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05/17/2017 08:30 AM“It was an ah-ha moment,” Melissa Josefiak says.
Melissa and a committee of parishioners were researching the history of the property at St. Alexis Orthodox Church in Clinton. The committee had been formed to determine the historical value, if any, of a lot on the church property, officially called the Williams Homestead, and sometimes called the Red House. St. Alexis wanted to know if there was any historic value to the house, while trying to determine whether to sell the property.
Using a combination of title searches, land deeds, probate records, and genealogical records, the group was able to trace the ownership of the church back to the 1920s, but no further. After consulting with a map depicting the earliest Clinton settlement, however, Melissa figured out that the committee had been researching the wrong families to find the owners.
Using the new information, Melissa and the committee were able to find ownership records on the Williams Homestead that date back to at least 1678, and perhaps even earlier. Melissa describes the importance of the homestead, which sits diagonally across Route One from Liberty Green, as “a significant structure about ordinary living in Clinton.”
“The Williams Homestead is a miraculous survivor. Big, beautiful, historic homes get preserved, but the homes of the ‘everyman’ tend to be absorbed, scrapped, or lost,” she says. “Considering the house’s proximity to Route One and various businesses, its survival makes it even more significant.”
The committee plans to do more research this summer to see if it can track down an exact date of construction on the original house, which has been added onto and modified over the years. Melissa suspects the original homestead may have been only one or two rooms. In an interesting twist of fate, there is also evidence that suggests the original owner of the property where St. Alexis now stands was a minister.
When parishioners found out that Melissa is the director of the Essex Historic Society, they asked her to be on the committee researching the property.
Trips to historical sites as a child with her family started Melissa’s lifelong love of history. The trips established a “general high regard for history,” Melissa says. She recalls those early trips as her family would spend Friday mornings at various museums or historic sites, then spend the afternoon at the beach.
Melissa majored in English and history at Washington College in Maryland, and earned a masters in public history from Central Connecticut State University. After graduating college, Melissa worked in a bank for a few years while she volunteered at various museums to stay connected to history. In 2000 Melissa got a job at the Wethersfield Historical Society. However, after being married in 2005, and with the birth of her daughter in 2009, Melissa decided the hour and a half commute from her home in Westbrook was too long and cut into her family time, so she left the historical society.
After leaving the historic society Melissa took a consulting job with the StEPs-CT program, which stands for Standards in Excellence Program. The StEPs program was administered through Connecticut Humanities and the Connecticut League of History Organizations.
“My role with them was as a mentor for moderate-sized history organizations to promote best practices in museums,” Melissa says.
In 2014, Melissa was asked to become the director of the Essex Historical Society. Melissa became the organization’s first director in 30 years.
“It’s a very dynamic organization,” Melissa said.
As part of her job, Melissa is charged with looking over the nearly 7,000 objects in the organizations possession, as well as giving tours of the Pratt House Museum and the Hills Academy History Center. The academy has been renovated and will open Saturday, June 10.
Part of her job has been to improve visitor accessibility and improve the landscaping around the history center to make the area more attractive and “more available to the public and not just that location up on the hill,” Melissa says.
“There’s a certain appeal of knowing about previous generations,” Melissa says when asked of her favorite aspect of studying history.
Melissa’s particular interest is material history, or seeing how ordinary people lived.
“It’s a great feeling to know you’re perpetuating the history before it gets lost.” Melissa says. “It’s great to work in a field of such enjoyment.”
The day-to-day task Melissa encounters in her job is dealing with research requests into photographs or historic house files. After dealing with those requests, Melissa will dedicate the rest of her day to coordinating with various partnerships the historical society has to give lecture series, meeting with the tour guides, and doing marketing or public relations work.
“It’s good to be the face of the organization,” said Melissa of her ability to be involved in all facets of the organization. Melissa’s favorite part of her job is handling the historical society’s different objects. “I love giving tours, especially one with an enthusiastic audience,” Melissa said. “I love bringing history to the public.”
When not assisting with various research projects, Melissa is a Girl Scout leader and enjoys reading as part of a book club. Melissa lives with her family in Westbrook.