. Brianna also assisted genealogy researchers in the museum’s library throughout the years.
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Brianna had written and submitted grants on the museum’s behalf beginning in 2013. She also developed, planned and orchestrated a multi-tiered fundraising effort for the Community Foundation’s “Amazing Raise” events.
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