ADAMS, Mass. — The board of directors for the Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum announced its new executive director, James Capuzzi, after a three year-long search.

 

Capuzzi, the former Director of Marketing and Communications at the Abigail Adams Institute (AAI) in Cambridge, a nonprofit dedicated to providing supplementary education for the Harvard University community and other area university students and professionals, began in his new role on Sept. 1. While at AAI he grew its community of students and professionals; led an annual guided Boston women's suffrage history sites tour; and secured a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act grant.

 

"Capuzzi's interaction with young adults from Harvard University opened doors to a population that is often unaware of the passion and dedication of Massachusetts' own Susan B. Anthony," Carol Crossed, Birthplace Museum president, said. "Anthony's passion had no limits. She pledged her own life insurance policy to secure the final amount of funding necessary for the University of Rochester to accept women students in 1900."

 

Capuzzi has an M.A. degree in Sustainable Cultural Heritage Management from the American University of Rome and a B.A. degree in Classical Studies & Italian Language from Tulane University in New Orleans. He now lives in the Berkshires with his wife and one-year old daughter.

 

"I first encountered the Massachusetts suffrage movement when researching a walking tour of the Boston Women's Heritage Trail," Capuzzi said. "I was inspired by the Copley Square's Chauncy Hall Building, where the Massachusetts Women's Suffrage Association and the Woman's Journal were located, and the Parkman Bandstand on the Boston Common, where protestors burned copies of Woodrow Wilson's speeches to raise public awareness for women's suffrage."

 

Capuzzi will oversee daily operations at the Birthplace Museum, raise funds, and promote the museum's mission locally and nationally. He will also serve as liaison between the museum and its stakeholders—staff, board members, and the public—in communicating goals and new initiatives.

 

"The Adams museum highlights one of the most influential and admirable women in our country's history. I look forward to inspiring our youth to be feminists as Susan B. Anthony was through encountering her as a child [Anthony lived in the Adams home until she was five years old] and educating women in every state about how her legacy has advanced their rights," Capuzzi said.

 

Jim Loughman, vice president of the Birthplace Museum and Adams Historical Society board member, expressed enthusiasm.

 

"Capuzzi promises even greater ways to grow the museum through collaboration with the state, the Berkshire community, and the Town of Adams," he said.

 

The previous director, Cassandra Peltier, vacated the role in the fall of 2020 to pursue a graduate degree in Archives Management and History from Simmons University.

 

The Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum, located on 67 East Road in Adams, Mass., is open Fridays through Mondays this fall/winter from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.