Enter the 2022 Saturday 'Visiter' Awards

Jessica Williams is Associate Director of Special Events and Westminster Preservation Trust, Inc.,  at the University of Maryland, Francis King Carey School of Law. She is a native of Baltimore, Maryland, earning a BS in Journalism from Bowie State University and a MA in Mass Communications from Towson University.  Jessica has worked in higher education for more than 7 years marketing and planning events, teaching first year courses and training students and staff in Gallup - Clifton Strengths.  Prior to higher education, Jessica worked for the Baltimore Museum of Industry as the Director of Marketing and Events for 9 years.  It was this position that provided her fondness for history which later led her to Westminster Preservation Trust, Inc.

Jessica enjoys working with the student population at UMB; assisting with their development as they enter the workforce.  She also appreciates the relationships she's formed with the community by providing Westminster Hall and Burying Ground as a site for events, tours, lectures and more.  When Jessica isn't driving her 17 and 13-year-old to work and extra-curricular activities, she enjoys traveling, dinner and wine tastings with her husband, craft shows, farmers markets and reading.   

Roger McCormack, the education coordinator at The Bronx County Historical Society, is pleased

to be a SVA judge!

The Bronx County Historical Society’s education coordinator is in charge of tours of The

Edgar Allan Poe Cottage in Fordham, the oldest Poe Museum, first opened in 1913. The cottage was built in 1812, and is a New York City and State landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The historic house museum is famous as the final home of the writer. Mr. McCormack is excited to infuse his passion for Poe and the Bronx as an SVA Judge!

Thomas Brown, a Baltimore native, owns and operates a wood shop specializing in historically accurate reproductions of antique architectural milllwork.  A student of Early American and Renaissance English history, his first woodworking job was an apprenticeship with local craftsman James Cox making renaissance and medieval stringed instruments.  Then after switching between eight different Majors (one being English Literature) in various Colleges all over America, he finally completed a self-designed degree in Creative Anachronism at Stevenson University. 

Shortly after marrying his very bright and remarkably patient wife Kathleen (formerly President of the Poe Society of Baltimore) in 1991 and settling down in Ruxton, he founded Thomas Brown, Woodwright LLC.  In terms of his devotion to literature, we note that he provides for the Baltimore Shakespeare Factory’s use his Fearelesse Folio Actors’ Editions, working scripts which he developed in conjunction with his friend and mentor Lewis Shaw specifically to facilitate Early Practice and Original Pronunciation productions.  They are assembled from the First Folio and Early Quartos and carefully emended, and formatted to capture the appearance of the early printed Works, but in a practical form that actors can use for rehearsal of the Plays.  On the woodworking side, he is also steadily improving their permanent Elizabethan Stage in Hampden. 

As a currently-serving member of the Poe Baltimore Board of Directors, Tom has been instrumental in repairing and improving the wooden features of Poe's Amity Street residence, starting with a new door which he fabricated based on the oldest known photograph of the house.   A fan of antique volumes and papers, Tom is also assembling a small library of original printings of Poe’s works written while he actually lived in Baltimore. 

In April 2019, Shauntee was selected as the Baltimore National Heritage Area (BNHA) executive director. She has been with BNHA since 2008, spearheading multiple heritage tourism projects and initiatives, including coordinating the heritage area’s Urban Rangers program which staffs Poe House, the multiple tours offered to heritage travelers, as well as BNHA’s Heritage Neighborhood initiative promoting heritage and cultural resources in our many neighborhoods. In addition to her passion for history, Shauntee brings to the heritage area her experience in publications management and corporate operations. 

Michael Coleman is an education skills development professional, and a member of the Poe Baltimore Board of Directors. He holds a Master’s Degree in Creativity & The Publishing Arts from the University of Baltimore. His undergraduate work in English & Literature focused on early American writers, especially Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne. 

As a child, Michael was an avid reader. His interest with Poe began with The Gold Bug and Decent into the Maelstrom at a very young age. For several years, other Poe stories would be included in his readings, but it wasn’t until 7thgrade, when he was “forced” to memorize the poem Annabel Lee, that Michael began to feel a bond with the author, a relationship that continues to this day.

By day, Michael manages professional credentialing programs. He has helped develop over 30 courses in the areas of commercial real estate, banking, personal and professional development, and others. He has penned over 150 articles covering all topics within commercial real estate, as well as on topics spanning from editing to health and fitness. He is also an editor, having worked on fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and other works.

In his spare time, Michael is a fitness and martial arts instructor. He holds a black belt in Tang Soo Do and a blue belt in Brazilian Jui Jitsu. 

Rafael Álvarez is a native Baltimorean whose hometown has been the primary subject of his work since Jimmy Carter was president.

     Alvarez learned to write on the City Desk of the Baltimore Sun, wrote for the HBO drama The Wire, has worked as a laborer on merchant ships and published many books. He is a long-time supporter of the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum.

     Rafael's most recent collection of short stories is Basilio Boullosa Stars in the Fountain of Highlandtown.