Speaker's Bureau

CCHC Speaker Bureau

The Collin County Historical Commission sponsors a Speakers Bureau to help organizations and individuals find subject matter experts and authors to speak at meetings and workshops.

The speakers' information below is provided to us by the speakers, and is subject to change.

You do not have to be a Collin County resident to be included on the Speakers Bureau. If you are interested in being added as a speaker, please contact cchcspeakersbureau@yahoo.com.

NOTE: Please contact individual speakers directly regarding any appearance fees that may be charged.

Available speakers include:

  
Contact
Topics
​Ari Wilkins
  • Genealogical Topics and Methodologies
  • African American Research and Researching in Repositories
  • Black and White Southern Families in Plantation Records
  • Using Apprentice Records to Trace Free People of Color​

​Brittany Yurkovitch

byurkovitch@gmail.com

(813) 215-0607

Collin County Historical Commission

Editor of the Weston Point


  • Research
  • Creating a local newspaper
  • Creating a 501(c)3
  • Social studies education and homeschooling
  • Civic education and volunteerism​

​Colin Kimball

colinkimball@live.com

(281) 770-0220​

Collin County Historical Commission


  • Researches and creates portraits of young men who died while in the service of our country for the Collin County Fallen Warrior Portrait Project. Currently, there are 54 portraits on permanent display in the "Hall of Heroes" of the courthouse.​​

​Dana Repp

reppfamily1@gmail.com

(253) ​​444-8568​

Farmersville Historical Society

  • Victorian Ladies' Layers and Millinery
  • ​Adding Living History to Static Museums
  • 19th Century Dentistry
  • Growing Your Volunteer Corps

​Jaymie Pedigo

jaymie@chestnutsquare.org

Chestnut Square and the Heritage Guild​

  • ​Chestnut Square and the Heritage Guild​
​Karen Zupanic

executivedirector@heardcraig.org

(972) 569-6909

www.heardcraig.org ​

Heard-Craig Center for the Arts


  • ​The Heard Legacy - A National Historic Landmark
    • A Virtual Tour of the Heard-Craig Center
    • Musings on the Iris Van Herpen Exhibit
    • An Overview of the Victorian Secrets Exhibit
    • Highlights of the Art Deco Kimono Exhibit
    • Preserving History - Highlights of the Oral History Filmings at he Heard-Craig Center
    • Highlights of the Marshalling Matisse Exhibit
    • Highlights of Frank Klepper, the Painter
    • The Art O Mat: What it is and What's inside
  • Presentations for Children's Groups
    • A Historical OVerview of the Book "Alice in Wonderland"
    • The History of Aprons
    • The History of Blue Willow China
    • Pop Up Books
    • The Noisy Paintbox - Understanding Kandinsky, the Painter
    • The Kindness Quilt
    • Stained Glass
    • Toys​

​Kathy Wells Power

kpower@frankfordperservationfoundation.org

(214) 729-5203​

Frankford Preservation Foundation​

  • History of the Frankford Church and Cemetary, preservation efforts and restoration of the church and discovery of our prairie area around between the church and cemetery​​
​M'Lou Hyttinen

mlou@heritagefarmstead.org

www.heritagefarmstead.org​​​

(972) 881-0140​​

Heritage Farmstead of Plano


  • Managing and programming a Historic site, and overseeing construction projects on historical structures
  • Has staff that can speak on Education Programming, Collections, and Exhibits​

​Nathan White

whiten@prodigy.net

(972) 979-9204​

Collin County Historical Commission​

  • Historical Topics 
  • Cemetery preservation in and around the Plano area​

​Pat Rodgers

patrdgrs@gmail.com

(214) 850-7092​

Collin County History Museum


  • ​Educator, researcher, and storyteller
  • "History of Entertainment in McKinney" 
  • "Collin County Poor Farm" 
  • "Ralph Fultz 10 Years Running with Bonnie and Clyde"
  • "Bad Boys, Desperados, and Outlaws of Collin County"​​

​Valerie Alvarez

valvarez@collincountytx.gov

(210) 316-8677​​

  • ​Death investigation
  • Medical Examiner procedures and protocols Postmortem affairs

Becky Villareal
  • Genealogy for Children and Family events
  • Organizing family history night events
  • How to engage children in family history
  • Thinking outside the toybox
  • Combining your writing with your research

Beverly Lenoir, Ph.D.

BeverlyLenoirTx@gmail.com

(325) 665-7515​


  • ​The story of her great-great-grandmother, Maria Seitz Reich, and her trip to Northeast Texas in 1850; and the Courtship of My Parents in the World War II Era
  • Telling Your Family Story
  • Getting Started Writing Your Family History
  • Games Kid's Played in the Early 20th Century
  • ​My Favorite Books About Genealogy

Eric Hogue

erichogue@ymail.com

Collin County Historical Commission​

​​

  • Wylie Historian
  • Motivational Speaker


James "Rusty" Brenner
  • ​Tombstone preservation
  • Cemetery mapping/burial databases
  • Ground penetrating radar
  • Monument condition assessment


Jennifer Wakefield

jennifer.wakefield@whyliehistoricalsociety.org

(214) 718-1411​

Wylie Historical Society​

  • Col. Wylie - A Legacy of Service: Building Bridges (The Busines of Bringing the Railroad to Collin County)
  • Easy Tech Resources for Historical Groups: Google Suit and other tools and Social Media for Your Organization
  • A History of North Texas Real Estate: The Business of Opportunity​

Linda Baten Johnson

lindabjohnson357@gmail.com

(512) 296-9627

www.lindabatenjohnson.com​

Heritage Association of Frisco


  • The Friendship Train of 1947
  • The CCC, Creating Men, and Monuments
  • What to Pack in Your Covered Wagon​


Paula Nasta

pnasta@mckinneytexas.org

(972) 547-7416​

City of McKinney


  • Downtown McKinney history
  • Urban design history, New town planning, mall history
  • Women's spaces, Women in historic preservation
  • "Animal Hairs as Binders in 19th Century Mortar"
  • Easter Pennsylvania Coal Mining Villages