The board of directors of Friends of Drake Well, Inc., has named Emily Weaver as the organization’s new executive director. Emily started her new role on February 13, supervising the community-based non-profit which partners with the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC) in the administration of Drake Well Museum and Park in Titusville.

Emily’s previous roles include curator/site administrator of the Fort Pitt Block House in Pittsburgh, assistant director of alumni engagement with Clarion University Foundation, and, most recently, WIOA Title I case manager for Venango County with PA CareerLink under Equus Workforce Solutions.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Arts degree in public history from Duquesne University. She is also a published author, having written a history of the Fort Pitt Block House in 2013 as part of its 250th anniversary celebration. Emily resides in Oil City with her husband and daughter. Emily also completed a PHMC internship at Drake Well Museum in 2007 while still an undergrad at Clarion University.

“I am excited to be back at Drake Well,” she says, “I always wanted to come back to work here because of the history and the people. I loved reading about the story of Drake Well and our region when I was growing up.”

Working together with Drake Well Museum site administrator Michael Knecht and his staff along with dozens of volunteers, Emily has had a great start to her new position and is looking forward to the future.

Located off Route 8 south of Titusville, Drake Well Museum and Park is open year-round. For more information about membership and other museum programs, visit drakewell.org, call (814) 827-2797, or on Facebook at Drake Well Museum and Park.

This article was published in the Venango Chamber’s April 2023 VenangoWorks! Newsletter.