About North Olympic History Center

David Brownell

Executive Director

Our Board of Directors meets on the second Monday of each month at noon in the Board conference room in our Administration and Curatorial building. Our meetings are open to all NOHC members.

We also encourage members who would like to get involved to consider joining one of our committees: Membership and Outreach Committee, Finance Committee, and Collections Committee. Committees typically meet once a month, or as needed.

Steve Hargis, President

Jan Witlow, Vice-president

Transplanted California archeologist who sat on the San Jose Historic Landmarks commission for nine years, making good use of my anthropology major and history minor. I’m cataloging the Native American collection (among other things) at NOHC. I encourage others to join me in financial support of the History Center for the long-term retention of the collections. 

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John McNutt, Treasurer
I grew up listening to family stories. Whether the story was serious or humorous, they were always more than facts and dates. There was the rest of the story. Through the North Olympic History Center I want to help others dig deeper into their family’s story.
There is a real human story within every family story.

Bruce Murray, Past-President
My love of history began early, fed by National Geographic, American Heritage, and a well‑worn encyclopedia set. I spent decades in Paradise, California, volunteering at the Gold Nugget Museum and serving on its board, while travel with the U.S. Navy and later as a civilian broadened my sense of the world’s stories. After losing my home and community museum in the 2018 Camp Fire, I moved to Port Angeles and found a new home at NOHC, where I help create exhibits, publish the Strait News, and serve on the board. .

Ellie DiPietro, Director Ellie began her museum career 17 years ago at the KU Natural History Museum and has been learning ever since. She’s passionate about creating engaging museum experiences, researching history’s mysteries, and caring for artifacts that tell our community’s stories. She loves NOHC because the local history of the Olympic Peninsula is fascinating and unique.

Paul Gleeson, Director My interest Olympic Peninsula heritage starts in the 1960’s when I was on the first season Ozette Archeological project. I was on the project through its closure in 1980. I returned to the peninsula in the 1990’s when I became the Cultural Resource manager for Olympic National Park. After my retirement in 2011, I volunteered at the Makah Culture and Research Center and served as Chair of the Clallam County Heritage Advisory board. As a member the NOHC board since 2014. I have been interested managing the collection in ways to support a very public community education program.

Larry Lang, Director Larry Lang grew up in Maryland where, at an early age, he developed a love for history. He has lived in Clallam County since 1980 where our local history has become his passion. Lang has been a board member of NOHC since 2013. He loves scanning and analyzing old photos, and researching in old newspapers.