News Release

Kate Hanson Plass Selected as Archivist at Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters and John F. Kennedy National Historic Sites

NPS Photo

News Release Date: March 1, 2021

Contact: Chris Beagan, [phone]

Site Manager Chris Beagan selected Kate Hanson Plass as the new Archivist at Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site and John F. Kennedy National Historic Site. Hanson Plass begins her new role on March 14, 2021.

Hanson Plass has served as Museum Technician for the two sites since 2012. Before joining the sites, she worked at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, the New England Quilt Museum, and Gettysburg National Military Park. “Kate’s knowledge of Longfellow, Washington, and Kennedy history is vast,” said Beagan. “She brings tremendous passion and skill for working with researchers and archival collections.”

“The depth and breadth of the collections at Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site is astonishing and continues to encourage me to keep researching and learning,” Hanson Plass said. “I particularly enjoy the challenge of encountering a new facet of the collection through collaboration with a researcher, bringing together the researcher’s subject expertise and my knowledge of the scope and organization of the manuscript and museum collections.”

Hanson Plass holds a bachelor’s degree in history and biology from Mount Holyoke College and a master’s degree in museum studies from Harvard Extension School. She lives in the Boston area with her husband Eric, a National Parks of Boston Ranger, and their daughters Clara and Harriet.