The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, the government agency that oversees the state’s historic sites, announced that Lavada Nahon has joined the office as the Interpreter of African American History
Nahon has interpreted African American history through the Mid-Atlantic region and has worked as an independent contract at a number of historic sites including the Albany Institute of Art and History, the New York Historical Society, and Dyckman Farm House Museum. She is particularly noted as a culinary historian. Nahon has used her knowledge of seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth-century cooking and dining to interpret the work of enslaved cooks in elite homes.
In her new position, Nahon will create programs, research content, and lead outreach efforts to support the work of the state’s historic sites. In a press release State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid said, “Lavada’s immense experience will be instrumental to our agency’s goal of developing interpretative programs and displays that continue to educate and connect visitors to the past while highlighting untold stories across all ethnic and social backgrounds.”