There is a new face at Cromwell Museum

Kristina (pictured) has recently taken up the role of Learning and Communities Officer at the museum, in a job which has seen her love of history come full circle.

Oliver Cromwell was a fixture on Kristina’s timetable as a student in her native Canada, and she now wants to share the importance and relevance of the controversial and important figure with budding historians.

She said: “I really want to build and focus on the great work the museum has already been doing during lockdown. The team has offered some exciting online sessions to pupils at a school in London and I will be looking to deliver more virtual and hands-on events to students of all ages – as well the wider community – focussing on Cromwell; a local man of huge national and international importance.

“I will also be looking to promote engagement and learning around the wider 17th century, including fashion, science and medicine from the era and relating its importance back to Huntingdon and the Museum, which houses the world’s biggest collection of Cromwell artefacts.”

Kristina’s love of history was sparked by her father: “He was a World War II buff and history was my favourite lesson at school, and I went on to study it at McGill University. After spending summers in Canada working at various museums under a grant system which allowed me to work on community engagement projects and events, I knew that this was the career path I wanted to follow.”

Inspired by a manager at a museum she worked at in Canada, Kristina followed in her footsteps and successfully applied for a Museum Studies course at Newcastle University– moving to the UK in 2017 and gaining her Master’s degree the following year.

She worked for a time at Canterbury Cathedral on community engagement projects and also enjoyed voluntary work at museums in London and Cambridgeshire before the pandemic.

Kristina used lockdown to search for another role, and recently joined The Cromwell Museum team where she has lots of ideas for the future to engage more people with the Museum, as and when restrictions allow – including a series of online and in person events throughout the school summer holidays.

She added: “While it will be great to have the international audiences and visitors back here again, myself and the team are really keen to attract local visitors to the museum; some who may have not been to see us before and others for whom it may be their first visit since our extensive recent refurbishment.”