Staff Biographies

Shepard Krech III , Director
(Shepard_Krech_III@brown.edu )


Shepard Krech III is a professor of anthropology and director of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology at Brown University. He received a bachelor's degree from Yale University, B.Lit. from Oxford University, and Ph.D. from Harvard University.

He is the recipient of fellowships from the National Humanities Center (including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in the Ecological Humanities), National Endowment for the Humanities, and Woodrow Wilson International Center; as well as grants from the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the National Institute for Mental Health, and other foundations.

Krech has conducted ethnography among the Northern Athapaskan Gwich'in in the Canadian arctic, oral history among black Americans in Tidewater Maryland, and historical and museum research in numerous archives and collections in Europe and North America. He is the author or editor of nine books and monographs, including Praise the Bridge That Carries You Over: The Life of Joseph L. Sutton (Schenkman, 1981), Indians, Animals, and the Fur Trade (University of Georgia Press, 1981), The Subarctic Fur Trade (University of British Columbia Press, 1984), A Victorian Earl in the Arctic (British Museum Publications/University of Washington Press, 1989), and Passionate Hobby (Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, 1994), and over 125 essays and reviews.

His most recent books are Collecting Native America, 1870-1960 (ed. with Barbara Hail) on collectors of American Indian objects who founded museums in the United States and Canada (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1999); The Ecological Indian: Myth and History (Norton, 1999), on the fit between the idea of American Indians as ecologists and conservationists and American Indian behavior, a book that has received nearly 100 reviews and notices in nine languages and been discussed on radio coast-to-coast; and Encyclopedia of World Environmental History (Routledge, 2003), a three-volume work co-edited with John McNeil and Carolyn Merchant.

A life-long birder and environmentalist, Krech is currently at work on the book Feathered America: Birds and North American Indians. Shep lives in Providence.

Kevin P. Smith, Deputy Director / Chief Curator
(Kevin_P_Smith@brown.edu)

Kevin P. Smith was appointed the new deputy director and chief curator of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology at Brown University in August 2002 after the former deputy director and curator Barbara Hail retired in June. Reporting to Museum Director Shepard Krech III, Kevin is responsible for the supervision of nine staff members and oversees daily museum operations.

Kevin served as associate curator and head of the Anthropology Division at the Buffalo Museum of Science since 1991. In this role, he was head of research and collection management, ethnographic, and archaeological collections. Several exhibits he curated while there include: Through a Clouded Mirror: Africa at the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, 1091, (2001 – 2002), The Day of the Dead in Mexico/El Dia de los Muertos en Mexico (1999 – 2000), Whem Ankh: The Cycle of Life in Ancient Egypt (1998 – 2003), and Along Rivers, Across Seas: Indigenous Watercraft from the Collections of the Buffalo Museum of Science (1994). From March 1990 – August 1991, Kevin was the exhibit planner for the Buffalo Museum of Science. From 1981 – 1986 he held various research assistant positions at the Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, including the Great Lakes Archaeology Division, the Near Eastern Archaeology Division, and the North American Archaeology Division.

With over 21 years of experience in field archaeology, Kevin has conducted field work on the North Slope from 1981 – 1982, and has spent three seasons on Kodiak Island from 1982 – 1984 where he co-directed the Karluk Archaeology Project. In 1985, he initiated a program of doctoral research in Iceland through the University of Michigan, in collaboration with the National Museum of Iceland, examining the growth and economic structure of Norse chiefdoms from the Viking Age to early Middle Ages.

He has presented work at numerous national and international conferences, seminars, and workshops. His articles have been published in many publications, including the Cambridge University Press’s Bad Year Economics, The Anthropology of Iceland (University of Iowa Press), and World Archaeology. Kevin earned his B.A. in Anthropology at Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania, and his M.A. in Anthropology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is currently a doctoral candidate (A.B.D.) at the Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan.

Research Abstracts

Barbara A. Hail, Curator Emerita
Barbara A. Hail retired in June 2002 from her position as Deputy Director and Curator and was subsequently appointed Curator Emerita of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Brown University. She was trained in history and anthropology at Brown University, Cornell University, and Columbia University. Her research interests include North American material culture, ethnology and ethnohistory. She is the author of two books that discuss stylistic and cultural aspects of the material culture of these areas: Hau Kola! The Plains Indian Collection of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology (1981, 1983, 1988) and Out of the North: The Subarctic Collection of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology (with Kate Duncan, 1989), both published by Brown University, and was principal essayist for Patterns of Life, Patterns of Art: The Rahr Collection (of Dartmouth College), University of New England Press, 1987.

