Historic Huguenot Street Elects New Board Members

Historic Huguenot Street of New Paltz has elected three new members, including a key official from the Belgian Consulate, to the organization’s board of trustees. The elections occurred at the group’s annual meeting.

Christina Bark, Susan Ingalls Lewis and Edith Mayeux were welcomed to the board. Christina Bark is experienced as a corporate leader, attorney and entrepreneur. Most recently, Bark served as a Global Leader of Business Affairs and Chief Counsel for Oliver Wyman, a leading international consulting firm . She holds degrees from Vassar College and Stanford Law School.

Susan Ingalls Lewis is an Associate Professor of History at the State University of New York at New Paltz, where she teaches courses in American history and women’s studies. Lewis is an accomplished author and has held several leadership positions in the Mid Hudson Valley, including terms on the Rosendale Library and the Century House Historical Society in Rosendale. She holds degrees from Wellesley College and the State University of New York at Binghamton.

The third new member of the board of trustees is Edith Mayeux. Mayeux is the Trade Commissioner for the Wallonia Region of Belgium at the Consulate of Belgium in New York. Mayeux was born in French-speaking Wallonia, which is the ancestral home of the founders of New Paltz. In her current role, Mayeux helps companies from Wallonia access the U.S. market. Mayeux holds a degree in Modern Languages from the Ecole d’Interpretes Internationaux and in Applied Economics from the University of Mons, Belgium. She lives in Manhattan.

Mary Etta Schneider, president of Historic Huguenot Street, says of these new members, “We are so fortunate to have these three incredible women join our board of trustees. Each brings very special skills and perspectives. We are especially thrilled to have Edith Mayeux join our board. Historic Huguenot Street’s connection to Wallonia is a distinctive part of our history and we hope this can be the beginning of a growing relationship with our ‘homeland.’”

Also, Stephen Pratt Lumb of Dutchess County, himself a descendant of eleven of the twelve founders of New Paltz, returned to the board after a short break. Thomas E. Nyquist and Stewart P. Glenn of New Paltz were re-elected, as were Mark A. Rosen of Stone Ridge and Eileen Crispell Ford of Norwalk, Connecticut, who is also a descendant of the community’s founders.

Historic Huguenot Street, located on the banks of the Wallkill River, is where small group of French-speaking Huguenots settled in 1678. Today, just steps from downtown New Paltz, the site features seven stone houses dating to 1705, a burying ground and a reconstructed 1717 stone church – all in their original village setting. HHS offers six acres of landscaped green space and public programming to the local community and visitors from around the world. For more information about Historic Huguenot Street, visit www.huguenotstreet.org or call (845) 255-1660.

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