Commission Members

Chairman: Wayne S. Spilove Members: Francis Barnes, ex officio, Secretary of Education; Rhonda R. Cohen; Representative Lawrence Curry; Senator Jane Earll; Senator Jim Ferlo; Laura S. Fisher; Dr. Gordon A. Haaland; Robert A. Janosov, Janet S. Klein; Representative Stephen Maitland; Cheryl McClenney-Brooker; Dr. Brian C. Mitchell, Kathleen Pavelko.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum commission was created by Act No. 446, approved June 6, 1945, amending the Administrative Code to consolidate the functions of the Pennsylvania Historical Commission, The State Museum and the State Archives. The Commission is an independent administrative board, consisting of nine citizens of the Commonwealth appointed by the Governor, the Secretary of Education ex officio, two members of the Senate appointed by the President Pro Tempore and Minority Leader, and two members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker and Minority Leader. The Executive Director, appointed by the Commission to serve at its pleasure, is an ex officio member of the Environmental Quality Board, County Records Committee and the Local Government Records Committee.

As the official agency of the Commonwealth for the conservation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage, the powers and duties of the Commission fall into these principal fields; care of historical manuscripts, public records, and objects of historic interest; museums; archaeology; publications; historic sites and properties; historic preservation; geographic names; and the promotion of public interest in Pennsylvania history.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission preserves the Commonwealth’s memory as a teacher and champion of its heritage for citizens of Pennsylvania and the nation.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission enriches people’s lives by helping them to understand Pennsylvania ’s past, to appreciate the present, and to embrace the future.