Hail's recent research has included the history of museums. She contributed a chapter to the 1994 book Passionate Hobby: Rudolph Haffenreffer and the King Philip Museum (Krech, ed. 1994). She is co-editor with Shepard Krech of the book Collecting Native America, 1870-1960, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1999. From 1995 to 1999, she collaborated with a number of descendants of 19th century Kiowa and Comanche cradlemakers on an ethnohistorical study of these cradles, resulting in a two-year traveling exhibit (November 1999-January 2002) and accompanying catalogue, Gifts of Pride and Love: Kiowa and Comanche Cradles. She is a board member of the Wampanoag Indian Program at Plimoth Plantations, and a former board member of the Native American Art Studies Foundation and the New England Museum Association. Hail is currently Adjunct Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Brown University, teaching, in spring 2002, with Shepard Krech, American Indian Art and Artifact.


Thierry Gentis, Associate Curator/NAGPRA Coordinator
(Thierry_Gentis@brown.edu)

Thierry Gentis is Associate Curator and Collections Manager of the Haffenreffer Museum and an assistant in the Museum Studies courses at Brown University. He has a B.A. in Philosophy with associate degrees in Anthropology and Art from Roger Williams University. He has written several articles on the arts of Africa and curated exhibitions and given lectures on the subject.

Geralyn Hoffman, Curator of Programs and Education
(Geralyn_Hoffman@brown.edu)

A native of Massachusetts, Geralyn Hoffman returns to New England from San Diego to join the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology as the Curator of Education and Programs. Before joining the Haffenreffer, Geralyn served as the Education Coordinator at the San Diego Museum of Man and as the Education Outreach Coordinator for San Diego State University's Archaeological Collections Management Program. Geralyn received her B.A. in Anthropology and Archaeology from Boston University and her M.A. in Anthropology from San Diego State University where she developed educational materials for third and fourth grade teachers about the local Kumeyaay Indians.

Rip Gerry, Exhibit Designer/Photographic Archivist
(Rip_Gerry@brown.edu)

Rodney (Rip) Gerry has been a versatile and vital member of the museum staff for nearly 15 years. He currently serves in a variety of roles including in-house exhibit designer, photo archivist, and collections storage manager. He works closely with student and staff curators to transform exhibit concepts into engaging installations. He has been primarily responsible for the design and installation of the Haffenreffer's exhibits including the recently created gallery in Manning Hall. Rip has also done documentary photography and video production to accompany exhibits. Rip studied animation, illustration, and graphic design at Columbia College in Chicago before entering the museum world as assistant to the director of the May Weber Museum of Cultural Arts, also in Chicago.

Carol Dutton, Office Manager
(Carol_Dutton@brown.edu)

Carol Dutton became Office Manager in August, 2006. She has an extensive background in office management and business administration, having been employed in the payroll department at the University of Rhode Island and as Office Manager of a multi-level hospitality corporation in Newport.
After vacationing in Rhode Island on multiple occasions, Carol and her family had the opportunity to move from New Jersey to Newport, where they have lived for over eleven years. Her record of employment in New Jersey includes substantial experience in the non-profit sector, particularly her twelve years of service as School Business Administrator in the Margate Public School system and five years of service as Board Secretary in the Egg Harbor Township Public School system.
Carol has organized and performed extensive, volunteer mission work throughout the country, her most recent efforts bringing her to the Mississippi Gulf Coast in April, 2006 and New Orleans in April, 2007, where she provided disaster relief as the result of Hurricane Katrina. Carol studied Business Administration at the College of Continuing Education at the University of Rhode Island and Community College of Rhode Island.

Rayne Baer, Office Assistant/Museum Shop Manager
(Rayne_Baer@brown.edu)

Rayne Baer became the Museum's part-time Office Assistant/Shop Manager in June 2005. A decorative painter who works on a commission basis for interior decorators and private clients, Ms. Baer has experience in office management and retail sales. She has worked as a sales associate with high-end specialty shops in Minneapolis, MN, and Tiverton, RI and served as secretary of Amicable Congregational Church in Tiverton. Ms. Baer attended Rhode Island School of Design, The University of Rhode Island, and Bristol Community College.