Slifer House News

2/3/10

Kathryn Balistrieri, of Lewisburg, has been named Director of the Slifer House Museum.  Balistrieri looks forward to continuing to preserve and interpret the unique Victorian collection at the Slifer House. "I am enthusiastic about increasing the awareness of this incredible museum and the history it represents within the community," said Balistrieri.

Balistrieri has worked at various museums including serving as Director of the Banner House Museum in Banner Elk, North Carolina; Manager of Visitor Services for the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC; and Coordinator of Visitor Services and Volunteers at the Worcester Art Museum in Worcester, Massachusetts. She will also continue to direct a seasonal museum for the Cuttyhunk Historical Society in Cuttyhunk, Massachusetts.

"We are fortunate to bring someone with such talent to the Slifer House Museum," said Paul Mauger, Chairman of the Slifer House Advisory Board. "This is a part-time position with much to do but I am confident that Kathryn will exceed the Board's expectations," he added.

The Slifer House is a large mansion built between 1860-1862 in the Italian Villa country-style of architecture. Listed in the national Register of Historic Places, the property is the former home of Eli Slifer, an eminent Lewisburg businessman who served the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania successively as a State Senator. The house he built is testimony to his success and reflects the Victorian period in all its grandeur. A Regina music box, a square grand piano, hair jewelry, and calling cards are just a few highlights of a tour of the mansion. The house was designed by the eminent Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan and subsequently served as the home of Dr. and Mrs. Lamont Ross. Following purchase by the United Evangelical Church in 1915, it was within this house that the beginnings of two vital community institutions took root -  RiverWoods Senior Living Community and Evangelical Community Hospital.

The Slifer House Museum is currently closed for re-organization and updating of the exhibits and will open in March. The opening date and information on a grand reopening event will be released in the near future.

For more information on the Slifer House Museum, please call 570.524.2245 or visit our website at www.sliferhouse.org.