Historical Society Adds Visitor Services Director

The Harbor Springs Area Historical Society is pleased to announce the addition of a new fulltime staff member, Melissa Wiatrolik, as Visitor Services Director. Wiatrolik will be responsible for the customer-facing experience with the Historical Society’s physical properties, including delivery of educational programming, management of the volunteer program and revenue development. 

The newly created position reflects the society’s increased scope of activities with its augmented oversight of the Blackbird Museum, opening of the Ephraim Shay Innovation Museum in late Fall 2024 and a growing slate of public programming.

“We feel fortunate to have Melissa joining our team as we embark on a critical year in our development of the Main Street historical corridor,” said Kristyn Balog, Executive Director.  “Her broad and deep professional background in historic preservation, coupled with her firsthand knowledge of the history of the greater Harbor Springs area, adds an extremely valuable skill set to our organization."

Prior to joining the Historical Society staff, Wiatrolik served in a variety of roles for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians for 17 years, most recently as the tribal historic preservation officer. She was responsible for identifying and nominating eligible properties to the National Register of Historic Places and managing a comprehensive tribal historic preservation and archaeological plan in coordination with federal and state agencies, private organizations and individuals. 

She holds business, technology and historic preservation degrees and certificates from Bay Mills Community College, Ferris State University, the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums, and Andrews Cultural Resources.