Michele Newton Hansford is Director/Curator of the Powers Museum, a position held since late 1983. She earned a B.A. in American Studies at Anderson University and was a fellow in its Center for Public Service, serving with the George C. Marshall Foundation of Lexington, Virginia and Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana.

Director of the Gruenwald Historic Home prior to earning a M.A. in Historical Administration from Eastern Illinois University, she has been involved with many preservation groups, historical societies, museums and tourism organizations either as a staff or board member over the past three decades. In 1999 and 2004 she was co-chair of the Heartland Chautauqua in Carthage, Missouri, and in 2003, the Powers Museum participated in the Smithsonian’s "Produce for Victory" exhibit.

She is a humanities partner in two Teaching American History grant projects, a National History Day student advisor and judge (Region 6 and State), and Project Director for a current Missouri State Library LSTA digitization grant entitled "Riches from the Earth: A Geological and Industrial History of Jasper County, Missouri, 1865-1985."

updated 2/14/07