Historical Society of Palm Beach County
The Society Brings History to Life.
The Historical Society of Palm Beach County is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to collect, preserve, and share the rich history and cultural heritage of Palm Beach County. The HSPBC maintains a large archive on the history of Palm Beach County, Florida, and the Caribbean. Through its archives, which includes four million photographic images, plus maps, newspapers, journals, periodicals, architectural drawings, and research files, the Society maintains an active research facility and documents the people and events that have shaped Palm Beach County. In addition, the multiple education programs and initiatives of the Society in schools and communities are of primary importance to our vision of building an understanding and appreciation of local history in our children.
After the Historical Society was formed in 1937, West Palm Beach attorney A. Stanley Bussey donated a vintage black-and-white photograph of an island street scene to the newly established Society, the first gift to what would become a remarkable collection of artifacts and documents representing the cultures and communities, failures and successes of life in Palm Beach County.
The creation of the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum in 2008 finally allowed the collection to fully serve its critical purpose: to share and showcase the rich history of Palm Beach County and the larger context of Florida’s heritage dating back at least 12,000 years.
Our Team
Jeremy W. Johnson, CAE
President and Chief Executive Officer
jjohnson@pbchistory.org | ext.102
Sharon Poss
Office Administrator
sposs@pbchistory.org | ext. 100
Rhonda Gordon
Director of Outreach and Volunteer Services
rgordon@pbchistory.org | ext. 109
Arliany Sapuis
Marketing and Events Coordinator
asapuis@pbchistory.org | ext. 106
Erica Grant
Collections Curator
egrant@pbchistory.org | ext. 113
Taylor Materio
Chief Development Officer
tmaterio@pbchistory.org | ext. 104
Debi Murray
Chief Curator
dmurray@pbchistory.org | ext. 105
Rose Guerrero
Director of Research
rguerrero@pbchistory.org | ext. 112
Casey Lipschutz
Education Coordinator
clipschutz@pbchistory.org | ext. 101
Kalani Leblanc
Museum Coordinator
kleblanc@pbchistory.org | ext. 136
OFFICERS 2023-2024
Richard S. Johnson Jr.
Board Chair
Jeffrey Alderton
First Vice Chair
Joseph Chase
Secretary
Thomas Burns, CPA
Treasurer
John Archer
Member at Large
George L. Ford III
Member at Large
Penny Murphy
Member at Large
Mark Stevens
Member at Large
Vernique Williams
Member at Large
BOARD OF GOVERNORS
Laurel Baker
Harris Levitt
Hampton Beebe
Stephen C. Richman
Bill Bone
Andrew
Sciame
Margaret Cheryl Burkhardt
Maricela Torres
Alex Griswold
Mary Weiss
Scott Johnson
Sarah Wetenhall
Stacey Leuliette
Alisha Winn, PhD.
BOARD OF ADVISORS
Christian Angle
The Honorable Bradley G. Harper
William A. Meyer
Cressman D. Bronson
Dale R. Hedrick
Carey O’Donnell
Mark B. Elhilow
Pat Seaton Johnson
Harvey E. Oyer III
George T. Elmore
Russell Kelley
Jorge Pesquera
Dennis Grady
Gary S. Lesser
Sidney A. Stubbs Jr.
William Graham
The Honorable Karen Marcus
Keith Williams
Ex-OFFICIO BOARD MEMBERS
Alexandria Ayala
School Board of Palm Beach County Member
Mack Bernard
Palm Beach County Commissioner
Danielle Hickox Moore
Town of Palm Beach Mayor
Thomas M. Kirchhoff
Past Chair
The 1916 Society
Ann-Britt & Christian Angle
John Archer
Kenneth Baboun
Abigail & Hampton Beebe
Edith R. Dixon
Frances & Jeffrey H. Fisher
Susan & George L. Ford III
Jody & Thomas Gill
Janet & Ken Himmel
Charlene & Richard S. Johnson Jr.
Kristy & Scott Johnson
Carol & Thomas M. Kirchhoff
John E. Murphy
Frances G. Scaife
John Turgeon
Foundation Support
The Loreen Beisswenger Farish Charitable Foundation
Marshall E. Rinker, Sr. Foundation, Inc.
The Mary Alice Fortin Foundation, Inc.
Pat Moran Family Foundation Inc.
Richard S. Johnson Family Foundation
Scaife Family Foundation
Frances and Jeffrey Fisher Charitable Foundation Inc.
Frances G. Scaife Foundation
The Howard B. Bernick Foundation
J.M. Rubin Foundation
The Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation
Florida Department of State Division of Arts & Culture
The Fortin Foundation of Florida
The Hulitar Family Foundation
Sharkey Family Foundation, Inc.
The David Minkin Foundation
PJ Callahan Foundation, Inc.
Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Florida
General Society of Colonial Wars
Marmot Foundation
History is not the past. It is the present. We carry our history with us. We are our history.
-- James Baldwin
Diversity, Equality, & Inclusion (DEI) Statement
In furthering our mission, the Historical Society of Palm Beach County and Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum pledge to continually work toward integrating values, policies, and practices that ensure equality and inclusiveness for all people without regard to race/ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship status, or religion.