Maureen Kelly Jonason (at right) chats with Prof. Angela Smith, who teaches public history at NDSU. (Photo/Nancy Hanson)
After 17 years at its helm, executive director Maureen Kelly Jonason leaves the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County officially retired Thursday.Jonason has led the HCSCC since the merger of the Clay County Historical Society and Heritage-Hjemkomst Interpretive Center in 2008.
More than 100 colleagues and supporters gathered in the Hjemkomst Center Tuesday to congratulate Jonason on her years of service and to meet her successor, Laura Forde. Forde was chosen from a field of more than 100 applicants. She previously worked at the STate Historical Society of North Dakota as its manager of education and engagement.