Kathryn Lasdow, PhD

Biography

Kathryn Lasdow is a public historian of the early American republic. Her scholarship focuses on architecture, city building, and material culture; her research interests also include the history of capitalism, gender history, historical geography, and the history of museums and collecting practices.

She comes to Suffolk after working for numerous public history organizations. Most recently, Kathryn worked for Brooklyn Historical Society as Historian and Project Manager of the Revealing Long Island History Project and as the Assistant Public Historian and Curator for the Waterfront exhibition at the Brooklyn Historical Society DUMBO. In 2017, she was Lead Exhibition Writer for Until Everyone Has It Made: Jackie Robinson’s Legacy, commemorating the 70th anniversary of Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier and his continued legacy in sports activism.

She has worked for the Historic American Buildings Survey, the White House Historical Association, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and the Museum of the City of New York. She has a particular interest in the digital humanities, fundraising and outreach for nonprofits, and visitor feedback and assessment practices for cultural institutions.

Kathryn is currently working on a book manuscript, tentatively titled, Wharfed Out: Economy and Society on America’s Early-National Waterfronts. The Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium have generously supported her project.

A dedicated musician and performer, Katy plays oboe with the Metropolitan Wind Symphony.